By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Fort Hays State needed a late touchdown drive to escape with a 21-17 win at Central Missouri on Saturday (Oct. 23). The Tigers started fast with a 14-0 lead, only to see the Mules score 17 unanswered points in the second half to take the lead in the fourth quarter. The Tigers started their final drive with 3:04 remaining and scored the game-winning touchdown with 26 seconds remaining. FHSU is now 4-4 on the season, while UCM drops to 2-6.
After both teams punted on their first drives, Fort Hays State got its offense going with back-to-back touchdown drives. The Tigers’ first score came on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Voshon Waiters to Hunter Budke. They extended the lead to 14-0 on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Chance Fuller to Manny Ramsey. The Tigers had only one drive in the second quarter and came away empty after a missed field goal, but they kept the Mules scoreless by causing a fumble at the goal line right before halftime.
Fort Hays State reached UCM territory on its first drive of the second half, but punted the ball away. UCM then chewed up 7:38 with a long 17-play, 83-yard touchdown drive capped on a Logan Twehous 13-yard pass to Drew Slager. Two more Tiger drives stalled out in the third quarter and they took their 14-7 lead to the final frame.
The Tigers were having success moving the ball early in the fourth quarter all the way down to the UCM 25 before a pass a bit off the mark was bobbled and picked off by UCM. The Mules used that to trigger a 59-yard scoring drive. They tied the game on a play were Twehous eluded a potential sack by three Tigers and scampered into the endzone from six yards out. The Tigers could not stop the UCM momentum on their next drive and had to punt the ball away again. UCM then drove 69 yards on 10 plays to set up a 26-yard field goal by Chris Diddle, taking the lead 17-14 with 3:04 to play.
The Tigers had seven straight scoreless drives since the first quarter before dialing up the winning drive in the game’s waning minutes. Keylan Chapman gave helped the Tigers move the chains early in the drive with a six-yard reception and six-yard run. Then it was time for Josh Okechukwu to shine as he hauled in four straight passes to get the Tigers down to the UCM 7. His last two in the sequence went for 35 and 13 yards. The Tigers went to a pair of reserve tight ends to finish off the game-winning drive as Fuller found Irick McDonald for a 4-yard gain, then found Hayden Wiltfong for a 3-yard strike in the back of the endzone on 3rd-and-goal. It was Wiltfong’s first collegiate touchdown reception. UCM advanced the ball to the FHSU 40 before having to throw a hail mary to the endzone, which was batted down to end the game.
Fuller finished with 346 passing yards for FHSU, completing 25-of-37 attempts. Okechukwu was his main target, catching a season-best nine passes for 148 yards. Ramsey had 84 receiving yards, while Budke had 65. Chapman led the Tigers in rushing with 58 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, Myles Menges led with eight tackles, followed by John Johnson with seven, a sack, and a forced fumble. Jordan Starks also had an interception off a tipped pass by Mason Perez.
Twehous led UCM with 322 passing yards, completing 28-of-42 attempts. Koby Wilkerson led UCM in rushing with 44 yards. Cameron Saunders was the top receiving target for the Mules with 156 yards on eight catches. Codie Bell led UCM with 12 tackles and an interception.
The Tigers are back at home next Saturday (Oct. 30) to take on Emporia State in the annual Hall of Fame Game. Kickoff is set for 1 pm at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays.