By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Fort Hays State held a halftime lead of 28-24, but was shutout in the second half and saw the high-powered Central Missouri blow past on Saturday (Nov. 4) at Walton Stadium. The No. 11/8 ranked Mules went on to win 47-28, strengthening their case for the NCAA Playoffs and at the same time grabbed at least a share of the MIAA title with a Pittsburg State loss at Missouri Western. Pending the result of Pittsburg State’s game next week, UCM will be either co-champions or outright champions, as both have one loss in MIAA play. The result snapped FHSU’s five-game win streak entering the contest.
Fort Hays State went toe-to-toe with the nation’s top offensive attack in the first half. The Tigers were able to get three leads on the Mules before holding a halftime advantage of four points. Though the defense had a few lapses that allowed big plays for UCM in the first half, the offense matched the challenge and had the Tigers in control at the break.
UCM scored the game’s first touchdown when MIAA-leading receiver Arkell Smith broke a tackle and sprinted 68 yards for a touchdown on a pass from Zach Zebrowski. About four minutes later, the Tigers posted their first score of the game when Jack Dawson found true freshman Jabari Lewis for a 25-yard touchdown pass. After the Tiger defense posted a pair of stops, the Tiger offense capitalized and Travis Dixon broke free for a 29-yard touchdown run to give FHSU its first lead, 14-7, with 4:33 remaining in the opening quarter.
Another big passing play set UCM up for a game-tying score as Zebrowski found Derrick Rose for a 63-yard connection. A play later, Zebrowski scampered into the endzone on a 2-yard touchdown run. However, FHSU hit UCM right back in the mouth with a strong 8-play, 75-yard drive capped on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Dawson to Trevor Watts. FHSU led 21-14 at the end of a high-scoring first quarter.
Zebrowski came up big for the Mules once again to even the score early in the second quarter. On third down at the FHSU 20, he found Smith again with a perfectly placed pass to the right corner of the endzone. The Tiger defense stopped the Mules on their next possession, and then the Tiger offense went on a long 13-play, 72-yard touchdown drive capped with a 1-yard dive by Dixon with 2:07 remaining before the half. UCM went on to set up a field goal with one second left on the clock to pull within four of FHSU, 28-24 at halftime.
At the half, UCM had 314 total yards, already more than the Tiger defense allows on average. Zebrowski had 275 passing yards at the half. On the flip side, FHSU had generated 235 first-half yards as Dawson had 136 passing yards and Dixon had 76 rushing yards.
The second half was a completely different story for the Tiger offense. They had the ball first out of halftime with a chance to build a two-score lead, and Dawson was intercepted three plays into the half. UCM immediately marched 43 yards and took the lead, 31-28, when Zebrowski found Price Morgan for an 8-yard touchdown pass. With a chance to respond, the Tiger offense went on to sputter for only 5 total yards in the third quarter and also yielded a safety later in the frame pushing the Mules’ lead to 33-28. The Tiger defense did a commendable job for holding the Mules in check the rest of the third quarter after the touchdown on UCM’s first drive of the half.
The Tigers could not push into Mules territory on their first drive of the fourth quarter. UCM then went on to cover 80 yards in 2:50, capped on a touchdown pass of 15 yards from Zebrowski to Jack Pospisil to make the score 40-28. FHSU saw its next drive stall out just past midfield and UCM put the game away with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Zebrowski to Rose. The Tigers got close to scoring points on their final drive of the game, but a fourth down effort in the red zone came up short.
Dawson finished the game with 261 passing yards for FHSU. Dixon led the Tigers with 84 rushing yards and Trevor Watts had a team-high 11 receptions for 113 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, John Johnsonled the Tigers with 15 tackles, followed by Benyon Williams with 10 and Makel Williams with nine. Parrish Terry had 2.0 sacks, while Myles Menges added 1.0.
For UCM, Zebrowski lived up to his billing as the nation’s top passer, throwing for 459 yards and five touchdowns. Smith finished with 149 receiving yards, followed by Rose with 118. The Mules generated 531 yards of total offense. Curtis Appleton led UCM with 10 tackles.
Fort Hays State will close out its regular season next weekend at home when it plays host to in-state rival Emporia State. Both teams will enter the contest at 7-3 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 11) at Lewis Field Stadium. UCM completed its MIAA schedule at 9-1 and goes on to play Lincoln next week to close out its regular season.