By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State came up on the short end of a 45-42 result against Emporia State on Saturday (Nov. 11). The Tigers trailed by 11 and halftime and got within three of the Hornets going into the fourth quarter, but a key turnover led to another Hornet touchdown in the fourth quarter and the Tigers eventually ran out of time. ESU moved to 8-3 overall, 7-3 in the MIAA, while FHSU moved to 7-4 overall, 6-4 in the MIAA.
Both offenses had a high amount of success, combining for 997 total yards. Fort Hays State produced 513 yards of offense, its season high in an MIAA game. The Tiger defense had a hard time solving the up-tempo Hornet offense in the first half, yielding 313 yards of total offense in the first half. They did much better in the second half, allowing 171 after halftime.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth battle. FHSU got on the board first on a 2-yard touchdown run by Travis Dixon five minutes into the contest. However, the snap was high on the PAT attempt and FHSU did not tack on a point. Moments later, ESU notched its first touchdown on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Braden Gleason to Tyler Kahmann, taking a 7-6 lead. The Hornets added a field goal from 23 yards to push their lead to 10-6, but the Tigers responded with their second 75-yard touchdown drive of the quarter, capped on a 30-yard touchdown run by Dixon. ESU had the last blow in the high-scoring first frame when Gleason connected with Kahmann again on an 18-yard touchdown pass. ESU led 17-13.
The Hornets started to get separation when they scored two more touchdowns in the first 10 minutes of the second quarter. Gleason found Trenden Collins for a 14-yard pass and then Billy Ross, Jr. for a 3-yard pass. Down 31-13, the Tigers were able to get the score margin back to 11 (31-20) at the half with a Jack Dawson touchdown pass to Jabari Lewis from 14 yards out about a minute before the break.
The Hornets scored on their first drive of the second half, pushing the lead back to 18 when Gleason found Jaylen Varner on an 11-yard pass. But the Tigers kept chipping away. They went 72 yards over eight plays capped on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Dawson to Jayden Horace to get back within 11. The Tiger defense started to get stops against the potent Hornet offense and they pulled within three when Dawson found Trevor Watts for a 24-yard touchdown pass and his two-point conversion pass to Sloan Hayden was successful. ESU led 38-35 going into the final quarter.
The Tigers got another big stop defensively early in the final quarter, but saw their momentum dashed when they muffed a punt at their own 12 yard line handed the ball back to the Hornets. ESU made good on the mistake, as Kahmann hauled in his third touchdown pass of the game from Gleason from 12 yards out. The Tigers came up empty on their next two drives, but finally scored a touchdown with 43 seconds remaining on a 1-yard plunge by Dawson to get back within three points. FHSU was unable to recover the onside kick that followed.
Dawson finished with a career-high 362 passing yards, completing 24 passes. Travis Dixon ran for a season-high 154 yards on 22 carries. Trevor Watts became the first 200-yard receiver for FHSU in a game since Monterio Burchfield in 2017, finishing with 210 yards on 13 catches. Defensively, John Johnson led the Tigers with 13 tackles followed by Makel Williams with 11.
For Emporia State, Gleason threw for 369 yards and six touchdowns, completing 30-of-40 passes. Kahmann (119) and Ethan Schultze (103) each finished with over 100 yards receiving. Sage Sieperda led the Hornets on defense with 12 tackles.
Fort Hays State secured its eighth winning season under head coach Chris Brown in 2023. The Tigers have reached at least seven wins in a season seven times under Brown.