FHSU Sports Information Department
Coming off their first loss of the season, the Tiger football team looks to bounce back against in-state rival Washburn on Saturday evening (Oct. 3). The annual Homecoming game for FHSU features a match up of 3-1 teams, set to kickoff from Lewis Field Stadium at 7 pm. Both teams are receiving votes in the AFCA Division II Poll.
Fort Hays State took its first loss of the season last week at home to 15th-ranked Pittsburg State. The Tigers led by 10 at halftime, 24-14, but PSU scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to edge the Tigers 31-24. Washburn enters on a three-game win streak after falling in its first game of the season to Lindenwood. The Ichabods knocked off nationally ranked Pittsburg State two weeks ago in Pittsburg before surviving a close contest with Missouri Southern last week in Topeka.
The Tigers are looking to snap a six-game losing streak to the Ichabods. Fort Hays State’s last win in the series occurred in 2008 in Hays. The Tigers held a second-half lead over Washburn last year in Topeka before falling in overtime 27-24. The Tigers will be looking for their first 4-1 start under head coach Chris Brown and their first win over the Ichabods with Brown as head coach. Brown spent nine years at Washburn as an assistant before taking the head coaching job at FHSU. Defensive coordinator Cooper Harris was an assistant at Washburn for 10 years before taking his current position at FHSU. Special Teams Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach Steven Dudley was a player at Washburn before starting his coaching career at FHSU.
Fort Hays State and Washburn are currently in a four-way tie for third place in the MIAA with Pittsburg State and Missouri Western. All four are chasing frontrunners Northwest Missouri State and Emporia State, each at 4-0.
Shaquille Cooper continues to lead the Tigers and MIAA in rushing, averaging 146.8 yards per game on the ground. He rushed for over 100 yards in three of the four games so far this season with 263 yards as his season high against Northeastern State. Quarterback Treveon Albert ranks third in the conference in rushing yards per game (100.8) with two 100+ yard games under his belt this year. Cooper and Albert have combined for 990 yards of rushing this season, Cooper with 587 yards and Albert with 403. They help the Tigers lead the MIAA in yards per carry as a team at 5.9 per attempt.
Senior kicker Drew O’Brien continues to close in on the all-time kicking points and all-time scoring records at Fort Hays State. With 203 kicking points, he is just 15 points shy of the kicking points record of 218 held by Wes Simoneau (1997-2001) and the overall points record of 220 held by Bob Johnson (1963-66).
On the defensive side of the ball, Brock Long continues to lead FHSU in tackles with 54, averaging 13.5 per game. He ranks third in the MIAA in tackles per game. Alex Schmidtberger is not far behind with 50, averaging 12.5 per game to rank fifth in the conference. Daniel Lindsey has been a nightmare for opposing kicking units with three blocked kicks this year to go with his 36 tackles on defense. Nathan Shepherd also poses a threat with two. FHSU as a team has six blocked kicks this year, averaging 1.5 per game so far.