FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State (2-1, 1-1 MIAA) at
RV/- Missouri Western State (2-1, 1-1 MIAA)
Saturday, September 23 - 12 p.m.
St. Joseph, Mo. – Spratt Memorial Stadium
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: The MIAA Network CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
Fort Hays State Football heads to St. Joseph, Missouri this weekend to face Missouri Western. Both teams enter Week 4 of the season at 2-1 overall. All of FHSU's games have been conference contests, while MWSU is 1-1 in MIAA play. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Spratt Stadium on Saturday night.
The Tigers are coming off a 17-6 win over then No. 15/13 ranked Northwest Missouri State last Saturday in Hays. The Tigers ended an eight-game losing string to the Bearcats in Hays that dated back to the 1970s and the result knocked the Bearcats out of the AFCA Top 25 rankings for the first time since 2003 (20 years). The Bearcats had a streak of being ranked in the Top 25 for 242 consecutive polls.
The Griffons are coming off a 34-31 win at Central Oklahoma last week. Both of their wins have been on the road, which also included a blowout of Lincoln in Week 2 in their only non-conference game of the year. MWSU fell to Central Missouri in the season opener at home by a score of 45-38. The Griffons have scored the most points of any MIAA team this year, averaging 46.7 per game. However, they have struggled on defense yielding a conference-worst 476.3 yards per game.
The Tigers are looking to snap a four-game losing string to the Griffons, which goes back to the 2018 season. FHSU's last win over MWSU was in 2017 by a score of 38-10 in St. Joseph. The Tigers lost last year's meeting in Hays 35-19. MWSU leads the all-time series 18-12-1, but have been a thorn in FHSU's side in MIAA play with a 14-2 mark since FHSU joined the conference. The two Tiger wins were in back-to-back years (2016 & 2017). The win in 2017 was the only time in MIAA play the Tigers limited the Griffons to less than 20 points.
Fort Hays State ranks fourth in the MIAA in total defense, allowing 322 yards per game. The Tigers have held two of their three opponents so far this year to less than 300 yards of total offense. In both of those games, FHSU held the opposition to less than 10 points. FHSU ranks second among MIAA teams in points allowed at just 15.3 per game.
Jack Dawson has completed 59 percent of his passes this season for 771 yards and 9 touchdowns. He has thrown for at least 250 yards in two of three games. He ranks 12th in NCAA Division II for passing touchdowns. He has four receiving targets with at least 100 yards this season, led by Trevor Watts with 16 catches for 210 yards. Jayden Horace (174), Hosia Stokes (142) and Bryson Smith (123) join Watts for players north of 100 yards receiving. Cale Cormaney, the top tight end target for FHSU, has 95 yards. Travis Dixon leads the ground game with 102 yards on 38 carries this season.
John Johnson leads the Tiger defense in tackles with 22, followed closely by Makel Williams (21) and Mason Perez (20). Johnson produced his season high in tackles against Northwest Missouri State with 11. The Tiger defensive line has six players with at least six tackles this season, led by Myles Menges and Parrish Terry each with 12. Terry is the reigning MIAA Defensive Player of the Week after a 7 tackle, 1 forced fumble, and 1.5 sacks performance in the win over Northwest Missouri State last week. Jason Wallace leads the team in sacks with 2.0 after having a solo and two assists last week. The Tiger defense has spread around five interceptions among five different players.