Box Score
Box Score

Fort Hays State trailed by just nine points at halftime to No. 12 ranked Washburn on Saturday (Oct. 29), but missed opportunities in the third quarter allowed Washburn to pull away for a 45-20 win. The loss drops FHSU to 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the MIAA.
 
On their first drive of the second half, Fort Hays State drove the ball into Washburn territory, but an interception thrown by Anthony Sheppard stopped the drive that potentially could have put the Tigers within one score. On the next drive, the Tigers took the ball inside the Ichabod redzone, but Tyler Kimbrough missed a 27-yard attempt that would have put the Tigers within six.
 
The Tigers tried valiantly to stop the Ichabods on the goal line late in the third quarter, but Sean McPherson barely got in the endzone on 4^th-and-1. The extra point put Washburn up 16. The Ichabods blew the game open on a 23-yard touchdown run by Justin Cooper with 9:29 remaining in the game.
 
Fort Hays State scored its only touchdown of the second half on a 14-yard touchdown run by Sheppard with 6:09 remaining in the game. The Ichabods countered that with one more touchdown late in the fourth.
 
Andre Smith and Anthony Sheppard combined for the majority of Fort Hays State's 148 yards on the ground. Smith had 78, while Sheppard finished with 64 and two touchdowns. Sheppard also threw for 182 yards and one touchdown, a 15-yard connection to Chase Leake in the first quarter. He connected on 18-of-26 throws, but also threw two interceptions. Leake finished with a team-high 51 receiving yards on five catches.
 
Alex Whitehill led the FHSU defense with 14 tackles, now with 133 for the season. He is just eight tackles away from breaking the FHSU NCAA Division II record of 140 in a season and 18 away from breaking the all-time school record of 150.
 
Fort Hays State finishes the season at home the final two weeks, hosting Missouri Southern next Saturday and Missouri Western on November 12. Both games are 2 pm starts.