Box Score
Fort Hays State fell by a score of 14-12 to Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 3) at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays. The Tigers trailed by eight and scored a touchdown with 3:44 remaining, but the two-point conversion failed as the Mules escaped with their seventh-straight win over the Tigers.
The Tigers trailed 14-3 at the half with a
Drew O'Brien 38-yard field goal as the only scoring they had before the break. O'Brien would bring the Tigers within one score at 14-6 in the third quarter with a 20-yard field goal.
Starting quarterback
Tarean Austin left the game with an injury midway through the fourth quarter, which gave senior
Anthony Sheppard a chance to lead the Tigers down the field. He did just that, completing 3-of-5 passes and rushed the ball six times, having a hand in all 74 yards gained on the 11-play drive to pull the Tigers within two at 14-12. He rushed for a six-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-goal. However, the two-point conversion pass from Sheppard to
Tanner Hageman fell incomplete. That would be the last chance for the Tigers as the Mules ran out the clock following an onside kick attempt.
Sheppard finished the game with a team-high 80 rushing yards on 12 carries. He was 4-of-6 passing for 54 yards, with his other completion in the game coming on a halfback pass play earlier in the game when he was at running back. Starting quarterback
Tarean Austin finished the game 20-of-38 passing for 168 yards with one interception. He also rushed for 42 yards.
Cornelius Gallon had 10 catches for 104 receiving yards, his second 100-yard receiving game this season. Michael Jordan led the Tiger defense with 13 tackles and
Layton Hickel had the lone interception for FHSU in the game, returned for 25 yards.
Colter Smith finished with 247 passing yards going 27-of-38 with two touchdowns and one interception. LaVance Taylor led UCM in rushing with 62 yards on 20 attempts. He also had a team-high nine receptions for 52 yards. Smith's touchdowns went for eight yards in the first quarter to Ronrei Lloyd and 20 yards in the second quarter to Kevin Johnson.
The Tigers wrap up their season at Nebraska-Kearney next Saturday (Nov. 10) at 12:30 pm.
