Box Score

Emporia State stormed out of the gates to an early 14-0 lead and eventually defeated Fort Hays State 41-18 in the season opener in Emporia on Thursday night (Aug. 30). The Tigers pulled within eight in the third quarter, but Emporia State pushed its lead back to 15 on the following drive and never looked back.

Fort Hays State broke the early ESU momentum with a blocked field goal, which kept the ESU from pushing its lead to 17-0 early. The Tigers responded with a 47-yard field goal by true freshman Drew O'Brien on the first attempt of his collegiate career. That cut the lead to 14-3. But ESU pushed its lead back to 14 by halftime after a 41-yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining.

The Hornet lead grew to 20-3 after a 22-yard field goal to begin the scoring in the third quarter. After struggling to find a rhythm with starting quarterback Anthony Sheppard, the Tigers went to Tarean Austin under center, who guided the Tigers on a 9-play, 45-yard drive ending with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Grant Brown. The extra point was blocked to keep the score at 20-9 in favor of ESU.

The Tigers made things interesting by getting a defensive stop on the next Emporia State drive and turned it into three points with a 34-yard field goal from O'Brien. That pulled the Tigers within eight at 20-12 with 4:59 remaining in the third quarter.

The Hornets would stop any hope the Tigers had by marching down the field on a 9-play, 79-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown run. The Hornets would pull away from that point. They scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to build a 29-point lead. A late drive by the Tigers resulted in the final touchdown of the game with five seconds to play on a 2-yard touchdown run by Austin.

The teams were dead even in rushing yards with 120 each, but the passing game was the big difference. Emporia State quarterback Tyler Eckenrode threw for 414 yards and two touchdowns, completing 23-of-37 passes with just one interception. Shjuan Richardson had 148 receiving yards on just six catches for the Hornets. FHSU quarterbacks Anthony Sheppard and Tarean Austin combined for just 183 passing yards combined, Austin with 92 and Sheppard with 91.

Edward Smith led the Tigers in rushing with 46 yards on 17 carries. True freshman Addie Brown chunked off 38 yards late in the game. Starting running back Andre Smith suffered an injury early in the game and had just five yards on three carries. Ed Williams led the Tigers in receiving yards with 72 on three receptions.

A.J. Woodall led the Tigers in tackles with 11, followed by Kyle Perry and Austin Hubert each with seven.

The Tigers host Washburn in the season opener next Saturday (Sept. 8) in Hays at 7 pm. Washburn is currently ranked No. 20 in the nation and knocked off Nebraska-Kearney in its season opener on Thursday evening in Topeka. The next three games for FHSU are against Top 25 teams, all in the MIAA.