HAYS, Kan. – For the second straight week at home Fort Hays State faced a halftime deficit and responded with a second-half shutout, this time outscoring Washburn 27-0 in the second half for a 37-20 win. The No. 8 ranked Tigers moved to 7-0 for the first time since 1917, while Washburn moved to 5-2.
 
Fort Hays State scored the first points of the game with a Brandon Brown 29-yard field goal at the 6:41 mark of the first quarter, but Washburn quickly responded with a field goal of its own, a 35-yarder from Perry Schmiedeler at the 5:32 mark. Washburn went on to score 10 more points in a row with a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown by D.J. Olmstead and a 36-yard field goal by Schmiedeler. The Tigers pulled back within three at the 5:48 mark of the second quarter when Jacob Mezera connected with Harley Hazlett on a nifty shovel pass play from six yards out to make it 13-10 in favor of Washburn.
 
Going into a strong north wind, Fort Hays State turned the ball over on downs to the Ichabods at the Washburn 35 with 1:41 remaining in the second quarter. That was enough time for the Ichabods to march all the way to the endzone, capped by a Blake Peterson pass to James Brania-Hopp from 22 yards out. The Ichabods, ranked No. 22 in the latest D2Football.com Poll and receiving votes in the official AFCA Poll, went into the locker room with a 20-10 lead.
 
At halftime, Fort Hays State was outgaining Washburn 230 to 202, but the surrendered interception return for a touchdown and a missed field goal left the Tigers trailing in the column that matters most by 10.
 
Fort Hays State had the ball first out of the locker room, but saw its drive stall out at the Washburn 45. The turning point of the game came moments later when Washburn roughed FHSU punter Dante Brown. The penalty kept the drive alive, moving the ball to the 30, then the Tigers unleashed fury on the Ichabods in the form of Charles Tigner, putting on an electric offensive display.
 
Tigner had yet to touch the ball and Kenneth Iheme was one yard shy of 100 for the game at that point, but the Ichabods had no answer for the electric offensive display Tigner put together over the final 28 minutes of the game.
 
Tigner's first rush went for 10 yards, then after Mezera was sacked, he gashed the Ichabods for a pair of 12-yard runs to reach the endzone. With 12:01 remaining in the third quarter, it was 20-17 in favor of Washburn.
 
Later in the third, Mezera started a drive with an 11-yard pass to Tigner. Then Tigner immediately broke a run for 46 yards. It led to a Brandon Brown 30-yard field goal to knot the score 20-20 with 3:59 remaining in the third. The score remained tied going into the fourth quarter.
 
A 19-yard pass from Mezera to Matt Wendelberger on 3^rd-and-6 was key late in the third, helping keep a drive alive that would turn around and go with the wind at the start of the fourth. The Tigers kept marching and capped a 12-play, 87-yard drive over 5:05 with an amazing 21-yard leaping catch by Monterio Burchfield at the right pylon. After going high to get the ball, Burchfield twisted and stretched the ball into the pylon for the touchdown as he was coming to the ground. The highlight-reel grab pushed the Tigers into the lead, 27-20.
 
The Tiger defense continued to stymie the Ichabod offense, forcing a turnover on downs at the FHSU 19 with 8:51 remaining in the game. Tigner went back to work to give the Tigers breathing room, he carried the ball six straight times, chunking off 11, 5, 12, 16, and a pair of 3-yard runs to set up the next Tiger touchdown. Mezera then found Tyler Bacon jetting down the left sideline who caught the pass, eluded his man, and tippy-toed down the sideline for a 30-yard touchdown. On the 80^th catch of his career with more than 700 receiving yards, Bacon finally found the endzone for the first time as a Tiger. The Tigers pushed their lead to 34-20.
 
Doyin Jibowu put a seal on the second-half defensive effort by the Tigers with a pair of interceptions late. The first set up a 47-yard Brandon Brown field goal that capped the game's scoring, 37-20 in favor of the Tigers.
 
Tigner's second half damage amounted to 171 rushing yards and 11 receiving yards for 182 all-purpose yards for the game. Iheme also ran for over 100 yards, doing the bulk of his damage in the first half and finishing with 103. Mezera completed 23-of-36 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Burchfield and Bacon were his favorite targets with six catches each, Burchfield with 82 receiving yards and Bacon with 76. Layne Bieberle added five catches for 68 yards.
 
After allowing 202 first half yards, the Tiger defense was "nails" surrendering just 89 yards the rest of the game. By the end of the game, Fort Hays State outgained Washburn 549 yards to 291 overall. Jose Delgado led the tackling effort with eight stops, while Connor Shedeed added seven. Delgado, Nathan Shepherd, and Luke Wright all recorded sacks in the game. Fort Hays State shut out a team in the second half for the third time this year in seven games. In fact, the Tigers have surrendered just 10 second-half points in a total of four home games this season.
 
For Washburn, Peterson finished 18-of-38 passing for 244 yards. Brania-Hopp caught nine passes for 122 yards. Mickeel Stewart was the top Ichabod rusher with 28 yards. Heath Tucker led the Ichabods in tackles with 10.
 
As for history, it took 100 years for the Tigers to go 7-0 once more. But they look for the best start in school history outright next week at Missouri Western. Game time is 1 pm in St. Joseph, Missouri next Saturday (Oct. 21).