RV/#21 Fort Hays State (3-2, 2-1 MIAA) at
Missouri Southern (2-2, 0-2 MIAA)
Saturday, October 4 – 1 p.m.
Joplin, Mo. – Fred G. Hughes Stadium
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Fort Hays State Football hits the road this week for a contest at Missouri Southern. The RV/No. 21 ranked Tigers enter the contest at 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA, while the Lions are 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the MIAA. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.
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Fort Hays State holds a 20-14-1 advantage in the all-time series with Missouri Southern. The Tigers have won 10 of the last 11 meetings and hold a 12-4 advantage against the Lions since joining the MIAA back in 2006. Head coach
Chris Brown is 10-1 against the Lions while leading the Tigers.
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Fort Hays State won last year's meeting by a score of 53-9 in Hays. The 44-point win margin was the largest in the all-time series with Missouri Southern. The Tigers have had success generating points against the Lions in the last 13 meetings, averaging 40.2 points per game in that span. The Tigers have won their last six meetings with the Lions in Joplin going back to 2009.
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The Tigers are currently among a four-way cluster for third place in the MIAA standings at 2-1. Northwest Missouri State (3-0) and Central Missouri (2-0) are the only two teams remaining without a loss in MIAA play. Missouri Southern is among four teams in the MIAA looking for their first conference win of the season.
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Fort Hays State scored at least 26 points in all three of its wins this season, but less than 20 in its two losses. The Tigers are still searching for their first game of 400 or more yards of total offense this season, with 396 as their season high at Pittsburg State.
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The Fort Hays State defense is led by linebacker
John Johnson, who leads the team and ranks third in the MIAA in tackles with 49. He has been the MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week twice this season, the latest occurring this week after a career-high 16 tackles against Missouri Western last week. He has led the team in tackles in four of the five games and reached double figures in a game three times this season.
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Gaven Haselhorst leads the Tigers in sacks with 3.0 and ranks second in the MIAA, only 0.5 sacks behind the lead.
Jakolbi Wilson leads the Tigers in tackles for loss (4.5), while
Michael Polley has two of the team's four interceptions this season.
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Quarterback
Caleb Heavner has 921 passing yards and a team-best 180 yards rushing. He is averaging 220.2 yards of total offense per game.
Ryan Allen is his top receiving target with 19 catches for 202 yards so far this year. Outside of Heavner's 180 rushing yards, the Tigers have three running backs with over 100 yards rushing this season, which includes
Travis Dixon,
Joshua Clark, and
Donavan Hunt.
Curtis Douglas had a big game last week with 73 yards on just four carries.
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Missouri Southern owns the best pass efficiency rating in the MIAA at 154.8. The Lions are averaging 16.3 yards per reception so far.
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