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Griffons run all over FHSU in regular season finale
11/13/2011
By RANDY GONZALES
rgonzales@dailynews.net
Just minutes after Saturday's game, Tiger senior linebacker Alex Whitehill -- still in uniform and all taped up with a big cut on his arm -- tried to comprehend his record-setting season which had just come to an end.
The Fort Hays State University football team ended its season Saturday at Lewis Field Stadium, giving up 34 unanswered points -- including 27 in the second half -- in a 55-17 MIAA loss to Missouri Western State University.
In the process, Whitehill made 21 tackles -- his most in a single game in his career -- and also set the school's single-season record for tackles, and set the NCAA Division II single-season record for assisted tackles. Whitehill finished with 164 tackles this year, breaking the old school record of 150, set by Junior Hartig in 1979.
"It's a little bit of payoff for the time I've put into this sport," Whitehill said of the records. "It's been my life for a long time."
In the waning minutes, Whitehill came off the field for the final time.
"I don't know if I've grasped the whole concept of it being over, yet," Whitehill said. "... Little bittersweet right now; hard to grasp it's the last time I'm going to step onto a football field."
The Tigers trailed by a touchdown in the second quarter when Whitehill picked off his first pass of the year -- and second of his career -- and returned it to the Missouri Western 9-yard line. But the Tigers couldn't punch it in, and settled for junior Tyler Kimbrough's 27-yard field goal to make it 21-17.
Missouri Western (9-2 overall, 7-2 MIAA) then scored a late TD, with senior running back Michael Hill scoring from 2 yards out with 12 seconds left in the first half to give the Griffons a 28-17 halftime lead.
"It's momentum change," said Tiger coach Chris Brown of the late change of events. "Something your kids got to learn to overcome, fight back through. We didn't do that real well."
Instead, the Tigers laid a goose egg in the second half behind senior QB Blake McAhren, who began the year as the starter, but hadn't played in several weeks. McAhren was in the game for junior starter Anthony Sheppard, who suffered a concussion late in the first half.
Brown said McAhren was ready to play and did a good job, but admitted it was a tough spot after not being on the field in a while.
"Anytime you haven't played game situation for a long time -- it's like Shep beginning of the year -- you struggle a little bit," Brown said.
McAhren had a pass intercepted by junior cornerback Ben Jackson in the third quarter, who returned it 35 yards for a touchdown and a 42-17 lead.
The Tigers had 307 yards of total offense, with 83 of it coming in the second half.
"It was very frustrating," said FHSU junior running back Andre Smith of the second half. "We always want to help our defense out any way we could.
"I felt like we didn't help out very much second half," he added. "Score kind of shows it."
Smith tried to do his part. On the game's first play from scrimmage, Smith raced 77 yards to the Missouri Western 3-yard line, from where he scored on the next play.
"Offensive line made their blocks, I wanted to spark the game," Smith said.
After the Griffons tied it on a 4-yard run by sophomore quarterback Travis Partridge, Smith scored again, this time from a yard out, for a 14-7 lead. But Hill scored the first of his three touchdowns, this one from 20 yards out, to tie the game at 14-14 with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.
After the Tigers tried a run on a fake punt, but came up short, Hill scored again, this time on a 1-yard run for a 21-14 Griffon lead.
Whitehill then intercepted Partridge, but the Tigers had to kick the field goal, then Hill got his third TD run right before halftime.
After Missouri Western recovered a fumbled punt deep in Tiger territory early in the third quarter, Partridge hit junior wide receiver Tarrell Downing for an 8-yard scoring strike to make it 35-17.
After Jackson picked off McAhren for a TD, senior kicker Greg Zuerlein made field goals of 27 and 35 yards and freshman backup running back Dominic Thomas scored on a 12-yard run for the final margin.
Partridge finished with 105 yards rushing and Hill ran for 182 yards for the Griffons, who put up 480 yards of total offense, with 434 of that on the ground.
Smith finished with 135 yards rushing for Fort Hays, which had another Tiger enter the school's record book on Saturday. Senior punter Ethan Kosjer set single-season and career records for punting average.
Missouri Western won its seventh straight game to tie the school record, and has a postseason berth, while Fort Hays ends its first year under Brown at 4-7 overall, 3-6 MIAA.
Whitehill was glad to be a part of it, and said good things are in store for Tiger fans.
"You're going to have a great time with this team for years to come, because they're going to be awesome," Whitehill said.
"I've been a part of so many different teams and coaching staffs -- it's nothing like that's been here before. It's going to be fun to watch, and I'm glad we had the chance to do what we could to turn everything around."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |