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Tigers can't get it done: Late touchdown propels Mo. Southern over Fort Hays
10/13/2007
By JIM FRYAR
Special to The Hays Daily News
JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Fort Hays State University football team extended its defensive dominance over Missouri Southern to seven quarters Saturday.
But the Lions punched in a fourth-quarter score for a hard-earned 6-0 victory Saturday at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.
Fort Hays won the initial MIAA meeting with Southern 10-0 last season.
A 10-yard pass from Adam Hinspeter to Isaac Norman -- on a broken play -- accounted for the lone touchdown with 11:39 left in the game. A bad snap foiled the conversion attempt.
Fort Hays (3-4 overall, 1-4 MIAA) managed just 28 yards on its final four possessions, negating a brilliant defensive effort.
"We've got to find a way to make a few plays offensively," said Fort Hays Kevin Verdugo. "We went down to the end with a chance to potentially win against a good football team like Missouri Southern. I'll take that. ... I'm proud of our football team."
Fort Hays stopped the Lions on three consecutive first-half possessions after the Lions drove into scoring range.
The Tigers stopped Southern on a fourth-down play from the 21 when Hinspeter threw incomplete on fourth down.
An interception by junior defensive back Kyle Flax stopped the next drive at the Missouri Southern 12-yard line.
Minutes later, Southern drove to the Fort Hays 17 before senior Alley Broussard was stopped for no gain, by sophomore lineman Macy Sexton and junior Jason Carr, on a fourth-and-1 play.
"They were just beating us to the punch," Norman said of the Tigers' defense. "They have nice talent out there. We struggled last year and we struggled again this year. The difference was, there wasn't a goose egg on the board at the end of the day."
Fort Hays was never able to sustain a drive after senior Justin Barr's 23-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right early with 2:16 left in the first half. Following that 15-play, 82-yard drive, the Tigers managed just 114 more yards the rest of the game.
Fort Hays quarterbacks Shane Jackson and Ryne Salyer each threw an interception. The Tigers were stopped on downs three times in the second half and lost a fumble to halt another drive inside Southern territory.
The best opportunity for the Tigers came with 5:42 remaining. After a 17-yard punt return by sophomore Trevor Zott, Fort Hays set up its offense on the Southern 28-yard line.
Senior Jordan Hickel was stopped for a 1-yard loss, then the Tigers were penalized for holding.
A pair of incomplete Jackson passes set up a fourth-and-21 situation from the 39. With the Southern secondary protecting deep, Jackson threw underneath to Hickel, who was stopped for an 8-yard gain.
"The primary (receiver) was the deeper ball, but there wasn't anybody within 15 yards of Jordan," Verdugo said. "If he can make anybody miss, he might have a chance to break through."
Southern was stopped on three plays and Fort Hays set up shop one last time with 2:56 remaining.
Jackson scrambled 14 yards to the Southern 37 on a fourth-down play. But after a 2-yard run, Jackson threw three straight incomplete passes.
Missouri Southern defensive back Keith Wyatt swatted away a fourth-down throw to Cody Witte down the sideline on fourth down with just 1:23 remaining.
The Tigers limited Missouri Southern to 345 total yards, almost 100 below its season average.
Fort Hays had 213 yards of total offense. Jackson gained 69 yards on six carries, including a pair of first-down bursts on draws. He also completed 14-of-29 passes for 116 yards.
Freshman Matt Brevi had six receptions for 53 yards.
Carr led the defense with nine tackles, including six solo stops. Sophomore defensive back Gordon Butler had seven tackles and junior linebacker Cody Engle had seven tackles plus a first-half interception.
"We're a better football team (than last season)," Verdugo said. "We probably let an opportunity or so get away from us in the past couple of weeks where maybe we could have had another win. We have a heck of a conference."
The Tigers return home to meet MIAA leader Northwest Missouri at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lewis Field Stadium.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/11 | Central Missouri | L 4-2 |
| BB | 5/10 | Missouri Western | W 4-3 |
| BB | 5/09 | Emporia State | L 6-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
