RV/#25 Fort Hays State (6-2, 6-2 MIAA) at
Lincoln (1-7, 1-7 MIAA)
Saturday, November 2, 2019 – 1 pm
Dwight T. Reed Stadium – Jefferson City, Mo.
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Fort Hays State Football hits the road this weekend for a road contest at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. FHSU enters the game 6-2, while Lincoln is 1-7. The Tigers are looking for their seventh straight win after an 0-2 start to the year, and their seventh straight win in the series history with the Blue Tigers.

The Tigers look to stay alive in the conference championship race and NCAA Playoff picture. FHSU is two games back of MIAA-leading Central Missouri and just one back of second-place Northwest Missouri State. If the Tigers are going to make the NCAA Playoffs for a third straight year, winning their final three regular season games is most likely the only option. FHSU enters this week ranked No. 9 in the Super Region 3 rankings. The top seven in the super region will make the NCAA Playoffs and the Tigers have seven teams with one loss or less in front of them, as well as a two-loss Missouri Western team that they lost to early in the season.

Fort Hays State and Lincoln are meeting for the first time since the 2013 season, the last year Lincoln was a member of the MIAA before coming back into the conference this season with the departure of Lindenwood. The Blue Tigers played as members of the GLVC from 2014-2018 while absent from the MIAA in football. FHSU won that 2013 meeting 45-35. FHSU has traditionally seen close battles with Lincoln. The previous three meetings between FHSU and Lincoln in MIAA play were decided by 10 points or less, all going to FHSU in the win column.

Offensively, the Tigers have scored at least 30 points in six of eight games this season. FHSU is coming off a 37-31 win over Nebraska-Kearney at home last week. The Tigers are averaging 37 points in four road games so far this year, scoring at least 30 in all four.

Lincoln began the season 0-6 before claiming its first win of the year over a winless Northeastern State squad in Week 7 by a score of 27-9. The Blue Tigers have allowed at least 38 points in all seven of their losses this year. Lincoln is coming off a 56-9 loss at Northwest Missouri State last week. Running back Hosea Franklin accounts for over 50 percent of Lincoln’s total offense. He is the only player in the MIAA with over 1,000 rushing yards this season with 1,048 through eight games. He averages 131 yards per game on the ground.

Chance Fuller is the triggerman for the Tiger offense. FHSU ranks 10th in the nation in passing offense, averaging 314.3 yards per game through the air. Individually Fuller averages 306.5 passing yards per game, which ranks ninth in NCAA Division II. He has 2,452 passing yards with 25 touchdowns so far this year. Harley Hazlett, Manny Ramsey, and Layne Bieberle have been a triple threat of targets for Fuller. Hazlett leads the team in receiving yards with 673, followed by Ramsey with 596 and Bieberle with 589. Charles Tigner leads the Tiger ground game with 643 rushing yards, going over 100 yards in a game three times this season.

Defensively, Drew Harvey leads the Tigers in tackles with 69, followed by Tanner Hoekman with 67 and Jordan Starks with 64. The aforementioned trio has six of the team’s 10 interceptions this season. Sheldon Schmidt continues to lead the team in sacks with three.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Fort Hays State women’s basketball team kept pace with a talented K-State squad for much of the night before falling 78-60 in exhibition play Friday at Bramlage Coliseum. After trailing by as many as 17 early in the third quarter, the Tigers closed within three early in the fourth before the Wildcats pulled away down the stretch.

The Tigers were well balanced on offense, with 11 of the 12 Tigers that played scoring at least one point. Belle Barbieri and Jaden Hobbs led the team with 10 points each. Allison McFarren (nine points), Taylor Rolfs (seven), Kacey Kennett (six) and Whitney Randall (five) also scored at least five points on the night.

K-State’s size advantage was evident on the stat sheet, with the Wildcats outrebounding FHSU 53-27 and outscoring the Tigers in the paint 36-22.

In addition to leading the team in scoring, Barbieri also paced the team with five rebounds and four assists. McFarren was the only Tiger to knock down multiple shots from behind the arc, drilling 3-of-6 of her 3-point attempts.

Kennett knocked down a pair of jumpers in a span of 22 seconds thanks to a steal from Rolfs to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead less than two minutes into the game, FHSU’s only lead of the night.

After trailing by as many as five, a layup from Rolfs early in the second quarter helped the Tigers close within one, 18-17. K-State started to pull away over the heart of the second quarter, using a 17-5 run to go in front by 13, 37-24. McFarren ended an 8-0 Wildcat run with a 3-pointer before Rolfs made another steal and knocked down a triple of her own, trimming the deficit to seven in just 11 seconds.

After leading by 10 at halftime, 41-31, K-State scored the first seven points of the second half to pad the lead to 17. The Black and Gold responded with a 16-4 run over the final 7:32 of the third quarter, closing within five with 10 minutes to play. While the rest of the team took advantage of trips to the charity stripe, hitting 6-of-8 free throws, both Hobbs and Madison Mittie knocked down 3-pointers to give the Tigers some life.

Hobbs scored on a layup after a dish from Barbieri on the first possession of the final quarter to close within one possession, 52-49, before the home team finished things off thanks to a 26-11 run. K-State hit 10-of-18 from the floor during the final stretch to secure the victory.

After knocking down 40 percent (12-of-30) from the floor in the opening half, the Tigers finished the game with a shooting percentage of 33.9 percent (21-of-62). FHSU hit 6-of-17 from deep, good for 35.3 percent. The Tigers created 21 Wildcat turnovers while turning the ball over just 15 times. Both teams were credited with nine steals.

The Tigers open the season next weekend in St. Joseph, Mo. against two of the top teams from the NSIC, both of whom won 20 or more games last year. The regular season opens against Minnesota Duluth, who reached the NCAA DII Tournament last year, on Friday (Nov. 8) at 1:30 p.m. FHSU wraps up the opening weekend against Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. Both games will be played inside the St. Joseph Civic Arena.

Coming off the best season in the program’s NCAA Division II history, the Fort Hays State women’s basketball team opens exhibition play for the 2019-20 season Friday when the Tigers travel to Manhattan, Kan. to play Kansas State. First tip is set for 6:30 p.m. inside Bramlage Coliseum, with tickets available for as low as $5.

This is the sixth meeting between the Tigers and Wildcats in exhibition play, with K-State coming away victorious in all five previous contests. This is the third year in a row that FHSU has made the trip to Manhattan for a preseason matchup. The Tigers kept things close in a defensive battle one year ago to the day, leading by as many as nine late in the third quarter before coming up two points short, 48-46 (11/1/18). Kacey Kennett averages 9.5 points per game in two trips to Manhattan.

FHSU and K-State played annually during the infancy of both programs, with the Wildcats leading the regular season series 11-2. The last regular season matchup was played in 1976.

Fort Hays State returns 10 letterwinners from last year’s squad that finished 32-2, the most wins in a season during the DII era. The Tigers won both regular season and MIAA tournament titles and reached the regional championship game. Among the returners are three All-MIAA performers in Kacey Kennett (second team), Lanie Page (third team) and Belle Barbieri. Four newcomers, including two transfers and two true freshmen, round out this year’s roster.

Two Tigers have strong K-State ties in Madison Mittie and Lanie Page. Mittie’s father, Jeff Mittie, is in his sixth season as head coach at Kansas State. He has led the Wildcats to the postseason each of the last five seasons, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament and a pair of WNIT appearances. Page played for Mittie two years in Manhattan, redshirting her first year before appearing in 25 games in 2016-17.

K-State returns nine letterwinners from last year’s squad that finished 21-12 and qualified for the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Peyton Williams and Rachel Ranke were selected as preseason All-Big 12 honorees this season, while Williams and Christianna Carr return after earning All-Big 12 accolades last year. The Wildcats opened exhibition play with a 75-59 win over Washburn on Tuesday (Oct. 29).

INDIANAPOLIS – No. 20 Fort Hays State men’s soccer is placed seventh out of 10 teams in the first installment of the NCAA 2019 super region rankings. FHSU is represented in super region three.

In prior years, the soccer rankings have been separated into eight smaller regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West). For the 2019 campaign, the NCAA has transitioned to a postseason format of Super Regions – an expanded version of the previous regional format. The men’s soccer committee will select 10 teams to represent each super region.

The NCAA men’s soccer committee will continue to release two more editions of the super region rankings. The next edit will be made on Wednesday, Nov. 6 and the final selections on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

Two Tiger opponents have entered into the super region ranks. Maryville University (Mo.) clocks in at No. 5 in super region three, posting a record of 12-2-2. While Eastern New Mexico has been slated in the 10th spot in super region four.

Fort Hays State began the season with a 3-0 victory at home over Rockhurst, followed by a tough stretch of matches consisting of three losses to Eastern New Mexico, Maryville (who was ranked No. 19), and Regis University. Since those games, the Tigers have headed out on a dominant streak of nine wins, one loss, and one tie.

With just three games left to play in the regular season, the Black and Gold are set to travel to Wichita, Kan. to face off against Newman before ending their season in Hays, Kan. against Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Nazarene.

Below are the NCAA Super Region Rankings for October 29, 2019: