HAYS, Kan. – Griffon Football (1-3, 0-2 MIAA) dropped a hard-fought battle on the road, falling 31-23 at Fort Hays State (3-2, 2-1 MIAA) on Saturday night at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays.
Fort Hays State opened the scoring in the first quarter when quarterback Caleb Heavner connected with Joshua Clark for a 17-yard touchdown pass at the 9:56 mark.
MoWest responded with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped by
Spencer Sprenger's 24-yard field goal, trimming the deficit to 7-3 with 3:58 left.
MWSU struck again late in the first quarter. After a Hays fumble was recovered by
Drew Scott at the Tigers' 26-yard line,
Kane Donovan hit
Damir Abdullah on a four-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds remaining, and Sprenger's PAT put the Griffons on top, 10-7, at the end of the first quarter.
Hays opened the second quarter with a six-yard touchdown run by Curtis Douglas to go up 14-10 with 10:34 left before halftime.
The Griffons responded with a 26-yard field goal from Sprenger to cut the deficit to 14-13 with 1:07 left until halftime.
The game then swung in MoWest's favor when FHSU QB Chase Heavner was picked off by
TreVon Holmes, giving the Griffs a first down at their own 40 with 32 seconds left.
Standing at the Hays 44-yard line with three seconds on the clock, Donovan connected with
Malik Moore on a 44-yard Hail Mary as time expired, lifting the Griffs to a 20-14 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, after MoWest turned it over on downs on the opening series of the second half, Hays cut into the deficit with a 41-yard field goal by David Arriaga at the 4:24 mark of the third quarter, narrowing the Griffon lead to 20-17 to start the fourth.
In the final quarter, MoWest scored its only points of the half on a 35-yard field goal by Sprenger to extend the lead to 23-17 with 14:43 to play.
Hays quickly answered, however, with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Heavner to Tariq Logan to take the lead back at 24-23 with just over 12 minutes to play.
MoWest struggled to find offensive momentum after falling behind in the fourth quarter, punting the ball away on two straight drives.
The Tigers took advantage, as Curtis Douglas broke free on a 59-yard rushing touchdown, putting FHSU up 31-23 with 2:40 remaining.
MoWest had one last chance to tie it. Driving all the way to the Hays' 11-yard line with 11 seconds left, Donovan's pass intended for Moore fell incomplete on fourth down in the end zone, allowing Hays to take over on downs with just three seconds left.
Donovan completed a career-best 30 passes on 45 attempts for a career-high 314 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and a 135.5 passer rating.
Moore led the way receiving wise with four catches for 75 yards and a touchdown, while
Damir Abdullah added 5 receptions for 53 yards and a score.
Brandon Hall had 16 carries for 57 rushing yards. MoWest ran 81 snaps for 438 total yards. The Griffs also dominated time of possession 35:54 – 24:06.
TreVon Holmes posted eight tackles (three solo, five assist) and grabbed an interception to lead the defense. Sprenger went 3-for-3 on field goals and 2-for-2 on PATs.
What's Next
MoWest is back home on Saturday, Oct. 4 to face Emporia State. Kickoff in that game is set for 6 p.m.
It'll be MWSU's annual Homecoming game and part of a weekend-long celebration, honoring 50 years of women's athletics at Missouri Western State University.
