By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Points have been few and far between in football games between Missouri Southern and Fort Hays State the last two years.
The Tigers posted a 10-0 victory at home in 2006, and the Lions prevailed 6-0 last season in Joplin.
Entering today’s game in Hays, Kan., both teams possess two of the MIAA’s best defenses.
Fort Hays State leads the conference in total defense (270.5 yards per game) and rushing defense (93.2). The Lions are fourth in total defense (313.3) and first in pass defense (136.8 yards).
“Fort Hays is a solid defensive outfit,” Lions head coach Bart Tatum said. “They play hard, fundamentally sound. They are doing a great job on that side of the ball, and our defensive is playing really good.”
Tatum and Tigers head coach Kevin Verdugo, former quarterback and defensive back at Pittsburg High School, have emphasized defense while building their programs.
“I told our people here if you build a defense and keep the other team from scoring too many points, you’re always in a ball game,” Verdugo said. “Our defense has probably only had two bad quarters all year. We’ve been able to infuse that side of the ball with pretty good players. They understand what we’re trying to do, and they’re playing disciplined football.”
“We have put a lot of eggs in that (defensive) basket, and it’s been productive,” Tatum said. “Consistently our defense has produced. We had a terrible outing against (Nebraska-Omaha) ... nobody likes giving up 500 yards and 300 yards-plus rushing.
“That hasn’t happened very much in our three years here, just two or three times. I feel on that side of the ball they take a tough mentality into every game for the most part, and they’ve been producing. Mission accomplished on that ... just keep building and keep doing it, and we have a lot of guys coming back on that side of the ball.”
“On defense, it’s the nature of the game. You go around, fly around, have fun,” said inside linebacker Jared Brawner, who’s second in the conference with 9.8 tackles per game. “We recruit players who have that mentality. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves as far as you can’t just execute and do your job. Our focus is to make plays and have fun. If you do that, you’ll win the game.”
Offensively the Lions are sixth in the conference in scoring (27.5 points) and total offense (342.7). They were limited to 203 yards — only 20 on the ground — in last week’s 23-0 homecoming loss to Washburn.
The Lion defense gave up 254 yards and one touchdown as the Ichabods returned two interceptions for scores.
Fort Hays State, which defeated Washburn 17-7 in its league opener, lost 31-28 last week at Missouri Western after spotting the Griffons a 21-point lead.
“If we don’t turn the ball over, there’s a good chance we win that game,” Verdugo said. “We turned it over three times, and they ran one back for a touchdown, and another went to the 4-yard line right before half and set up at TD. That’s 14 points, and we lost by three.”
Anthony Smith, the Tigers’ top receiver with 16 catches for 195 yards, is now the starting quarterback after Mike Garrison suffered a season-ending broken jaw two weeks ago against Truman State.
“Our perception is they can be even a little more dangerous with the young man that they’ve moved to quarterback,” Tatum said. “He’s a very good athlete. They will have a lot more attempts to get him on the perimeter on rollouts with run-pass option.”
The Tigers’ Jacobb Irvin is sixth in the league with 77.8 rushing yards per game, followed by the Lions’ Toderick Hunt at 67.8 yards.
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