fhsuathletics.com

EDMOND, Okla. – Fort Hays State escaped a poor start at Central Oklahoma on Saturday night (Sept. 16) thanks to a big receiving performance by Monterio Burchfield. His 64-yard touchdown reception with 45 seconds remaining lifted the No. 21 ranked Tigers to a 31-24 win, moving to 3-0 on the season. Burchfield finished the game with 217 yards on eight catches.

Burchfield was also key in getting the game tied. With the Tigers trailing 24-21, he jumped up over a defender to haul in a 40-yard pass from Jacob Mezera on 3rd-and-12 for a key first down. Roughing the passer tacked on extra yards to the play and eventually led to a Brandon Brown 24-yard field goal to tie the game with 3:44 remaining.

The Tigers fell into a hole early in the game as UCO took a 14-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, thanks to a 75-yard receiving play that led to the first touchdown and an interception that set up a short field for the second. But, the defense shook off the rough start and the offense pushed its first touchdown in at the 8:52 mark of the second quarter on a Harley Hazlett 8-yard run. UCO led 14-7 at halftime.

Fort Hays State outgained Central Oklahoma 535 to 382 in total yards. On defense, Connor Shedeed led the Tigers with 10 tackles, while Jose Delgado and Tanner Hoekman each had eight.

The Tigers are at home next week. They host Northeastern State at 2 pm on Saturday, September 23 at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays.