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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State football team fell 48-13 to Fort Hays State in the MIAA TV Game of the Week Saturday afternoon at Doc Wadley Stadium.
 
The RiverHawks dropped to 0-2 on the year, while the Tigers improved to 1-1. The contest was billed as the MIAA Game of the Week and was broadcast on the MIAA TV Network.
 
FHSU posted 408 yards of offense, which included 211 through the air and 197 on the ground. NSU finished with 345 total yards, 297 passing and 48 rushing. The RiverHawks turned the ball over six times (twice on downs), while the visitors had just two turnovers (once on downs).
 
NSU also finished with just two third-down conversions for the second-straight game. The Tigers held a 26-19 advantage in first downs and a 35:29-24:31 edge in time of possession.
 
Sophomore quarterback Kevin Pantastico was 23-of-37 passing for 297 yards and his first two touchdowns in the green and white. He also threw a pair of interceptions. Redshirt freshman running back Derrick Moore came on in the fourth quarter and ended up leading NSU in rushing with 27 yards on five carries. Senior transfer Ricki Herod posted four receptions for a team-high 97 yards and one touchdown. Junior Garrett Powell had nine catches for 67 yards and a score.
 
The home opener for the RiverHawks started strong, as NSU went up 6-0 on its first possession. After forcing an FHSU punt, the home side marched 80 yards down the field in 12 plays for the game's first points. Pantastico finished the drive with an 11-yard strike to Herod in the right corner of the endzone.
 
The early highlight would quickly turn sour for NSU, however, as the extra point was blocked. The visitors then rattled off 48 unanswered points to put the game out of reach.
 
Treveon Albert led the Tiger charge with five touchdowns. He finished 12-of-22 passing for 149 yards and three TD's. He also scored twice on the ground and finished with 24 yards rushing on five attempts. Just for good measure, the versatile athlete tallied an additional three receptions for 24 yards.
 
Ed Williams finished with eight catches for 113 yards and one score for Fort Hays State.
 
Northeastern State will now venture to St. Joseph, Missouri, for a 6 p.m. tilt Sept. 20 against Missouri Western State University.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

Qtr.	Time	Team	Play	Score
1	6:48	NSU	Kevin Pantastico 11 pass to Ricki Herod (kick blocked)	0-6
	1:52	FHSU	Treveon Albert 4 run (Drew O'Brien kick)	7-6
2	12:34	FHSU	O'Brien 41 FG	10-6
	11:17	FHSU	O'Brien 38 FG	13-6
	5:30	FHSU	Albert 27 pass to Kenneth Iheme (O'Brien kick)	20-6
3	10:00	FHSU	Albert 11 pass to Isaiah Maxi (O'Brien kick)	27-6
	3:42	FHSU	Albert 9 run (O'Brien kick)	34-6
4	11:15	FHSU	Albert 12 pass to Ed Williams (O'Brien kick)	41-6
	10:08	FHSU	Edward Smith 2 run (O'Brien kick)	48-6
	8:30	NSU	Pantastico 14 pass to Garrett Powell (Dylan Beers kick)	48-13

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH ROB ROBINSON
On what he told the team after the game…
"We'll get it figured out and right the ship. They've got to realize what it takes to play in this league. It's an everyday ball game. There are no off weeks. They watched the film and thought they were better than them and that's on me. They've got to figure out that it's a grind. Once you hit the second week of the season, it's a grind. You've got to bring it every day. I just told them to keep their heads up and we'll figure it out."
 
On how mistakes affected the team…
"It just snowballs. Especially on a young time, an inexperienced team, it's like, 'here we go again.' That's what they've got to break. There's adversity in this game every play and you've got to fight through it. If something bad happens, fight through it and make it bad for the other team on the next play. That's what they've got to start buying into. Adversity is going to be there, you've got to knock it out and get going."
 
On the opening drive and missing the PAT…
"That was the first mistake. Then it's just coming back into their mind everything that happened to them in the past. They've got to fight through that. We're going to have three-and-outs, the NFL has three-and-outs, the University of Oklahoma has three-and-outs, and it's going to happen. We're going to have a lot more plays to go get better. We tried to establish the run a little too much, but that's something that you have to be able to do in this league. That's more of a mental game for those guys. If we're going to compete we've got to run the ball."
 
On Pantastico sometimes holding on to the ball too long…
"He has to realize that every play is not going to be there. He has to trust your reads and throw on time. Every play is not going to be a 50-yard bomb. We don't have to go for the jugular each time. We can march it down the field with our receivers. You saw Garrett Powell getting yards after catches. Ricki Herod can get yards after catches. He has to get it in their hands and let them make some plays."
 
On the positives of the day…
"We're going to build on the fact that we have guys that can make plays. Our confidence is really shallow right now. They've got to know that when that ball is in the air as a DB, they can pick that. We should have had two more picks. They're just scared to make those game-changing plays right now. Our defensive staff is doing a great job of trying to get them to believe they are just as athletic as the other guy. We need to go take it from him and take it to the house. They've just got to believe in themselves."
 
GAME NOTES

• Northeastern State leads the series over Fort Hays State 2-1. This was the first meeting between the teams since 1990.
• Northeastern State coach Rob Robinson and Fort Hays State coach Chris Brown coached together at Washburn University from 2002-10.
• Ross Dvorak and James Renfrow made their 22nd career starts. Ross Dvorak made his team leading 15th start in a row, while Jack Gray owns the most starts overall on the current roster with 27.
• Kevin Pantastico threw his first touchdown as a member of the RiverHawks to Ricki Herod at 6:48 of the first quarter. It was also Herod's first career reception and touchdown for NSU.
• Pantastico finished with 297 yards passing, which was the most by an NSU quarterback since Johnny Deaton finished with 366 against Central Oklahoma on Nov. 5, 2011.
• NSU's 80-yard drive which took 6:48 and ended in a touchdown in the first quarter was the longest in both yards and time of possession on the young season. The drive would have been the ninth longest yardage-wise and second longest time-wise last year.
• A 45-yard pass from Pantastico to Herod in the fourth quarter is the longest play of the season for the RiverHawks.
• Romon Beard had his first career interception with five seconds left in the second quarter.
• Terrance Dixon had 86 yards (63 receiving and 20 rushing) which made him the sixth RiverHawk in history to have over 2,000 career all-purpose yards (2,028).
• Carson Smallwood had his first career sack in the third quarter.
• Treveon Albert had five touchdowns (three passing and two rushing). The last time NSU gave up a 5-TD game was to Brent Wilson (all passing) of Emporia State Sept. 28, 2013.
• Garrett Powell caught his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter. His nine receptions were the most by an NSU player in a single game since Jermaine Sherman also had nine against Emporia State on Sept. 22, 2012.
• The RiverHawks have rushed for exactly 48 yards in each of the first two games of the season. The last time NSU was held to less than 50 yards rushing in back-to-back games was Sept. 13/Sept. 20, 2008 against Midwestern State (37) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (-8).
• The 12 penalties on Northeastern State were the most since Oct. 23, 2010, against Central Oklahoma (13). 
• NSU has lost the first two games of the season in all three years since joining the MIAA. 
• The RiverHawks gave up 408 total yards. They had eight games in which they gave up more than 400 yards in 2013.
• Northeastern State scored first against Fort Hays State. Since joining the MIAA in 2012, NSU has now lost eight times when scoring first.
• Jordan Cunningham registered the first block of his career when he got his hands on a punt at the 1:55 mark of the second quarter. NSU's last blocked punt came Dec. 3, 2011, against Minnesota State-Mankato (Dallas McCutcheon).

 
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