NORTHEASTERN STATE (1-8, 1-8 MIAA) at
FORT HAYS STATE (2-7, 2-7 MIAA)
Saturday, November 5 -- 1 p.m.
Lewis Field Stadium 
All-Time Series: Fort Hays State leads 7-2

TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State will meet Fort Hays State for the tenth time in program history this Saturday at 1 p.m.

The game will be aired on the radio on Billy Country 96.3 - Tahlequah and GoRiverHawksGo.com. The video broadcast can be found on The MIAA Network through the NSU video portal.  

TOP STORYLINES

1 | Saturday will be the RiverHawks' final road game and the furthest trip of the 2022 season.  Northeastern State's visit to Kansas will be the third of the season.  

2 | In the previous two games, Northeastern State's defense has forced seven turnovers and is +6 on the turnover battle. 

3 | Fort Hays State will have its final home game of the regular season.  At home, they have lost six of their last seven, the program's longest streak since the 2012-13 seasons.

4 | Rain isn't in the forecast, but as always with a visit to Hays, the wind will play into factor, with gusts expected to be between 15-to-25 miles per hour. 

5 | The RiverHawks will be looking for its first road win of the season and to snap a seven-game skid away from Tahlequah.  

NSU QUICK HITS
>>  Dashawn Williams leads the team with four touchdown catches and has 35 receptions.   Against Missouri Western in week seven, the senior had seven catches for a career-high 110 yards.  Williams is ninth in the MIAA with 3.9 receptions per game.  Malik Antwine is second in NSU's receiving group with 352 yards and 26 catches.  The sophomore has three touchdowns and has thrown one on a 46-yard pass in the second quarter at Pittsburg State

100-Yard Receiving Games (2022)
Malik Antwine - 106 yards vs. Missouri Southern State
Dashawn Williams - 110 yards vs. Missouri Western

>> Isaiah Davis has led NSU in carries in the previous four games and has 322 rushing yards and three touchdowns.    Darius Salters is second in the NSU running back group with 270 rushing yards on 79 carries.   The senior ran in his first touchdown against Missouri Western in week seven.  

>> Grant Elerick earned the starting nod at quarterback in week nine, with Ben Ward sharing drives from under center.  Elerick started nine games at quarterback during the 2021 season as a redshirt-freshman.   Jacob Frazier started the first six weeks for the RiverHawks, and has a pass completion percentage of 61.2 with seven touchdowns.   

>> Northeastern State's defense has a new look in 2022.  Mike Lucas took over the RiverHawks' defense in August and is a well-seasoned coach with 30-plus years of coaching at the NCAA Division I college level.  Lucas was the head football coach at Southeastern Louisiana and was most recently the defensive coordinator at Northwestern State.  Damani Carter, an NSU letterwinner, will be the defensive line coach, along with Jalen Alexander, who was at Texas A&M-Commerce and Kilgore College.

>>  The RiverHawks are eighth in the MIAA with 13 sacks and fifth with six tackles for a loss per game.   NSU's defense has climbed up to third in the MIAA in turnovers gained, but the team is being outscored 53-to-33 on points off turnovers.  The secondary is fourth in the MIAA with eight interceptions and fourth in fumbles recovered (7). 

>> Jordan Lamotte leads the NSU defense with 66 tackles (48 solo-18 assist).  His 48 solo tackles are tied for second overall among those in the MIAA.  Lamotte recorded an interception and had a fumble recovery at Northwest Missouri; he also forced a fumble on a tackle against Washburn in week nine.  Isaac Little and Chris Lee pace the team with five tackles for a loss this season.

>>  Tyler Crawford is 8-for-13 on field goal attempts this season, but he is just the third kicker in NSU history to have a pair of 50+ yard made attempts.  The Broken Arrow native is the only kicker in NCAA D-II football this season with three 50+ yard kicks and is 15-for-15 on extra point attempts.  Additionally, in NSU history, he is one of two kickers with three 50+ yard made attempts and owns three of the top-14 longest field goals.  He also booted a 77-yard punt at Northwest Missouri, which was the second longest in NCAA-DII era.  Crawford was an MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week selection in week four and handles punting duties for NSU where he is sixth in the MIAA in 42.0 yards per kick.

>> The RiverHawks are second-lowest penalized team in the MIAA, with 43 flags called this season.

>> Instant replay is available in the MIAA during the 2022 season; the RiverHawks are 1-3 in coaches' challenges.   A charged time out is given to a team if their challenge is unsuccessful. 

>> Northeastern State's captains for the 2022 season are: Shaakir Smith (#7), Jacob Frazier (#9), and Coltin Knape (#48).

>> The RiverHawks' 2022 roster holds 62 student-athletes from Oklahoma.  

THE SERIES WITH THE TIGERS
>> First meeting with Fort Hays State was in 1989.
>> Northeastern State is 1-3 at Hays and has been outscored 244-20 in the last four meetings. 

ABOUT THE TIGERS
>> Fort Hays State is set for its first consecutive losing seasons in a decade. 

>>The Tigers are in the bottom 20 nationally with 21 turnovers this season, with 13 fumbles.  Defensively, they are last in the MIAA in red zone defense, with teams scoring 93.3-percent against them.  Offensively is a different story for the Tigers as they are 13th nationally, going 90-percent on red zone chances. 

>>    Fort Hays' offense has been without its top quarterback for most of the season, with Chance Fuller seeing snaps in two contests.  Fuller became the career passing yards leader at FHSU in Week 1, throwing for 309 yards at Northwest Missouri State.  In last season's meeting with NSU, Fuller throw a career-high four touchdown passes in a 64-6 win in Tahlequah. 

>> Injuries have also limited Hunter Budke, an All-American Tight End in 2021.  Budke missed four games but returned to the field last week at Emporia State.  The senior had eight touchdowns and 620 receiving yards last season. 

>> Manny Ramsey has been a top receiving target for the Tigers and is second in the MIAA with 657 yards and 43 catches.  The fifth-year player has nine 100-yard receiving games and four consecutive games with a touchdown.

>> Makel Williams leads the FHSU defense with 70 tackles.

>> Fort Hays State has one player on its roster from Oklahoma.