WASHINGTON (AP) — Jay Gruden was fired as head coach of the Washington Redskins on Monday after an 0-5 start to the sixth season of a tenure that featured only one playoff appearance.

The Redskins have gone 35-49-1 overall under Gruden, whose brother, Jon, coaches the Oakland Raiders.

A person familiar with the team’s plans told The Associated Press that offensive line coach Bill Callahan would replace Gruden on an interim basis. Callahan has been coach of the Raiders in the NFL and of Nebraska in college football.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Callahan’s new role wasn’t immediately announced.

Owner Daniel Snyder and team president Bruce Allen informed Gruden he was out early Monday morning, a day after a 33-7 loss to the New England Patriots. Allen was scheduled to make a rare appearance at a news conference Monday afternoon.

In the statement announcing that Gruden would no longer be the head coach, the Redskins said: “Through the first five games of the 2019 season, the team has clearly not performed up to expectations, and we all share in that responsibility. Moving forward we are committed to doing all that we can collectively as an organization to turn things around and give our Redskins fans and alumni a team they can be proud of in 2019 and beyond.”

After the home loss to New England, Gruden was asked if he knew where he stood with the Redskins.

“Nobody’s told me anything, and I don’t have a concern. I’ll just wait and see,” Gruden said. “(If) my key works on Monday, keep working.”

This season alone has seen star left tackle Trent Williams hold out, a shuffle at quarterback after Dwayne Haskins was taken No. 15 overall in the draft, a series of injuries up and down the roster — and, perhaps most upsetting to team leadership, increasingly large contingents of visiting fans attending games at Washington’s home stadium.

The Redskins rarely have even been competitive this season, ranking 30th out of 32 NFL clubs in both scoring, averaging 14.6 points, and defense, allowing 30.2 points per game.

Cornerback Quinton Dunbar wrote on Instagram that he owes Gruden “for life” for helping him by switching him from wide receiver after college and added: “Sorry we couldn’t get the job done for you.”

Gruden initially was hired by Washington in the hopes that he could help Robert Griffin III develop into a star quarterback, but that forced partnership quickly soured.

And while Gruden had some success drawing up and calling creative plays for Washington’s offense, his area of expertise, he never seemed to get a feel for other aspects of the job.

Despite never before being a head coach in the NFL, and despite never winning more than nine games in a season, Gruden managed to stick around longer than anyone else who’s held that job for the Redskins during Snyder’s unsuccessful two-decade stint as team owner.

Gruden’s teams finished with winning records just twice — 9-7 in 2015, then 8-7-1 in 2016 — and he took the Redskins to one playoff game, a loss. The team went 7-9 in each of the past two seasons, leading to speculation about whether he would be back.

Those questions about his job status reached a crescendo with the terrible start to this season, which has been a mess on and off the field for a franchise that won three Super Bowls under previous owner Jack Kent Cooke but has been in disarray throughout Snyder’s stewardship, including the last 10 years with right-hand man Allen running things as general manager and now president.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Marlon Mack ran for 132 yards, ageless kicker Adam Vinatieri knocked through four field goals, and Indianapolis shut down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ vaunted offense in a 19-13 victory. The Colts allowed points on Kansas City’s first two possessions before shutting it out until Harrison Butker’s field goal with 1:16 to go. The Colts got the onside kick to seal the win. Mahomes finished with 321 yards passing and a touchdown.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — One by one, the Chiefs lost crucial players on both sides of the ball against Indianapolis on Sunday night. The Colts took advantage of their flailing backups, too. The result was a 19-13 victory not only ended Kansas City’s incredible run of scoring at least 26 points in 22 straight games but also proved MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Co. are fallible.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas coach Les Miles fired offensive coordinator Les Koenning halfway through their first season with the Jayhawks and promoted Brent Dearmon to the same position Sunday. Koenning was hired by Miles after spending last season as the running backs coach at Southern Miss. He also has been offensive coordinator at Duke, Alabama, Texas A&M, South Alabama and Mississippi State. Dearmon spent last season as head coach of Bethel, an NAIA school.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Zdenek Ondrasek scored twice and FC Dallas earned a playoff spot with a 6-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City in the regular-season finale. FC Dallas (13-12-9) will open the playoffs at Seattle. Sporting Kansas City finished 10-16-8.

National Headlines

UNDATED (AP) — Ohio State and Georgia are tied at No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll, and Florida surged to No. 7 after a big victory. No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson held their spots after a week off for both, but the Buckeyes caught up to the Bulldogs in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. LSU and Oklahoma stayed Nos. 5 and 6. Auburn fell five spots to No. 12 after losing to Florida. Baylor, Memphis and Cincinnati all entered the Top 25.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Russell Martin delivered a two-run double and a two-run homer as the Los Angeles Dodgers hammered the Washington Nationals, 10-4 to take a two-games-to-one lead in the NL Division Series. Martin’s double put Los Angeles ahead to stay and sparked a seven-run sixth that began when Game 1 starter Patrick Corbin replaced Anibal Sanchez. Kike Hernandez also hit a two-run double in the sixth before Justin Turner capped the rally with a three-run homer.

ST. LOUIS (AP) _ The Atlanta Braves have a two-games-to-one lead in the NL Division Series following their second straight win. The Braves were held to four hits before scoring three times off closer Carlos Martinez in the ninth inning to pull out a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals in St. Louis. The Redbirds were one out from a 1-0 win until Dansby Swanson laced an RBI double and scored on Adam Duvall’s two-run single.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Teddy Bridgewater completed 26 of 34 passes for 314 yards and four touchdowns in the New Orleans Saints’ 31-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two of his scoring throws went to Michael Thomas, while Jared Cook and Ted Ginn Jr. grabbed the others. Thomas finished with 11 catches for 182 yards as New Orleans improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 with Bridgewater as the starter.

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) _ The New England Patriots rolled to a 33-7 win over the Washington Redskins as 42-year-old Tom Brady threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns. Brady moved past Brett Favre (fahrv) into third place on the career list with 71,923 yards passing. Redskins QB Colt McCoy was sacked six times, marking the first time in franchise history New England has four straight games with at least five sacks.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) _ Aaron Jones scored a career-high four touchdowns and the Green Bay Packers bounced back from their only loss by hanging on for a 34-24 victory over the Cowboys. Jones’ fourth TD of the afternoon gave Green Bay a 31-3 lead in the third quarter. Dak Prescott threw for 463 yards and Amari Cooper had 226 yards receiving for the Cowboys, who are 3-2 following their second straight loss.

Sunday Scores

NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Atlanta 3 St. Louis 1
Final L-A Dodgers 10 Washington 4

MONDAY BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Houston at Tampa Bay 1:05 p.m.
N-Y Yankees at Minnesota 8:40 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Atlanta at St. Louis 3:07 p.m.
L-A Dodgers at Washington 6:40 p.m.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Buffalo 14 Tennessee 7
Final Houston 53 Atlanta 32
Final OT Baltimore 26 Pittsburgh 23
Final New England 33 Washington 7
Final Arizona 26 Cincinnati 23
Final Carolina 34 Jacksonville 27
Final New Orleans 31 Tampa Bay 24
Final Philadelphia 31 N-Y Jets 6
Final Oakland 24 Chicago 21
Final Minnesota 28 N-Y Giants 10
Final Denver 20 L.A. Chargers 13
Final Green Bay 34 Dallas 24
Final Indianapolis 19 Kansas City 13
Mon. Cleveland at San Francisco 8:15 p.m.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Les Miles was fired by LSU in part because his offenses failed to score enough points.

He doesn’t want the same thing to happen at Kansas.

So midway through an ugly first season with the Jayhawks, one marked by vast improvement on defense but more problems on offense, Miles announced Sunday that he had fired coordinator Les Koenning.

Brent Dearmon was promoted from his role as offensive consultant to take his place.

“This was a difficult decision, but it is in the best interest of our football program both now and in the future,” Miles said. “There is still a lot of football left to play this season and I want to put our players in the best position to be successful, which is why I am making the change now.”

The Jayhawks, who fell to 2-4 and 0-3 in the Big 12 with a 45-20 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday, are averaging just over 22 points per game — last in their conference by a wide margin.

They have next week off before visiting Texas on Oct. 19.

The 60-year-old Koenning was hired by Miles after spending last season as the running backs coach at Southern Miss. He also had been offensive coordinator at Duke, Alabama, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and South Alabama, among his many travels, and even served a stint with the Miami Dolphins.

But despite returning a bevy of experienced players, including quarterback Carter Stanley and All-Big 12 running back Pooka Williams, the Jayhawks have struggled to produce any kind of consistent offense.

It will be up to Dearmon to change that.

He served last season as the head coach of Bethel, an NAIA school based in Minnesota, where his team produced the highest-scoring offense at any level of college football. Dearmon led his alma mater to a 10-0 regular season, the best in school history, and averaged 540 yards and 55 points.

Dearmon has also spent time at Arkansas Tech and two seasons on Gus Malzahn’s staff at Auburn.

“I am humbled and grateful to Coach Miles for giving me this opportunity,” Dearmon said. “There are a lot of talented young men on this team and it’s up to us as an offensive staff to have them prepared each and every week, and that will be our number one priority.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The way Indianapolis handled the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night sent a jolt through the NFL, whether it was dominating the line of scrimmage or shutting down Patrick Mahomes and Co. on defense.

The one place the shock didn’t reverberate? The visiting locker room in Arrowhead Stadium.

“The one emotion we were not feeling is shock. I can’t even explain it,” Colts coach Frank Reich said after the 19-13 victory. “The way guys were walking down the hallway, it was ‘We’re not going to be denied. We have to get on track. We’ve got to do it.’ I just knew it was real. I felt it all week.

“There was just an air of confidence and belief that we would do what we did today.”

Marlon Mack ran for 132 yards , and ageless kicker Adam Vinatieri knocked through four field goals, as the Colts atoned ever-so-slightly for a January playoff defeat inside the same stadium.

Asked what the message was pregame, longtime Chiefs linebacker-turned-Colts defensive end Justin Houston replied: “To come out here and play our game. To leave it out there every snap, to play with your heart, play with your soul. And I think we did that tonight.”

The Colts (3-2) allowed points on the Chiefs’ first two possessions before shutting them out until Harrison Butker’s field goal with 1:16 to go. Indianapolis recovered the onside kick without any issue and ran out the clock to celebrate a big win heading into its bye.

Mahomes threw for 321 yards and a touchdown, and the Chiefs (4-1) had just 36 yards rushing despite getting top running back Damien Williams back from an injury, all while watching their record streak of 22 straight games scoring at least 26 points come to a crashing conclusion.

“Penalties are really what hurt us today,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, whose team was flagged 11 times for 125 yards. “You get things going, all of a sudden you’re going backward, and it’s tough in this league to do that against a good team and win.”

In an air-it-out era of the NFL, the Colts also won by dominating the line of scrimmage.

On offense, their big line bruised a Kansas City defensive front that lost Chris Jones and Xavier Williams to injuries. That created big holes for Mack and plenty of time for Jacoby Brissett, who threw for 151 yards while running for the Colts’ only touchdown.

On defense, the Colts spent most of the night in the Kansas City backfield, plugging up holes in the running game and relentlessly pressuring the reigning league MVP on passing downs.

Mahomes was sacked four times and hit plenty more. At one point in the second half, Cam Erving was pushed so far into Mahomes’ face that the backup left tackle stepped on his quarterback’s ankle, leaving Mahomes to hobble to the sideline when Kansas City was forced to punt.

“In this league, the margin of error is tiny,” said Mahomes, who dismissed the seriousness of his injury. “If you’re not executing at a high level you’re going to lose.’”

The Colts and Chiefs mostly played to a first-half stalemate, but the second of Vinatieri’s four field goals made it 13-10 at the break. The real winners were the officials, who finally got to rest the arms that they used to throw flags for the first 30 minutes.

The Chiefs’ prolific offense continued to sputter in the second half, and Brissett and the Colts essentially played a game of keep-away throughout the third quarter and into the fourth.

“You don’t need a large playbook to convert third-and-1,” Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark said.

The Colts used 8:34 off the clock to move a mere 35 yards and set up Vinatieri’s next field goal. Then, when the Chiefs failed to convert fourth-and-1 at their own 34, Indianapolis got another field goal from Vinatieri with 2:30 to go to make it a two-possession game.

“You could just tell they were hungry. They were hungry all week,” Reich said. “I know that’s not uncommon, but there was something different about this week. I could feel it. It was palpable. We just walked in here with a lot of confidence. Last night in our meetings, I can’t even explain what happened in our meetings last night. There was just a feeling amongst the team when we walked into this stadium.”

ALMOST INT

Mahomes nearly threw his first interception of the season in the third quarter, when FB Anthony Sherman batted a pass and LB Bobby Okereke caught it. A review showed the ball bounced off the ground.

RING OF HONOR

The Chiefs inducted OL Brian Waters into their Hall of Fame during halftime. Waters was a two-time All-Pro for Kansas City before wrapping his 13-year career with the Patriots and Cowboys.

HAPPY RETURNS

Colts DE Justin Houston celebrated his first trip to Kansas City as a visitor by sacking Mahomes in the first half. The four-time Pro Bowl pick had 78 1/2 sacks during eight seasons with the Chiefs.

FLAG DAY

Chiefs CB Bashaud Breeland had a night to forget. Not only did he struggle in pass coverage, he was flagged four times for 68 yards. That included a 53-yard pass interference call.

INJURIES

Colts: CBs Shak Taylor (chest) and Kenny Moore II (knee) left in the first half, joining inactive safeties Malik Hooker (knee), Glayton Geathers (concussion) and Rolan Milligan (knee) on the Indianapolis sideline. LB Zaire Franklin (hamstring) and DE Kemoko Turay (ankle) left in the second half.

Chiefs: WR Sammy Watkins (hamstring), LB Anthony Hitchens (groin) and DT Xavier Williams (ankle) left in the first half. DT Chris Jones (groin) and LG Andrew Wylie (ankle) left in the second half.

UP NEXT

Colts get the week off before traveling to Houston on Oct. 20.

Chiefs welcome the Texans to Arrowhead Stadium next Sunday.

A look at what’s happening around the majors Monday:

REMEMBER ME?

Charlie Morton helped Houston achieve the ultimate prize in 2017, winning Game 7 of the AL Championship Series with a sharp start against the Yankees and then winning Game 7 of the World Series in relief against the Dodgers. This time, he hopes to prevent the Astros from advancing.

Signed by Tampa Bay last winter, Morton starts Game 3 in the best-of-five AL Division Series at Tropicana Field with his team down 2-0 to the Astros. Morton beat Oakland in last week’s AL wild-card matchup.

Morton faced his former team twice during the regular season, winning at home 4-2 on March 29 and losing 15-1 at Houston on Aug. 27.

“For me, there’s really no mystery with the Astros. It’s just kind of they are who they are to me. I mean, I know those guys pretty well, on and off the field,” Morton said. “I’m well aware of the challenges they present. I know what they’re made of. I’m just going to go out there … and try to make pitches and challenge them.”

Zack Greinke pitches for Houston, following dominant starts by teammates Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole in the first two games. Greinke is 8-1 with 3.02 ERA in 10 starts since being acquired by the Astros from Arizona at the trade deadline. In his last start, the right-hander came within two outs of throwing a no-hitter against Seattle.

WAIT AND SEE

The Braves are one win from reaching the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2001. Who they’ll send to the mound at Busch Stadium trying to wrap it up, they’re not ready to say.

“We really haven’t had a chance — when I get back in there, things will calm down and we’ll talk about that,” manager Brian Snitker said after Atlanta rallied in the ninth inning to beat St. Louis 3-1 on Sunday for a 2-1 lead in the NLDS.

One possible option is bringing back Dallas Keuchel on short rest after he pitched 4 2/3 innings in series opener Thursday.

Dakota Hudson will start Game 4 for the Cardinals. The rookie right-hander is making his postseason debut after going 16-7 with a 3.35 ERA this year.

YANKED

Hammered in two games at Yankee Stadium, the Twins try to avoid elimination in the ALDS when Jake Odorizzi (15-7, 3.51 ERA) faces New York.

The Yankees outscored Minnesota 18-6 in taking a 2-0 lead. If the Twins get swept, they would tie the North American major pro league record of 16 straight postseason losses, set by the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks from 1975-79. Minnesota’s last 12 postseason defeats have all been against New York.

Luis Severino starts for New York. The 25-year-old All-Star didn’t make his regular-season debut until Sept. 17, spending most of the year rehabbing a lat muscle injury sustained while warming up for his first spring training start.

Severino joked he doesn’t remember his first career start in the playoffs, when he allowed three runs to the Twins in 2017 while getting just one out in a wild-card game the Yankees rallied. He beat Cleveland in the 2017 ALDS but gave up six runs over three innings in a loss to Boston in the Division Series last year. Overall, he’s 1-2 with a 6.26 ERA in the postseason.

MAXED UP

Washington ace Max Scherzer is set to start Game 4 of the NL Division Series — no more mystery or intrigue.

The Nationals originally had said Scherzer was expected to pitch Game 3 Sunday night with the matchup against the Dodgers tied at 1-all. But during the day, they announced Aníbal Sánchez would make the start.

Scherzer was summoned from the bullpen by manager Dave Martinez in Game 2. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out all three batters he faced in Washington’s 4-2 victory at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

“We talked after the game. Throwing Sanchez Game 3 and letting me get an extra day would probably be the best thing for me and for the team,” Scherzer said Sunday. “So that was Davey’s decision, and it’s Davey’s call.”

Rich Hill starts for the Dodgers. He overcame knee trouble in September to put himself in position to pitch.

Ohio State and Georgia are tied at No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll, and Florida surged to No. 7 after a big victory.

No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson held their spots Sunday after a week off for both, but the Buckeyes caught up to the Bulldogs in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank.

The Crimson Tide received 32 first-place votes and 1503 points and the Tigers had 15 first-place votes and 1,433 points. Georgia got three first-place votes and 1,393 points. Ohio State, which was fourth last week, received 10 first-place votes and 1,393 points.

The last time there was a tie in the top three was Sept. 20, 2015, when TCU and Mississippi shared third.

No. 5 LSU received two first-place votes. Oklahoma stayed No. 6.

Florida moved up three spots after beating Auburn on Saturday. The Tigers slipped five to No. 12.

___

POLL POINTS

No. 22 Baylor is ranked for the first time since 2016, the season following the offseason firing of coach Art Briles. The school let Briles go amid a scandal related to the handling of sexual assault claims on campus. An investigation led to the president of the university and athletic director also departing.

Bears coach Matt Rhule told the AP on Sunday that he congratulated his team on being 5-0 after a convincing win at Kansas State the day before and senior linebacker Jordan Williams corrected him.

“He said, ‘No coach. We’re 1-0 this week,’” Rhule said. “That was good to hear him correct me.”

The third-year coach stepped into rebuild that was anything but normal.

The Bears started the ’16 season ranked under interim coach Jim Grobe and rose all the way to No. 8 in the country with a 6-0 start. They then lost their last six regular-season games and the program descended even further from there. After the 2016 regular season, Rhule was hired away from Temple, where he had taken a typically downtrodden team and won double-digit games in each of his final two seasons. With no Texas connections, the former Penn State player and NFL assistant seemed like an odd fit in Waco, Texas.

He hired several Texas high school coaches to bridge the gap in recruiting, but just getting through Year 1 was a major challenge.

With a depleted roster, Baylor went 1-11 in 2017.

“I remember thinking after the (season-ending) TCU game, ‘It will never be this bad again,’” Rhule said.

The Bears improved to 7-6 with a bowl victory last year, but the defense was still one of the worst in the nation. That’s turned. Baylor is 16th in the nation in yards per play allowed (4.49). Many of the players who were forced onto the field before they were ready during the first two seasons under Rhule are now juniors and seniors. The personnel fits the three-man front defensive coordinator Phil Snow prefers to use.

Offensively, Rhule has adapted to the talent available. The sideline-to-sideline, up-tempo spread used by Briles has been replaced by a more methodical and confined approach, though not quite so fullback-reliant as Rhule’s Temple teams.

Before Briles, Baylor was a perennial Big 12 cellar-dweller. Whether it could be more than that without him was an open question.

“The program could have gone the other way,” Rhule said. “But a lot of people’s efforts, starting with the players, kept that from happening.”

Baylor returns home this week to face Texas Tech.

IN/OUT

The American Athletic Conference lost one team in the ranking but gained two.

Central Florida is unranked for the first time since the Knights moved into the Top 25 on Oct. 1, 2017. UCF saw its 19-game conference winning streak snapped by Cincinnati on Friday night. The 25th-ranked Bearcats were rewarded with their first ranking of the season. No. 23 Memphis also is ranked for the first time this season.

Sliding out of the ranking after losing for the second time this season along with UCF were Washington, Oklahoma State and Michigan State (which was tied for 25th).

CONFERENCE CALL

For the fifth straight week, the Southeastern Conference has three top-five teams.

SEC — 6 (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 12, 24).

Big Ten — 5 (Nos. 3, 8, 10, 16, 17).

American — 3 (Nos. 21, 23, 25).

ACC — 3 (Nos. 2, 19, 20).

Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 6, 11, 22).

Pac-12 — 3 (Nos. 13, 15, 18).

Mountain West — 1 (No. 14).

Independent — 1 (No. 9).

RANKED vs. RANKED

This week’s slate has the most games matching ranked teams so far this season.

No. 1 Alabama at No. 24 Texas A&M. The Aggies will face the top-ranked team for the second time this season, which has happened 28 times previously (including postseason games). The last time that happened in the regular season was Tennessee in 2009, when it lost to both Florida and Alabama.

No. 7 Florida at No. 5 LSU. Gators will play in consecutive top-10 matchups.

No. 11 Texas vs. No. 6 Oklahoma. Red River is cool again.

No. 10 Penn State at No. 17 Iowa. The Hawkeyes often give ranked teams a hard time at Kinnick Stadium under the lights.

(BY STEVE CARPENTER)
(HUTCHINSON CC SPORTS INFORMATION)

HUTCHINSON, Kan. -Sophomore Naomi Waithira scored a pair of goals as the Hutchinson Community College women’s soccer team posted its 25th consecutive victory over Garden City on Saturday night at Don Michael Field.

Hutchinson dominated possession throughout the game and rolled to a 3-0 victory over the Broncbusters.

The Blue Dragons improve to 9-2 overall and 7-1 (21 points) in the Jayhawk West. Garden City falls to 1-12 overall and 1-8 in the KJCCC West. Hutchinson is now 25-0 all-time against Garden City with eight consecutive shutouts and 18 shutouts overall.

For the second-straight time against Garden City, the Blue Dragons held the Broncbusters without a shot taken. That’s the 26th time in program history to do so.

Hutchinson outshot Garden City 18-0.

Waithira has her second multi-goal game of the season on Saturday, scoring goals in each half. She scored her first goal in the 32nd minute when she took a feed from Addi White in front of the net and beat Garden City keeper Kaylee Keller for a 1-0 lead. Samantha Vaughn was credited with a secondary assist.

White was playing her first game after missing the last eight games with an injury.

Garden City packed its defense behind the ball, which made finding room for the Dragons tough.

Still leading by a goal well into the second half, the Dragons struck again when Angela Rader ripped a shot into the goal in the 53rd minute for a 2-0 lead. Cheyenne Busker had the assist.

Waithira scored her second goal with great individual effort in the 86th minute for a 3-0 lead.

The Blue Dragons will play at Hesston College on Wednesday night.

EDMOND, Okla. – Fort Hays State ran its win streak to three games with a 35-7 win over Central Oklahoma on Saturday. It was the biggest margin of victory for the Tigers in their series history with the Bronchos, running their win streak in the series to five games. FHSU is now 3-2, while UCO dropped to 2-3.

Fort Hays State and Central Oklahoma traded touchdowns in the first quarter. The Tigers marched 79 yards in eight plays on their first possession of the game, capped by a 36-yard touchdown pass from Chance Fuller to Harley Hazlett. The Bronchos responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive to even the score on a Will Collins 5-yard pass to Amonte Phillips.

The Tiger defense set the tone for the rest of the game in the second quarter, forcing a 3-and-out of the Bronchos to start the period. FHSU held UCO to just 54 yards in the frame, allowing the offense to build a sizable lead.

A Layne Bieberle 31-yard punt return set up a short field on FHSU’s first drive of the second quarter. FHSU only had to go 36 yards and did so in 47 seconds with Fuller finding Hazlett for a 23-yard touchdown connection. Safety Jordan Starks set up the next Tiger scoring drive by intercepting a pass in UCO territory. FHSU marched 41 yards, capped by a 6-yard pass from Fuller to Manny Ramsey. A Tanner Hoekman stop on 4^th-and-1 triggered the third scoring drive for FHSU. Charles Tigner had a big 47-yard reception that set up an 11-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to Ramsey. The Tigers took a 28-7 lead into halftime.

The Tiger defense dug their claws in even harder harder in the third quarter, allowing just 43 yards. That kept the Bronchos from drumming up any type of rally since FHSU turned the ball over twice and missed a field goal in Broncho territory. The Tiger offense finally put the game away with a methodical 14-play, 88-yard drive that chewed up 7:31 on the clock, capped on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to Jacoby Williams.

The defense closed out the game strong, leaving the Bronchos without a first down and only 14 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter. By the end of the contest, FHSU held UCO to just 238 yards of total offense, a new season low for a Tiger opponent, including just 57 after halftime. Last year, FHSU held UCO to just 234 yards in a 15-0 shutout win in Hays.

Starks led the strong defensive effort for FHSU with 11 tackles to go with his interception. Sheldon Schmidt and Sterling Swopes produced one sack each.

Fuller tied the school record for touchdown passes in a game with five, matching the feat also reached by five other Tiger quarterbacks. He was an efficient 23-of-30 on his passing attempts, throwing for 310 yards. Hazlett produced the sixth 100-yard receiving game of his career at FHSU with six catches for 109 yards. Charles Tigner finished with 135 all-purpose yards (83 rushing, 52 receiving), while D.J. Hickman added 80 rushing yards. The Tigers finished with 489 total yards, just five yards shy of their season high (494 at Washburn).

Fort Hays State hosts Emporia State next Saturday for Homecoming in Hays. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Lewis Field Stadium.

—fhsuathletics.com—