UIndy downs #19 FHSU, advances in NCAA DII playoffs
INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 12 University of Indianapolis football team earned a roller-coaster win Saturday afternoon at Key Stadium, defeating 19th-ranked Fort Hays State, 38-27, in the opening round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The fourth-seeded Greyhounds (10-1) advance to face unbeaten and top-seeded Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia Ark., Saturday, Nov. 24.
After seeing an early 14-point lead evaporate, the Greyhounds found themselves in a 24-17 hole midway through the third quarter. The Tigers ran off 17 unanswered points spanning the second and third stanzas to seize the momentum.
However, the Greyhounds responded with a 10-play, 85-yard drive to tie it up just seconds into the fourth quarter. On 4th & goal from the one, senior QB Jake Purichiacapped the possession by calling his own number, plunging over the goal line for his second rushing TD of the game to knot the score at 24-all.
It marked the first of three fourth-quarter TDs for the Hounds. The go-ahead score came when Purichia found a streaking Daveon Bell with a 76-yard TD pass – the team’s longest of the year – to put UIndy up 31-24 with 11 minutes to go.
Fort Hays State trimmed the margin to four with a 40-yard field goal with 3:44 left, but the Greyhounds would later seal it with a 22-yard pick-six by senior cornerback Robert Williams.