By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post Sports
HAYS – Experience could be one of the biggest strengths for the Fort Hays State football team along the defensive line as the Tigers prepare for the 2026 season.
Fort Hays State returns three defensive ends who saw extensive playing time last season, led by Hays native Gaven Haselhorst who was a unanimous All-MIAA First Team selection and earned Don Hansen Football Committee Honorable Mention All-America honors after leading the Tigers with six sacks last season. He also recorded 9.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles.
Senior Parish Terry also returns after starting nine games last season. Terry has battled injuries that have limited him at times during each of the past two seasons, but has proven to be a productive player when healthy.
Jaden Barker gives the Tigers another experienced option at defensive end. He played in all 11 games last season, coming off the bench in each contest.
Fort Hays State also returns several players with experience on the interior of the defensive line.
Salina South product Kayson Dietz played in all 11 games last season and recorded two sacks. Tadarian Partee also appeared in all 11 games and made an impact in several areas, recording an interception and fumble recovery while also blocking a kick. Plainville senior Jonah Smith saw action in seven games last season, including each of the final four contests.
With so much experience returning, defensive line coach Layton Hickel said the Tigers have been able to move quickly through the installation process during preseason camp.
“They’re a great group,” Hickel said. “Those guys know kind of the standard of what we expect. They’ve got a lot of snaps in MIAA, even the guys that didn’t start for us at D-tackle, they played a lot of snaps for us last year... We’re moving fast through the install phase right now in camp, and these guys are kind of picking up on technique stuff a lot more. It’s a great group that compete every day for spots, so it’s awesome.”
While the Tigers have plenty of returning experience, Hickel said past accomplishments will not guarantee success this season.
“They can be whatever they want to be, and I told them that,” Hickel said. “If they want to be average, they’re going to be average. If they want to be great and they want to move on, they can do all those things they want to do. It’s just that self-motivation they got to figure out within them, and they got to push each other.”
Hickel believes the defensive line has the potential to be a special group, but said its success will depend on players doing their individual jobs within the Tigers’ defensive scheme.
“They could be a special defense,” Hickel said. “It’s just how fast can we start clicking. And everybody doing their job and doing their 1-of-11. And, you know, the issues always become when somebody else is trying to do somebody else’s job. And we preach all the time is just do your job, dominate your job, and the rest of the stuff will take care of itself.”
The Tigers open the 2026 season August 27 at Angelo State.