By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to grab the early lead and cruised to a 53-9 rout of Missouri Southern State Saturday afternoon at Lewis Field. The Tigers closed out a perfect 6-0 regular season at home and improved to 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the MIAA. The Lions dropped to 1-8 overall and 0-7 in the MIAA.
The 44-point win was the largest ever for FHSU over MSSU. The Tigers also posted their undefeated season at home since 2018, when it also went 6-0.
Fort Hays State finished with a season-high 520 yards of total offense, while holding MSSU to 246. The Tigers rushed for a season-high 301 yards, the most since 2021 when they ran for 334 against Northeastern State.
Shane Watts had a huge day offensively, rushing for a career-high 201 yards and adding 58 receiving yards for 259 all-purpose yards on the day. He averaged 10.6 yards per rush, highlighted by a career-long 709-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Watts became the first Tiger to rush for 200 yards or more yards in a game since Shaquille Cooper ran for 216 against Emporia State in 2015.
Watts capped a 9-play, 70-yard drive on the Tigers first possession with a 9-yard touchdown. Watts found the endzone later in the first quarter on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Heavner. The increaesed the lead to 21-0 on an 8-yard pass from Heavner to Jayden Horace in second quarter.
Missouri Southern booted a 33-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the quarter to pull within 21-3 at halftime.
Watts scored on a 79-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. A bad snap on a punt resulted in a safety then Horace hauled in a 25-yard pass from Heavner to push the lead to 37-3 .
The Lions scored their only touchdown at the 12:41 mark of the fourth quarter on a 15-yard pass. John Johnson blocked the extra-point attempt which was plucked by Trevion Mitchell who scampered 83 yards for a defensive 2-point PAT, making it 39-9 Tigers. Jack Dawson added touchdown runs of 1 and 21 yards to cap the scoring.
Johnson added an interception to go along with the blocked extra point and lead the Tigers with 8 tackles. Keiyon Turner also recorded an interception late in the game.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will be on the road for their final two contests of the regular season. They head to Emporia State next Saturday (Nov. 2) for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Welch Stadium.