By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State improved to 3-1 overall on the season with a 37-0 shutout of Northeastern State on Saturday (Sept. 21) at Lewis Field Stadium. The Tigers are now 3-0 at home so far this season and it was the 10th-straight win over the RiverHawks, a streak that goes back to 2014. NSU moved to 0-3 on the season.
The Tigers scored seven in the opening quarter and 10 in each quarter following. They had 389 total yards of offense and held the RiverHawks to 257. Shane Wattsfinished with 158 all-purpose yards with 118 rushing and 40 receiving. It was his second 100-yard rushing game of the season, helping the team to a season-high 184 on the ground.
Fort Hays State opened its scoring with a 9-play, 41-yard drive, capped on a 23-yard screen pass touchdown from Jack Dawson to Shane Watts. The lead moved to 10-0 on a 32-yard field goal by Carson Arndtin the second quarter. The big play in the game to keep NSU from scoring and shifting all the momentum back in FHSU’s favor occurred late in the second quarter. NSU had a bad snap at the FHSU 6-yardline go over the head of its quarterback and Benyon Williams scooped the ball and scored a touchdown on an 81-yard fumble return. FHSU led 17-0 at the half.
In the third quarter, Carson Arndt converted a 35-yard field goal and then Shane Watts scored his second touchdown of the day on a 2-yard run. In the fourth, Dawson found Jayden Horace in the back of the endzone for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Arndt capped the game’s scoring with a 22-yard field goal with just over a minute to play.
Dawson finished with 175 yards passing, completing 20-of-32 attempts. Trevor Watts led in receiving with eight catches for 50 yards. Defensively Mason Perez led the Tigers with seven tackles, while Jack Hileman and Makel Williams each had six. Jaxon Kolzow had a forced fumble in the fourth quarter.
The remainder of FHSU’s schedule is all conference games. The Tigers head back on the road next week to Central Oklahoma. The Bronchos were ranked No. 25 in the latest D2Football.com Poll after knocking off Top-10 ranked Central Missouri a week ago. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. on September 28 in Edmond.