Fort Hays State posted its first seven-win season since 1996 with a 45-17 dismantling of Central Missouri in Warrensburg on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 15). It was the first win for FHSU over Central Missouri since joining the MIAA in 2006, snapping an eight-game win streak by the Mules in the series. The seven wins in MIAA play were also a new high for the Tiger football program.
The win marked the first over Central Missouri since 1965, as the teams did not meet anytime between 1966 and 2005, but have met every year now since 2006 in MIAA play.
The Tigers dominated play with a strong rushing attack, finishing with a season-high 289 yards on the ground. The Tigers had two 100-yard rushers in the game, Edward Smith with 144 and Kenneth Iheme with 114 to combine for 258. It was the third 100-yard rushing game of Smith’s career, while it was the second for Iheme. It was the third straight game the Tigers produced over 200 yards on the ground. Fort Hays State finished with 384 yards of total offense in the game.
Fort Hays State built a 28-3 lead by halftime and never looked back. The Tigers started the scoring at 9:23 in the first quarter on a 3-yard touchdown pass by Treveon Albert to Garrison Hendricks. At 3:27 in the first, Quinten Darby added a two-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0. After a UCM field goal early in the second quarter, Darby found the endzone again from one yard out at the 11:35 mark to make it 21-3. With 6:04 to go before the half, Albert found Ed Williams for a 16-yard touchdown pass to produce the 25-point halftime margin.
Central Missouri sliced into the lead with a touchdown off a blocked punt early in the third quarter, but a Drew O’Brien field goal from 33 yards pushed the FHSU lead to 31-10. Early in the fourth quarter, Albert found Williams again for a 19-yard touchdown pass, making it 38-10. UCM scored its final touchdown with just under eight minutes to play in the game, but Edward Smith put an exclamation point on his 144-yard rushing performance with 1:44 to go on an eight-yard touchdown run to produce the final of 45-17.
The Tiger defense held one of the conference’s most potent offenses to 314 total yards. UCM entered the game averaging 441.3 yards per game. It also marked the 10th game this year the Tigers held their opponent under 30 points, and fifth game holding the opponent under 20. Brock Long led the way with 11 tackles, followed by Justin McPhail with nine. McPhail moved his season tackle count to 108, a team-best. Daniel Lindsey had a sack and Jesse Trent and Andre McKinnon combined for another.
Smith pushed his career total of rushing yards to 1,970, along with 2,514 all-purpose yards. Williams upped his season receiving yard total to 946 with 44 receiving yards in the game, the sixth-most receiving yards in a season by a Tiger all-time.
The win moved head coach Chris Brown to the .500 mark at FHSU at 22-22. The Tigers have improved by one win in each of his four seasons at the helm, 4-7 in 2011, 5-6 in 2012, 6-5 in 2013, and 7-4 now in 2014.