BY TRISTAN SASSE
For the first time in school history, the Fort Hays State Tiger football team is 8-0. On Saturday, October 21, the No. 8 Tigers traveled to St. Joseph, Missouri and faced the 4-3 Missouri Western Griffons. FHSU downed the Griffons, 38-10. With the victory, the Tigers also matched the school record for wins in a season.
The Tigers had offense coming from multiple areas on Saturday. Monterio Burchfield finished with five receptions for 184 yards. Burchfield upped his total to 783 yards on the season. On the ground, Kenneth Iheme had 23 carriers for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Iheme has 883 rushing yards on the season and 11 total touchdowns (10 rushing and 1 receiving). Charles Tigner added 11 carries for 78 yards. Also, FHSU had four sacks and two interceptions on defense.
Fort Hays outgained the Missouri Western offense 450-188, including 202 rushing yards. The Tigers also had twice as many first downs (18-9).
For MWSU, Skyler Windmiller completed 13 of 29 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Josh Caldwell led the Griffons with 72 rushing yards on 13 carries. The Griffons also had four sacks defensively.
The game began in exciting fashion. On the Griffons first drive of the game, punter Luke Theis bobbled the snap in the end zone and it was scooped up by Kamon Clayton for an FHSU touchdown. The Tigers quickly forced another punt shortly after. It didn’t take long for the Tigers to strike again, as Jacob Mezera found Burchfield for a 67-yard house call. The FHSU defense gave up nine total yards in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, Caldwell put the Griffons’ offense on track with a 38-yard rush. The run set up a 41-yard field goal by Tyler Basch. Near the end of the first half, Layne Bieberle fumbled on a punt return and MWSU recovered. The Griffons capitalized on the turnover with a touchdown pass from Windmiller to Keylan Mack. With under a minute to play in the half, Mezera scrambled for a 31-yard run to set the Tigers up deep in MWSU territory. After a 25-yard pass to Burchfield, Iheme finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. FHSU led at half 21-10.
Both offenses had 33 plays in the first half, but the Tigers outgained the Griffons, 228-97. Burchfield led all players with 92 receiving yards in the opening half. Missouri Western had five penalties for 78 yards in the first two quarters.
On the Tigers first possession of the second half, Iheme had a 43-yard rush and Tigner punched the ball in from 3 yards out to give FHSU a 28-10 lead. On the ensuing drive, Doyin Jibowu picked off his third pass in the last two weeks. Mezera then connected with Burchfield for a 34-yard completion. Iheme finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. The Tigers went into the fourth leading 35-10.
In the fourth, Mezera found Burchfield again, this time for a 27-yard reception on fourth-and-six. The Tigers were stopped on three straight plays within the 2-yard line, and Brandon Brown connected on a 19-yard field goal. In the closing minutes, Tevin Evans came up with his first career interception and FHSU would go on to win 38-10.
The Tigers will looked to improve to 9-0 when they return home to host Emporia State next Saturday. A season ago, the Hornets defeated the Tigers 24-16.