By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Tigers shook off a sluggish start and rolled to a 51-14 win at Lincoln University on Saturday evening (Sept. 17). Lincoln grabbed an early 7-0 lead, but FHSU scored 48 unanswered points to run away with the victory. FHSU is now 1-2 on the season, while Lincoln dropped to 0-3.
The Tigers had a tough time getting their offense going in the first quarter and Lincoln scored a touchdown on a long touchdown pass about seven minutes into the contest. Lincoln led 7-3 by the end of the first quarter as FHSU picked up its only points in the frame on a 29-yard field goal by Emanuel Aguilar.
The Tigers finally got their offensive footing after a Daniel Howard interception on the first play of the second quarter. Big pass completions from Jack Dawson to Hunter Budke (19 yards), Collyn Kreutzer (13 yards), and Calvin Stapp (19 yards) set up a five-yard touchdown run by Dawson with 11:56 remaining before halftime. That gave the Tigers their first lead at 10-7 and they never looked back from that point. Aguilar tacked on his second field goal of the night from 23 yards and Ja’Quan Tillis hauled in a 10-yard pass from Dawson to cap the scoring for FHSU before halftime.
The Tigers kept the train rolling down the tracks in the third quarter with three touchdowns, extending their lead to 41-7 going into the final quarter. Dawson found Manny Ramsey for a five-yard touchdown pass, Clay Robinson had a one-yard touchdown plunge, and Dawson broke off a 30-yard run to the endzone.
Fort Hays State capped its 48-point scoring run early in the fourth on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Forrester to Tillis. Lincoln put together a touchdown drive to snap Fort Hays State’s scoring run, but Aguilar added his third field goal of the night from 23 yards later to cap the scoring at 51-14.
Fort Hays State threw for an even 300 yards in the game, Dawson with 234 yards (16-of-24) and Forrester with 66 (6-of-7). The Tigers ran for 178 yards in the game by committee, led by Tillis with 46. Budke had a big night with 103 receiving yards on just three catches. On the defensive side of the ball, Jeremiah Jackson-Trotter, Makel Williams, Mason Perez, and Daniel Howard all finished with seven tackles to lead the Tigers. Jackson-Trotter had a team-high two sacks in the game. Hunter Brown added an interception alongside Howard’s key pick early in the second quarter.
Zamar Brake threw for 126 yards for Lincoln. Omar Allen ran for 52 yards and Aderias Ealy led the Blue Tigers in receiving with 55 yards. Jaylon Mosley led Lincoln with 10 tackles.
Fort Hays State will be back at home next Saturday (Sept. 24) to host Missouri Southern in the annual Tiger Sports Hall of Fame game at 7 p.m. The Lions will enter at 2-1 on the season after a win over Central Oklahoma in Week 3.