Story by ELI BLANKINSHIP Photos by DANIELA SALINAS
Tiger Media Network
After falling to No. 7 Pittsburg State by just one point last weekend, Fort Hays State looked to bounce back on senior day versus the Missouri Southern State Lions. The Tigers took down the Lions with ease, 53-9. This moved the Tigers to 6-0 at home—the first undefeated season at home since winning the MIAA in 2018 with an overall record of 9-2.
Senior running back Shane Watts led the charge for FHSU (6-3, 4-3) with 19 attempts for 201 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns. Additionally, Watts had four receptions for 58 yards and one touchdown. The game against the Lions (1-8, 0-7) made for his eighth game this season with 100+ all-purpose yards. Watts’ 79-yard touchdown run ended his day with an exclamation point, marking his 20th career touchdown at Fort Hays State and his third touchdown on the day.
“I [knew it was] my last chance to ball out in front of Hays, so I had to make sure I gave them a show. So that’s what I did,” Watts said. “I trusted my line and my tight end. I got past the first level, and the tight end got the block on the linebacker, and then the rest was just a foot race.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers held the Lions to just 54 rushing yards on 28 attempts. The Lions averaged just 3.67 yards per play on the day. Notably, defensive linebacker Gaven Haselhorst, the sophomore transfer from Kansas State, led the charge with four tackles for loss and 0.5 of a sack.
The victory over the Lions pushed the Tigers up to fourth place in the MIAA as they look to close out their season with either a bowl game or a playoff appearance.
“We’re going to get everybody’s best, and we got to give everybody our best as well and give ourselves [a] great opportunity to win these ball games,” FHSU Head Coach Chris Brown said. “It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of commitment and dedication from our guys to get this done, but if they want [it] bad enough, they’ll do the things needed to win these ball games.”
The Tigers go on the road this Saturday at 1 p.m. to play the No. 12 Emporia State Hornets.