By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
EMPORIA, Kan. – On a rain-soaked day that saw a pair of lightning delays, Fort Hays State dominated Emporia State in adverse conditions. The Tigers posted a convincing 36-7 win over the No. 11/13 ranked team in the nation to pick up their first road win of the season. It was Fort Hays State’s third win over a ranked team this season. FHSU moved to 7-3 overall, 5-3 in the MIAA, while ESU dropped to 7-2 overall, 5-2 in the MIAA.
The win snapped Fort Hays State’s three-game losing string to the Hornets overall, and their three-game losing string in Emporia. The Tigers picked up their first win at Welch Stadium since the 2014 season.
With rain pouring down early on, the Tigers were way more equipped to handle the wet conditions. A pass-heavy Emporia State offense struggled mightily early and the Tiger defense was up to nearly every challenge. Other than a broken tackle that allowed Emporia State to score its only touchdown of the game on a 45-yard play, the Tiger defense shut down the Hornets to a season-low 165 yards of total offense.
Offensively, Shane Watts and Caleb Heavner thrived running the ball in the slick conditions. Watts produced his second-straight 200-yard rushing game, pounding out 250 rushing yards on 28 carries (8.9 yards per carry). He became the first player in Fort Hays State history to rush for 200 yards in back-to-back games after 201 against Missouri Southern the week before. He also went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season, the 20th time a player has done so in program history. He has 1,128 yards this season. Heavner added 72 yards to the ground effort on 22 attempts. The Tigers finished with 331 rushing yards as a team, a new season high after going for 301 the previous week.
Fort Hays State opened the scoring with a 10-play, 60-yard drive capped on a 30-yard field goal by Carson Arndt just over five minutes into the game. On the ensuing ESU possession, a pair of bad Hornet snaps helped the Tigers score a safety, taking a 5-0 lead at the 7:39 mark of the first quarter. The game’s first lightning delay followed that play. FHSU would lead by that score going into the second quarter.
On the first play of the second frame, Shane Wattsextended the Tiger lead with his first big touchdown run of the day. A 43-yard scamper put the Tigers up 12-0. Later in the second, ESU scored its only touchdown of the game when Tyler Kahmann broke free for a 45-yard touchdown reception after breaking a tackle in the Tiger secondary. However, the Tigers promptly responded as Watts took off for a 69-yard touchdown run, putting the Tigers back on top by 12, 19-7. That was the score at halftime, when another lightning delay caused a longer break than anticipated.
The Tigers continued to dominate out of halftime. A 54-yard run by Watts set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Heavner two plays later, pushing the lead to 26-7. Later in the quarter, Heavner found Jabari Lewis on a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it 33-7. The Tigers managed the clock well from that point on and Arndt tacked on a 36-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to create the final of 36-7.
The Tiger defense was on point, holding the Hornets to a 3-and-out eight times in the game. The Tigers were nearly perfect shutting out the Hornets on third down. ESU converted only one of 13 third-down situations in the game. John Johnson led the Tigers with 11 tackles, while Myles Menges had an interception and Demetri Scott had a sack.
Aside from his 72 rushing yards, Heavner completed eight passes for 83 yards. Jayden Horace led the Tigers in receiving yards with 36.
Gunnar Gundy threw for 133 yards and ran for 22 for the Hornets. Billy Ross, Jr. had 28 rushing yards and Kahmann had 84 receiving yards for ESU.
Fort Hays State has had 200-yard rushers in back-to-back games twice in its history, but both times it was accomplished by two separate players. The last time it occurred was in 2002 when Dustin Demel ran for 291 against Fort Lewis (10/12/02) and Charles Lewis ran for 221 at Panhandle State (10/19/02). Prior to that in 1997, Donald Gregory ran for 234 against Wayne State (Neb.) (9/27/97) and Terry Blassingame ran for 232 at Mesa State (10/4/97). This was the first time ever it was done by the same player.
Watts’ 250 rushing yards ranks fifth-most for a single game in school history, the most since Shaquille Cooper’s 263 against Northeastern State on September 10, 2015.
Fort Hays State will have a bye week before returning to action for its final game of the regular season on Saturday, November 16, when they head north to face Nebraska-Kearney.