TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Fort Hays State Football surged to a 56-0 shutout victory in its season opener at Northeastern State University on Thursday night (Aug. 31). The Tigers went up 7-0 about nine minutes into the game and then had a 28-point outburst in the second quarter to lead 35-0 at the half. They tacked on three more touchdowns in the second half to move to 1-0 on the season.
The Tigers opened the scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jack Dawson. Dawson added on three touchdown passes in the second quarter, a 10-yard connection with Ryan Allen, a 6-yard toss to Cale Cormaney, and a 12-yard throw to Hosia Stokes. Before the Stokes score, the Tigers' Trey Hines blocked a punt and Mason Perez scooped the ball for a score to account for all of the scoring plays in the second quarter.
About four minutes into the second half, Dawson found Jayden Horace for a 25-yard touchdown connection and then Dawson capped a five passing touchdown night by connecting with Sloan Hayden from eight yards out about two minutes into the fourth quarter. Caleb Heavner picked up some action at quarterback and connected with Logan Heigele for a 30-yard touchdown pass with just over two minutes remaining to cap the scoring.
Dawson finished with 317 passing yards with an efficient 20-of-23 performance. His five-touchdown pass performance tied the school record for most in a game, accomplished now nine times. Robert Long and Chance Fuller each did it twice in their careers.
Heavner was 2-of-2 to give the Tigers a 22-of-25 night passing the ball for 349 yards and 6 passing scores. The Tigers netted 110 yards on the ground, led by Shane Watts with 41 yards. Stokes was credited with 132 receiving yards, but there will likely be some adjustments to stats yet in the coming days. Ty Cooper and Silas Etter were credited with a team-leading six tackles each.
The FHSU defense held NSU to 199 yards of total offense, allowing 83 yards on the ground and 116 through the air. The Tigers picked up their first shutout since September 18, 2021 when they delivered a 72-0 blowout against Lincoln.