HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Football held a 14-13 lead over No. 3/3 ranked Pittsburg State at halftime on Thursday evening (Sept. 7) in its home opener at Lewis Field Stadium. But, the Tigers struggled to move the ball in the second half and Pittsburg State ran away with a 40-14 result to improve to 2-0 on the season. FHSU moved to 1-1.
Fort Hays State took the early advantage when Jack Dawson found Bryson Smith from 13 yards out for a touchdown, putting the Tigers up 7-0 about six and a half minutes into the contest. The Gorillas bounced back for the next 10 points with a field goal at the 6:33 mark of the first quarter and then a 9-yard touchdown pass with 4:56 remaining in the second. The back-and-forth continued when FHSU scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Dawson to Jayden Horace with 1:15 to go prior to halftime to take a 14-10 lead. The Gorillas tacked on a late field goal inside 10 seconds to cut the FHSU lead to one at the break.
The Tigers produced 162 yards of total offense in the first half compared to 187 for the Gorillas. However, the second half turned into a lopsided affair when the Tigers were only able to add 50 yards to their total. The Gorillas went on to tack on 289 yards of total offense after the break and wear the Tigers down with four unanswered touchdowns.
Dawson finished with 165 passing yards, completing 15-of-32 attempts with two touchdowns and one interception. Cale Cormaney led the Tigers in receiving yards with 52, while Trevor Watts had a team-high four catches. Travis Dixon led FHSU in rushing with 37 yards. FHSU generated only 47 rushing yards as a team. Makel Williams led the Tiger defense with 13 tackles, while Mason Perez was near double figures with nine and Kobe Rome recorded the Tigers' lone interception.
The Gorillas rushed for 193 yards spread among eight players, led by Ty Pennington with 43. Chad Dodson threw for 239 of the Gorillas' 283 yards through the air, also with two touchdowns and one interception. Devon Garrison led PSU in receiving yards with 90, while Kolbe Katsis had a team-high 14 receptions. Alex Gaskill led the PSU defense with six tackles.