Box Score

Fort Hays State picked up its first win of the season at Truman on Saturday (Sept. 29) by a score of 37-23, moving to 1-4 overall and 1-4 in the MIAA. The Tiger offense came alive with 541 yards of total offense in the game, the most yards of total offense for FHSU since a 529-yard performance in a road win at Central Oklahoma last year. A 67-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tarean Austin sealed the win for FHSU with 42 seconds remaining in the game.

The last time FHSU had more yards of total offense in a game was 2010 in the season finale at Missouri Western with 559. The Tigers churned out 348 rushing yards in the game, the second straight year that they rushed for over 300 yards against Truman. Last year in Kirksville, the Tigers had 314 rushing yards.

Tarean Austin led the rushing attack with 136 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries and he also threw for 140 yards, completing 14-of-30 attempts and two more touchdowns through the air. Addie Brown and Treveon Albert also had over 80 yards rushing, Brown with 87 and Albert with 81. Punter Cameron Owens also got in on the act and went 44 yards on his only attempt a fake punt in the first quarter.

That fake punt sparked the Tiger offense in the first quarter. Owens took the ball from the FHSU 24-yardline all the way down to the Truman 32-yardline. Austin would get 27 of the next 32 yards on the ground for Fort Hays State's first score of the game to go up 7-0.

Truman countered on their next drive to knot the score at 7-7 with 1:30 remaining in the opening quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, the Tigers came up with more trickery, having running back Treveon Albert (who came to FHSU as a quarterback out of high school) find Cornelius Gallon on a 53-yard touchdown pass to put FHSU up 14-7.

Truman cut back into the FHSU lead with 7:12 remaining in the second quarter on a 31-yard Derek Koon field goal. But, the Tigers marched the ball 62 yards on their final drive of the first half, culminating in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Austin to Grant Brown. That gave the Tigers a 21-10 advantage at halftime, their first halftime lead of the season. Austin found Albert through the air on a couple of key third down plays to extend the drive. All three catches for Albert on the drive went for 12 yards or more.

The teams went scoreless in the third quarter and then the Tigers pushed their lead to 28-10 early in the fourth quarter, finishing an 11-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 6:04 and began late in the third quarter. Austin found Trevias Alexander for a 2-yard touchdown pass.

Truman would not go away without a fight. The Bulldogs pulled back within 11 at 28-17 with a touchdown at the 9:22 mark and then capitalized with a short field on a FHSU turnover for another touchdown, making it 28-23 with 7:33 remaining. The two-point conversion failed for Truman on that score.

The Tigers once again chewed up the clock with a 10-play, 46-yard drive resulting in a Drew O'Brien field goal from 22 yards with 3:06 remaining in the game.

Truman drove the ball deep into Tiger territory  late, but its drive stalled out at the FHSU 28-yardline as they could not complete a pass on second, third, or fourth down with four yards to go for a first down.

The Tigers took over with 1:06 remaining. On 3rd-and-5 from the FHSU 33-yardline, Austin put the game away for FHSU with his 67-yard touchdown scamper to put the Tigers out front 37-23.

Even with Austin's big performance offensively, Treveon Albert was equally instrumental. He completed his only pass of the game for 53 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 81 yards on 10 carries, averaging 8.1 yards per attempt, and caught six passes for 72 yards, averaging 12 yards per reception, finishing with 153 all-purpose yards in the game. Albert had a hand in 206 yards of offense produced by the Tigers, to go along with the 276 produced by Austin.

Fort Hays State outgained Truman 541 to 434 in total offense for the game, the second straight game the Tigers allowed under 500 yards of total offense after allowing more than that to the first three opponents this season. Layton Hickel led the Tiger defensive effort with a career-high 15 tackles, a half sack, and a forced fumble. Shane Smith and AJ Woodall each recorded 11 tackles.

Fort Hays State hosts conference newcomer Lindenwood in the annual Homecoming game next Saturday (Oct. 6) at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays. Game time is set for 7 pm that night.