Fort Hays State pulled out a 20-7 win at home over Lindenwood on Saturday evening (Sept. 20) in Hays. A 40-yard Kenneth Iheme touchdown run in the third quarter broke a 7-7 tie and the Tigers went on to add a pair of field goals to move to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA.

The teams traded punts for the first eight drives of the game, leaving the game scoreless through one quarter. Justin McPhail finally gave the Tiger offense a short field with an interception on the Lindenwood 25-yardline. He took the ball down to the Lindenwood 4-yardline on the return, which set up an Edward Smith two-yard touchdown run two plays later.

That would be all the scoring in the opening half, FHSU led 7-0 at the break. Lindenwood had a chance late in the half, but on third down at the FHSU 4-yardline with nine seconds remaining, Rashad Dunnigan intercepted a pass in the corner of the endzone to keep the Lions off the board.

Lindenwood took its opening drive of the second half 67 yards on seven plays to produce its only touchdown of the game, a 3-yard touchdown pass from Dillon Miller to Alex Robinson. After the extra point, the game was tied 7-7 with 10:51 remaining in the third quarter.

The game was not tied for long. Kenneth Iheme found a big hole up the middle and dashed 40 yards to the endzone to put the Tigers back in front, 14-7 with 8:35 remaining in the third.

Lindenwood fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, which set up a JP Maciel field goal from 30 yards, tacking on three more points to make it 17-7 at the 7:37 mark of the third quarter.

The Tiger defense continued to thwart the Lion offense several more times before Maciel tacked on another field goal from 26 yards with 8:25 remaining in the game, producing the eventual final of 20-7. Lindenwood moved the ball just over midfield on its final two drives of the game, but stalled out by failing to convert on fourth down each time.

Winning the turnover battle was a huge key for the Tigers again as the total offense was nearly dead even between the teams (285 to 283 in favor of FHSU). FHSU finished with a 4-1 turnover advantage in the game. The Tigers recovered two fumbles to go with the pair of interceptions. The Tiger defense held Lindenwood to just 20 yards rushing in the game.

Edward Smith led the Tigers in rushing with 99 yards, while Iheme added 60 and quarterback Treveon Albert added 46. FHSU finished with 201 as a team. Albert threw for 84 yards on 11-of-27 passing. Zack Gaughan had a team-high three receptions, totaling 17 yards. Ed Williams led FHSU in receiving yards with 23. Alex Schmidtberger led the Tiger defense with 12 tackles and a forced fumble.

For Lindenwood, Dillon Miller threw for 263 yards and a touchdown on 31-of-55 passing with two interceptions. Lavorrie Johnson rushed for a team-high seven yards on nine carries. Jaron Alexander led the Lions in receiving with five catches for 59 yards. Alex Robinson and Tre' Roby also had five catches. Connor Harris had a team-high 11 tackles.

The Tigers travel to face No. 8 ranked Pittsburg State next week in Pittsburg. The Gorillas are 3-0 overall and 3-0 in the MIAA to start the year. Game time is set for 2 pm next Saturday (Sept. 27) and will be the MIAA Television Network Game of the Week.