HAYS, Kan. — After falling down by 14 points early, Fort Hays State rallied past Pittsburg State for a 42-17 win on Saturday night (Sept. 19) at Lewis Field. Fort Hays State scored 27 unanswered points to run away with the game, moving to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA, while Pittsburg State dropped to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State finished with 273 passing yards and 207 rushing yards for 480 total yards of offense. Four of the six touchdowns by the Tigers were rushes by
AG Floyd, while
Ayden Robinson-Wayne had a pair of receiving touchdowns. Floyd finished with 145 rushing yards, while Robinson-Wayne finished with 150 receiving yards and his 97-yard touchdown reception from
Major Cantrell was the longest play from scrimmage in FHSU history. Defensively, the Tigers intercepted four passes, recovered a fumble and held the Gorillas scoreless after halftime.
Fort Hays State turned an early 14-point deficit into a 15-14 first-quarter lead. An
AG Floyd 14-yard touchdown cut the early PSU 14-0 lead in half, then a
Kayson Dietz safety on a bad snap by the Gorillas put the Tigers within five at 14-9. A few moments later, Robinson-Wayne hauled in his first touchdown pass from 11 yards out giving FHSU the 15-14 advantage.
Fort Hays State outscored Pittsburg State 13-3 in the second quarter and led 28-17 at halftime. PSU took the lead back early in the second quarter on a Austin Schmitt 41-yard field goal. However, the aforementioned 97-yard touchdown strike up the right sideline from Cantrell to Robinson-Wayne was the score that put the Tigers in front for good at 21-17. Floyd added his second touchdown rush of the half to put the Tigers up 28-17, the eventual halftime score.
The Tigers scored one touchdown in each of the final two quarters, both on runs by Floyd of nine and five yards. All four of FHSU's interceptions on PSU passes came after halftime to keep the Gorillas scoreless in the second half.
Matthew McBride recorded two of the four interceptions, while
Michael Polley and
Sam Hoback had the other two. The defense surrendered only one touchdown to the Gorillas in the game, which was a touchdown on their first drive of the game. The other touchdown was on a blocked punt in the Tiger endzone.
Cantrell finished with 273 passing yards for FHSU, a new season high. He completed 21-of-32 attempts.
Legend Robinson and
Darell Jones tied with a team-high six tackles for FHSU.
Taderian Partee and
Gaven Haselhorst each recorded sacks.
Bobby Bacon led PSU with 174 yards passing, but threw three of the four interceptions. Syre Padilla led PSU in rushing with 59 yards. Aabiyas Wakes led the PSU tackling effort with nine.
Fort Hays State heads on the road next Saturday (Sept. 26) to Missouri Western before returning home for Homecoming on October 3 against Missouri Southern.
