By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
HAYS, KS - Missouri Western did two things especially well against Central Oklahoma in week one - running the football and playing defense.
The Griffons (2-0) played to those strengths again Thursday, rushing for 311 yards scoring all of their points on the ground and coming up with key stops on defense in a 35-19 over Fort Hays State at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays, Kansas Thursday.
Missouri Western scored its fourth straight win over the Tigers and get off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2016.
"We were able to run the ball really well," Missouri Western head coach Matt Williamson told KFEQ Radio after. "Been doing some really, really solid things that I'm happy to see. Defense played really great again. A lot of really solid things. Solid effort."
The Griffons went on offense to start the game, and it took them less than two minutes to put up points. Aided by a roughing the passer penalty on third and long, sophomore running back Brandon Hall found the end zone on a 46-yard rushing touchdown, putting the Griffons up 7-0 with 13:18 left in the first quarter.
Fort Hays State (0-2) came up empty on its first two possessions. The Tigers were without all-MIAA quarterback and the program's all-time leading passer Chance Fuller, who was held out after getting banged up at Northwest Missouri State the week prior.
The Griffons, meanwhile, were firing on all cylinders on offense early. A 59-yard run by junior running back Jared Scott set up an easy, eight-yard touchdown run by Hall, putting the Griffons up 14-0 with 3:57 remaining in the first.
Hall rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
Hays responded, pulling together a seven-play, 79-yard drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Jack Dawson to running back Adrian Soto, making it a 14-7 game after one quarter.
Hays was driving into Missouri Western territory again halfway through the second, but a turnover on downs by the Tigers set the Griffons up on their own 40.
A 19-yard reception by junior receiver Cooper Burton kickstarted another scoring drive for Missouri Western. Scott capped a 10-play, 60 yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run to make it 21-7 Griffons with 2:33 left in the first half.
That was Scott's first touchdown as a Griffon since November 2019. Scott sat out all of 2021 with an ankle injury after rushing for 297 yards and four scores in 2019.
"That's a great team win," Scott said. "I just follow the (offensive) line. They did everything, really. Tried to get downhill. Run through people's face. If you run through people's face enough times, they don't want to tackle you. So, that's what I tried to do."
Hays had time to respond in the second quarter and got deep into Griffon territory in the closing minutes of the first half, thanks to a 43-yard reception by Manny Ramsey.
With 56 seconds left until halftime, Dawson took a shot at the endzone from 15 yards out, but was picked off by sophomore corner Desmond Green, allowing the Griffons to take a 21-7 lead into the locker room.
Hays got the ball to start the second half, but went three-and-out on their first possession. Missouri Western, on the other hand, milked seven minutes of clock on its first possession of the 3rd quarter.
An 11-play, 85-yard drive ended with a 23-yard touchdown run by quarterback Reagan Jones, making it 28-7 Griffons with 5:20 left in the third.
Six different Griffons got a carry, as Missouri Western rushed for 311 total yards and averaged 6.3 yards per carry as a team.
Hays was held to just one first down and 25 yards of offense in the third quarter. Missouri Western, meanwhile, scored on both of their possessions in the third, holding the ball for more than 10 minutes of that quarter.
Thanks largely to a 40-yard catch by receiver Caleb Martin, the Griffons found the end zone again late in the third. Scott ran it in from two yards out, giving Western a commanding 35-7 lead at the start of the fourth.
Scott rushed for a career-best 125 yards and two touchdowns - his first multi-touchdown game since September 2019 against Northeastern State.
Having not played since the 2019 season, Scott credits the Missouri Western training staff for getting him back into game form.
"They did a great job of rehab and I spent a lot of time in the training room," Scott said. "They do a great job. They work with me and they work hard. They put in a lot of hours, so hats off to them. I just tried to watch a lot of film, and see a lot of things and it's helping right now. I'm starting to see things and it's starting to slow down. It's not as fast."
Fort Hays State rallied in the fourth, stringing together back-to-back scoring drives. Soto and Dawson each had rushing scores, but Missouri Western blocked both point-after tries in the fourth quarter - one block was a combined effort by Brandon Johnson and A.J. Crayton. Another was blocked by Isaac Wallace.
The Tigers had two more possessions in the game's final five minutes - one ended in turnover on downs and another in punt.
"Our kids fought hard and we found a way," Williamson said. "We won the game. We're 2-0."
Fort Hays State was just 2-of-11 on third down and 1-of-3 on fourth. Dawson went 17-of-33 through the air for the Tigers, passing for 243 yards with one touchdown and an interception in his first collegiate start. He also rushed for 25 yards and a score and was never sacked.
His top target was Manny Ramsey, who finished with five catches for 123 yards.
Missouri Western goes back on the road Saturday, September 17 to face Emporia State at 6 p.m. The game will be on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com, KFEQ app) with pregame starting at 5.
The Hornets lost at Central Oklahoma 21-13 Thursday. Fort Hays State is at Lincoln on Sept. 17 as well.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.