By the Salina Journal

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Fort Hays State built a 27-7 halftime lead, then held on during a wild finish for a 48-34 victory over Missouri Southern on Saturday afternoon at Hughes Stadium.

The victory enabled the Tigers to close the 2009 season with a 6-5 record overall and a 4-5 mark in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. It is the first time since 2004 that Fort Hays has finished above the .500 mark and the four conference wins are the most by a Tiger team since joining the MIAA in 2006.

The Lions (3-7, 3-6) got within one score of Fort Hays on three occasions in the second half, but were never able to take the lead. Each time the Tigers responded with a touchdown to give themselves a two-possession lead and a little breathing room.

James Walker's 47-yard touchdown run with 2:33 remaining put the Tigers in front 41-27 and seemingly put the game out of reach, but Southern went 82 yards in 1:38 to again pull within seven points (41-34) with 50 seconds remaining.

Fort Hays covered an onsides kick attempt by the Lions, but needed a first down to lock up the game because Southern had all three of its timeouts remaining. The Tigers got that first down on an 11-yard carry by Jacobb Irvin, and after a Southern timeout, Irvin added an insurance touchdown on a 27-yard carry with 31 seconds to play for the final score of the season.

Walker rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns, while Irvin closed with 93 yards and also had two touchdown carries. Both Walker and Irvin had rushing touchdowns in the second quarter when the Tigers were building a 20-point halftime advantage.

Quarterback Mike Garrison closed his Tiger career by completing 18 of 32 passes for 197 yards. Garrison had a rushing touchdown in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-all, and threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Beau Gadwood shortly after Southern had closed to within 27-21 in the third quarter.

The Fort Hays defense also contributed to the team's point total, as Seth Blackwell intercepted a Southern pass and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, giving the Tigers the lead for good. Kicker Nathan Rausa was good on 6-of-7 extra-point attempts for Hays.

Missouri Southern's Johnny Johnson had four of his team's five touchdowns and finished with 133 yards of total offense.

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