Several Hutchinson tacklers bring down Fort Scott running back Jasmin Hopkins (25) during action in a Region VI playoff game at Frary Field Sunday afternoon. Hopkins came into the game as the second-leading rusher in the Jayhawk Conference but was held to 86 yards by the Blue Dragon defense in a 30-17 loss. (Kenny Felt/Captured Images)

Several members of Hutchinson's football team had a happy homecoming at the expense of Fort Scott Community College in a Region VI Playoff semifinal Sunday afternoon.

Former Fort Scott Tigers, including linebacker Jake Lattimer, his brother, assistant coach Josh Lattimer, and quarterback Dakotah Gettler were among those making a return to Frary Field. And, of course, Hutchinson head coach Rion Rhodes was the head coach at FSCC in 2006, when the turnaround of Greyhound football from also-rans to national-championship contenders began. He was making his first visit to Frary Field since taking the Hutch job.

Hired by Hutchinson after the Blue Dragons went winless for the first time in school history in 2006, Rhodes has them in Sunday's Region VI Championship Game after a 30-17 win over Fort Scott. They'll face Butler, which won the other semifinal over Garden City, 24-19, after trailing 13-7 near halftime.

Hutchinson's Gage McKinnis, a former Uniontown High School student, breaks a couple of tackles as he makes a gain during kick return in a Region VI Playoff Game at Frary Field Sunday afternoon. McKinnis had a key 65-yard punt return in the fourth quarter that set up the score that put his team ahead for good as Fort Scott fell 30-17. (Kenny Felt/Captured Images)

Final word has not come out yet, but two sources have told the Tribune that Fort Scott will be receiving a bid to play the Minnesota champion in the new North Star Bowl on Nov. 22.

The Greyhounds, 8-2, came out flat coming off a loss to No. 3 Butler at El Dorado the week before. Meanwhile, Hutchinson had won its last five games of the regular season, including a 17-0 shutout of then No. 14-Garden City that put the Blue Dragons in third place in the Jayhawk Conference and set up this match-up.

The Dragons held a 10-0 lead just seconds into the second quarter, in part because they held the Greyhounds to zero total yards in the first quarter on just six plays.

"Our kids don't have anything to be ashamed of," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Sims said. "I just have to figure out a better way to respond from a game like they had last week because we came out flat. It's my job and the coaching staff's job to prepare these guys to be successful. But we spotted them a 10-0 lead and then we had to play catch up all day."

The 'Hounds managed to tie the game at 10-10 in just a minute and a half of the third period.

First, Derrick Stewart came around the edge and blocked Clinton Stein's punt, which Stein fell on in his own end zone for a safety with 3:20 to go in the period.

Stein also had a punt blocked when the teams met the first time on Sept. 27 in Hutchinson. That night, Stein didn't fall on the ball and the 'Hounds recovered for a touchdown.

After the free kick, Fort Scott got the ball at its own 43. Tailback Jasmin Hopkins, the Jayhawk Conference's second-leading rusher, gained eight yards on the first play and six on the second. The third play of the drive was gain of 39 to the four-yard line, the last 10 yards made possible by a downfield block by wide receiver Brandon Kinnie.

On the next play, Hopkins went up the middle for a touchdown, bringing Fort Scott within 10-8. The 'Hounds went for the two-point conversion to tie the score and Jeremy Sutton caught it despite slipping on his route and catching it lying down.

Thing still seemed to be going Fort Scott's way as the fourth quarter began. The 'Hounds blocked Kelly Roberts' 43-yard field-goal attempt. But the 'Hounds couldn't move the ball and were forced to punt.

Though the former Tigers and Greyhounds -- Blue Dragon defensive tackle Thatcher Starling is another ex-Greyhound -- played roles, the game turned on a play by a former Uniontown Eagle, Gage McKinnis, who moved to Hutchinson before his senior season when his father, Chad, took an assistant's job under Rhodes.

Sims decided to punt to Mc-Kinnis, the conference's leading kick returner, instead of taking a chance on the spot of a directional punt, having confidence that his coverage unit would be able to pin the former Eagle back.

Instead, McKinnis fielded the ball at his own 25, took the ball up the right sideline and jumped over two potential tacklers on his way to a 65-yard return to the Fort Scott 10 with 11:07 left in the game.

Three plays later, running back Chris Clay -- part of a 1-2 punch for Hutch's running game -- took the ball over the goal line to give the Blue Dragons the lead once again, 17-10. They would never relinquish it again.

"What broke our back was Gage McKinnis," Sims said. "The game plan coming in was not to kick to him. But at that point in the game, I told our punter to go ahead and kick to him because I wanted to flip the field. I felt good about our coverage. Our guys got down there but Gage is a tremendous football player and he got it down to the 10-yard line and gave them that seven-point lead and then we had to try to be creative to get the lead back after that."

After forcing another punt, the Blue Dragons went up by two scores as KJCCC leading rusher LaDarrian Page took a pitch to his right and scored from 17 yards out with 2:55 to go. The 11-play, 80-yard drive burned almost 5 1/2 minutes off the clock.

David Garrett's 22-yard return on the kickoff put the 'Hounds at their own 42. At this point, Sims put Arvel Nelson at quarterback, replacing starter Zac Dickey, who completed seven of his first 10 passes but misfired on six of his last seven.

A couple of short completions set up a 46-yard scoring strike to Kinnie with 2:08 remaining, bringing the Greyhounds within 24-17. But the Blue Dragons recovered the onside kick at the Fort Scott 42.

At this point, Sims figured that, with 2:07 to go and Fort Scott without time outs, the Blue Dragons might be able to kneel down enough times to run out the clock. But there was a chance that they might run one rushing play just to be sure. He instructed his defense not to make the tackle if Hutch gave it to one of their backs.

As it turned out, Page took a handoff. When he broke through the line, the Dragons' coaches in the press box saw what was happening and tried to get word down for Page to stop so Hutch could run more clock-killing plays. Of course, the instinct of a running back in the open is to score, which Page did, putting Hutchinson ahead 30-17 with exactly two minutes to go.

It was a roll of the dice. If Hutch tried to run out the clock, Fort Scott would have lost by seven with no chance to win. Letting the Dragons score put the 'Hounds behind by two scores but forced Hutch to kick off to them. And having the ball with two minutes left down by two scores is better than never seeing it again down by seven points.

"We let him score with the plan that we would get the ball back, go down and score, then try to get another onside kick," Sims said. "If we don't have the ball, we can't score. So that was what we tried to do. If it had worked, I would have been a genius."

The Greyhounds took over at their own 39 after the kickoff and made it to the Hutch 42 before Nelson was intercepted with seven seconds left.

"(FSCC) played outstanding in the second half," Sims said. "They played extremely hard. They gave everything they have."

Hutchinson, however, controlled the first half. Although each team's first possession ended with punts, the Blue Dragons got on the scoreboard first on one of their six passing plays of the day when Bryant Johnson found tight end Dustin Weissback wide open for a 34-yard scoring play with 8:01 to go. On the play, it appeared as though only 10 Greyhounds were on the field.

The 'Hounds had to punt again and Hutch burned over 6 1/2 minutes off the clock before Roberts connected on a 31-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter.

"In junior-college football, you have to match intensity," Sims said. "We always talk about momentum. Hutch came in here with momentum. They came in here enthusiastic and ready to play. And, like I said, we just didn't start the way we needed to.

"I was interviewed before the game and I said we didn't want to give Hutch the lead because that would add to their confidence. We didn't play well and when we don't play well, that's my responsibility."

Fort Scott didn't get its first first down of the day until it's fourth possession, with about 9 1/2 minutes left in the first half. But on that drive, the offense showed signs of life, driving for about five minutes. Dickey converted a fourth-and-six at the Hutch 33 with a seven-yard completion to Kinnie and it looked as if the 'Hounds might get on the board.

Hopkins broke through the line on the next play but fumbled just shy of the goal line. Vincent Harris recovered for Hutchinson. The Dragons drove to the Fort Scott 45 before punting but the Greyhounds had to punt it right back as they went three-and-out on their last possession of the half.

At halftime, Fort Scott had only 83 total yards to Hutch's 210.

Hutchinson finished with 351 total yards. The Dragons, with the KJCCC's No. 1 rushing offense, gained 284 of those on 56 rushes. Page finished with 138 yards on 26 carries and Clay had 133 on 21 rushes. Quarterback Bryant Johnson, who is 6-1 since becoming the starter, was four of six for 67 yards. McKinnis caught one of those passes for 10 yards.

Fort Scott finished with 268 yards, all of those gained in just three quarters. Only 108 of those came on the ground, a number 59 yards under their season average, against the conference's best rushing defense. Hopkins rushed 21 times for 86 yards. Dickey finished eight of 17 for 71 yards while Nelson went five of 12 for 89 yards. Kinnie, the conference's leading receiver in both receptions (58) and receiving yards (817) caught nine passes for 123 yards.

"Our kids did some things that had never been done before," Sims said. "We beat Kilgore down in Texas (Fort Scott's first win in the state of Texas) and they were a playoff team. We had those five shutouts. Everybody's got excited about where we're at. But we still have improvements to make to the program. We need to get bigger. I looked at Hutch and I felt like they were a lot bigger than us today. We need to get into the weight room and put some weight on. If we can do that, I think we can be in these positions again.

"I'm extremely proud of our sophomores. They've won 17 games since they've been here and that's an awful lot. We made the playoffs two years in a row and got to home playoff games."

NOTES -- The NJCAA/jcfootball.com poll was released Wednesday afternoon. Fort Scott fell three spots to No. 12 while Hutchinson moved up five to No. 15....