Fort Scott Tribune: Local News: Greyhounds No. 1 in latest poll (11/17/09)

Fort Scott freshman defensive back Jamel Johnson tries to pump up the crowd during the Region VI Championship Game at Frary Field Sunday afternoon. The Greyhounds defeated Butler, 13-12, to win their first ever playoff championship and move up to No. 1 in the national poll.
(Kenny Felt/Captured Images)

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There are four quarters remaining in Fort Scott Community College's football season. Officially, they won't know where those quarters will be played until this afternoon. But they know that they will begin the first of those four quarters as the No. 1-ranked team in all of junior college football.

Fort Scott Community College announced via e-mail Monday evening that there will be a formal announcement concerning a bowl bid this afternoon at 1:15 p.m. in the FSCC cafeteria. It has been widely speculated that Fort Scott will receive a berth in the Citizens Bank Bowl, which will be held in Pittsburg on Dec. 6.

The Greyhounds, whose 11-0 record currently matches that of the 1970 National Champion team, was given the No. 1 ranking Monday in both of the major junior college football polls.

The National Junior College Athletic Association/jcfootball.com poll voters gave Fort Scott all seven first-place votes. The JCGridiron.com poll, which also includes all the schools in California that do not compete in the NJCAA, does not reveal its points system but put the 'Hounds ahead of Mount San Antonio College (Calif.).

The former No. 1 in both polls was Navarro College (Texas). But on a weekend of rematches -- Butler at Fort Scott, Blinn at Navarro and Snow (Utah) versus Arizona Western -- only the Greyhounds were able to come out winners the second time around.

Blinn lost to Navarro on Oct. 31 in the final game of the regular season and fell from the No. 1 spot. But Sunday, the Buccaneers rallied from a 28-17 deficit in the rematch and won the Southwest Junior College Football Conference Championship Game, 45-34. Navarro (10-1) fell four places to No. 4 in the NJCAA poll and dropped to No. 7 in the JCGridiron Poll.

Fort Scott, the No. 2-ranked team going into the weekend, emerged from muddy Frary Field as a 13-12 victory over No. 7 Butler in the Region VI Championship Game. The Greyhounds became the first team to defeat Butler twice in the same season -- their 14-10 victory on Oct. 31 gave Fort Scott its first Jayhawk Conference championship since 1974 -- since Garden City swept the Grizzlies in 2001

Blinn now stands at No. 2 in the NJCAA/jcfootball.com poll. But in the junior college system, there is no guarantee No. 1 and No. 2 will play in the same bowl.

Snow (9-2) was No. 4 in the NJCAA poll going into the weekend but was defeated for the second time this season by Arizona Western. With the victory, the Matadors (9-1) moved up to No. 6 in the NJCAA poll. Snow fell to No. 8.

Grand Rapids (Mich.) is the only other undefeated team in the nation, California included. They were moved up to No. 3 in the NJCAA poll. Grand Rapids' rise is all the more remarkable considering that it does not give scholarships. However, the Raiders have been very competitive in recent bowl games against those schools which do give scholarships.

The last remaining unbeaten team in California was Los Angeles Harbor. A loss over the weekend sent it plummeting from 14th to 26th in the JCGridiron poll.

NJCAA Football Poll

Team	Record	Points	Previous	Last week
1. Fort Scott (7)	11-0	140	2	def. Butler, 13-12
2. Blinn, Texas	10-1	131	2	def. Navarro, 45-34
3. Grand Rapids, Mich.	10-0	121	5	idle
4. Navarro, Texas	10-1	118	1	lost to Blinn, 45-34
5. East Mississippi	10-1	115	6	idle
6. Arizona Western	9-1	110	7	def. Snow, 30-17
7. Miss. Gulf Coast	9-2	91	9	idle
8. Snow, Utah	9-2	85	4	lost to Arizona Western, 30-17
9. Central Lakes, Minn.	10-1	79	10	idle
10. Butler	8-3	72	7	lost to Fort Scott, 13-12
11. Dean, Mass.	9-1	70	12	idle
12. Nassau, N.Y.	8-2	55	13	def. ASA, 22-19
13. Ellsworth, Iowa	7-3	52	14	idle
14. Rochester Tech	10-1	50	14	idle
15. Eastern Arizona	8-3	45	11	lost to Phoenix, 27-21
16. New Mex. Military	7-3	44	16	idle
17. Tyler, Texas	7-3	35	17	idle
18. Pearl River, Miss.	6-3	20	18	idle
19. Coffeyville	6-4	17	19	idle
20. Hutchinson	6-4	10	20	idle

Others receiving votes

Team	Record	Points	Previous	Last week
Glendale, Ariz.	6-5	5	NR	def. Scottsdale, 27-12
Jones County, Miss.	6-4	3	NR	idle
Georgia Military	6-4	1	NR	def. Lackawanna, 35-7

JCGridiron.com "Dirty 30"

1. Fort Scott	11-0
2. Mount San Antonio, Calif.	9-1
3. East Mississippi	10-1
4. Bakersfield, Calif.	9-1
5. Blinn, Texas	10-1
6. Fullerton, Calif.	9-1
7. Navarro, Texas	10-1
8. San Mateo, Calif.	9-1
9. City College of San Francisco	9-1
10 Grand Rapids, Mich.	10-0
11. Allan Hancock, Calif.	9-1
12. Cerritos, Calif.	9-1
13. Mississippi Gulf Coast	9-2
14. Arizona Western	9-1
15. Palomar, Calif.	9-2
16. Butler	8-3
17. El Camino, Calif.	8-2
18. Saddleback, Calif.	9-2
19. Ellsworth, Iowa	7-3
20. Ventura, Calif.	7-3
21. Jones County, Miss.	6-4
22. Tyler, Texas	7-3
23. Snow, Utah	9-2
24. Foothill, Calif.	7-3
25. Grossmont, Calif.	7-3
26. Los Angeles Harbor	9-1
27. Central Lakes, Minn.	10-1
28. Rochester Tech, Minn.	10-1
29. Butte (Calif.)	7-3
30. Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.)	6-3

"On the Bubble": Eastern Arizona, 7-3; Canyons (Calif.) 6-4, Coffeyville 6-4, New Mexico Military 7-3, Fresno City (Calif.) 6-4, Laney (Calif.) 8-2, Dean (Mass.) 9-1, Santa Rosa (Calif.) 5-5, Kilgore (Texas) 4-6, Reedly (Calif.) 6-4.