No. 5 Ravens pay visit Saturday

Saturday at Frary Field, two of the Jayhawk Conference's oldest rivals square off as Fort Scott Community College and No. 5-ranked Coffeyville meet in a 1 p.m. kickoff.

The Greyhounds (1-2 conference, 1-3 overall) will look hand the the Red Ravens (2-0, 3-0) their first loss of the season.

Records, stats, and streaks can be thrown out the door when these teams clash as both programs are rich in tradition. It is no secret that there is a long-standing rivalry between the two programs, dating back to the 1970 season when the Greyhounds held the Ravens to a negative-yardage offensive output during that season's game to end the long Ravens' winning streak they had over the 'Hounds.

Fort Scott's four opponents so far in 2010 -- No. 7 Blinn, No. 3 Butler, Independence and Garden City -- have a combined record of 10-6, while Coffeyville's three opponents -- Tyler, Dodge City and Garden City -- have a combined 3-6 mark. The Ravens had their bye week last Saturday.

Fort Scott, coming off a close 16-13 loss to Garden City in Garden last Saturday, will look to stop a Coffeyville offense that is averaging 43 points per game and 361 yards per contest, marks which are second and third, respectively, in the Jayhawk Conference.

The improving defense of the Greyhounds has performed better over the last two weeks, holding their opponents to an average of two touchdowns per contest.

The Greyhounds will look to their linebacker duo of sophomores Jeremy Walker (6' 0", 230, Soph., Kansas City, Kan.) and Sam Quilice (6' 2", 230, Soph., Olathe) to wreak havoc on the Raven's offense. Walker and Quilice have combined for 62 tackles this season.

Other players to watch on defense for Fort Scott are defensive ends Davon Coleman (6' 3", 250, Fr., Cleveland, Ohio) and Melvin Payne (6' 2", 255, Soph., Mobile, Ala.). The duo is putting up strong numbers from their end spots while also putting pressure on the quarterback. Coleman leads the team with 2.5 sacks and both players are tied for the team lead with 4.5 tackles for loss.

Offensively, the 'Hounds are averaging 274.5 yards per game (fifth in the KJCCC) with 120 of that on the ground and 154.5 through the air (both also fifth).

Sophomore running back Nick Woods (5' 9", 185, Soph., Lawrence) is leading the Greyhounds' ground attack with 315 yards on the season. Woods has run for over 100 yards in the last two contests for the Fort Scott.

Quarterback Blaine Dalton (6' 2", 205, Fr., Blue Springs, Mo.) has thrown for 618 yards and 4 touchdowns. Dalton is completing 49 percent of his throws on 48 of 97 with a passing efficiency rating of 104.

Dalton's main weapon is red shirt freshman playmaker Malcolm Moulton. The 6' 1", 190-pound receiver from Atlanta has caught 24 passes for 439 yards and has scored all 4 of Fort Scott's touchdowns through the air this season.

The key to any game is the play of the offensive line and the Fort will look for the "Big Dawgs" to control the trenches. Fort Scott native Jeff Johnson, a 6' 4", 280-pound sophomore tackle, anchors a young offensive line that has made strides during the first four games of the season.

The Red Ravens feature a mixture of run and pass that has done the damage to their opponents in 2010. They have run the ball 126 times this season and passed it 82 times.

Coffeyville's ground attack is led by Mulku Kalokoh (5' 10", 195, Soph., Woodbridge, Va.), who is leading the Ravens with 220 yards and a 73.3 yards per game average. He managed only 11 yards on 11 carries in last season's meeting at Coffeyville, a 37-20 Greyhound victory. But he did have 6 receptions for 63 yards that night.

Quarterback Cayden Cochran (6' 2", 190, Soph., Cashion, Okla.) is having a good year for Coffeyville so far in 2010 as the redshirt freshman is completing 55 percent of his passes for 581 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Cochran's main weapon is sophomore Duron Carter, son of former NFL great Cris Carter. Carter (6' 5", 210, Soph., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has caught 14 passes for 252 yards and has 7 scoring grabs. Carter is a transfer from Ohio State University.

Defensively, the Ravens try to catch their opponents before they get to the line of scrimmage, as they have 40.5 tackles for loss as a team. Defensive tackle Robert Thomas (6' 3", 330, Fr., Muskogee, Okla.) leads the way with 7.5 tackles for a loss and also with 3 sacks in his team's first three games.

Coffeyville has only allowed its opponents a conference-low 6.3 points per game so far in 2010 and 2.6 yards per play.

Fans that cannot make it out to Frary Field can listen to the game on KSEK-FM 99.1 radio with Matt Newberry and Aaron Amershek. Pregame will start at noon and live play-by-play will start at 1 p.m. Fans can also utilize the internet to listen to live streaming of the game on www.991espnfortscott.com.