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Greyhounds dominate Conquistadors
Fort Scott Community College scored the most points and gained the most yards in any game under head coach Jeff Sims as the Greyhounds smashed last-place Dodge City, 71-19, at Frary Field in Jayhawk Conference play Saturday afternoon.
This was the highest point total since the Greyhounds outscored Highland 72-39 on Sept. 1, 2001. Fort Scott also had 658 total yards that day, which was the highest on record until Saturday.
Fort Scott (2-4 KJCCC, 2-6 overall) also racked up 40 first downs. There is no account of a total even close to that on record although there have been a couple of games with 30 to 32 first downs.
"We won today strictly because of the effort of our players," Sims said. "In pre-game, they were fired up. We've talked all year about being young but we're not young anymore. This is our eighth game."
Fort Scott had 530 yards rushing, it's highest total on record, exceeding a 499-yard game against Air Force Prep last season.
Jonathan Walker carried the ball 22 times for 225 yards, becoming the first Fort Scott back with more than 200 yards since Justin Woods gained the same total in last year's AFP game. Third-team tailback Cordell Reed added a career-high 172 yards on 26 carries and Nick Woods finished with 95 yards on 10 totes. Eight players carried the ball for the Greyhounds.
"It's kind of like a perfect storm," Sims said. "When people see these kinds of scores, they'll think we ran it up. What happened was we're a team that's struggling and they're a team that's struggling. We started having success and they didn't. So they got down. And our guys were thirsty. When you're beating someone like this and you put in your second teamer, he wants to prove he should be playing. And your third teamer wants to prove he should be playing."
Quarterback Spenser Bennett, making his fourth career start, had his best day as a Greyhound. The sophomore completed 12 of 16 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown. Malcom Moulton hauled in 6 passes for 96 yards.
Dodge City (0-6, 0-7) gained 232 total yards but all but 13 of them came on the Conquistadors' three scoring plays, which went 56, 66 and a school-record 97 yards.
Walker scored the Greyhounds' first three touchdowns as Fort Scott jumped out to a 20-0 lead. The first was from 4 yards out with 13:19 on the clock. The second was a 40-yard jaunt with 9:37 to go and the third was a 16-yarder with 1:04 remaining.
It was evident that a young offensive line was having its best day of the season.
"The offensive line was one of the places where we talked about being young," Sims said. "Things started working for them. It just kept rolling and getting better and getting better. Our left tackle, Cole Ingram, got better. This is his third start."
Larry Walls got Dodge City on the board on a 56-yard run with 48 seconds left in the first. The extra point kick was blocked.
Drew Russell kicked a 28-yard field goal less than 2 minutes into the second quarter and Bennett ran in the ball on bootleg with 8:53 remaining to make it 30-6.
Walls scored on a 66-yard run for the Conqs with 7:22 left and Antonio Rodriguez kicked the extra point.
Reed got the first of a pair of touchdowns with 2:32 left in the half to make it 37-13 at the break. He scored again on a 39-yard run 4 1/2 minutes into the second half.
Woods got the first of his two TDs with 6:16 left in the period.
Dodge City's final score came on a 97-yard pass from backup quarterback Bryan Parnes to Cameron Hall, who is one of the conference's top receivers despite the Conqs' woeful offense.
The fourth quarter saw Bennett throw his only touchdown pass of the day, a 48-yarder to Danny Madison, with 14:51 left. O.J. Shelds recover a blocked punt in the end zone with 13:06 left, and Woods go in from 17 yards out with 6:19 to go.
The Greyhounds have a bye this week. On the 30th, they will travel to Highland looking for a victory in what could be their last game of the season.
The night before, Garden City travels to Independence. If Indy beats Garden, Fort Scott will make the Region VI Playoffs with a victory over Highland.
NOTES -- The highest points total in the conference this season was Coffeyville's 72 in a 66-point rout of the Conqs on Sept. 4. The Red Ravens gained 550 yards in that game, which had been the conference high for the season prior to Saturday....
No team had gained so many yards in the KJCCC since Butler rolled up 650 in a 54-3 victory over Highland last season....