'Hounds stumble at Garden
GARDEN CITY -- Fort Scott Community College's football team was looking for a rare victory at Garden City Saturday night, hoping to gain an advantage on the Broncbusters in the chase for the fourth and final spot in the Region VI Playoffs.
Instead, Garden City rolled to a 42-13 victory as what had been one of the Jayhawk Conference's worst defenses two weeks ago held the 'Hounds to just 203 total yards while the Buster offense passed for more yards than any team has over Fort Scott in over 10 seasons.
Fort Scott is 2-3 in the conference and 2-4 overall, sitting in sixth place. Garden City (4-1 overall) and Coffeyville (3-2) are tied for third place with 2-1 conference marks. The Greyhounds will have to finish ahead at least one of those teams because both Garden and Coffeyville will hold tie-breakers, both having won the head-to-head match-up with Fort Scott this season.
Fort Scott's two remaining conference games are at Independence Saturday and versus Hutchinson on Oct. 20. Garden City lost to Hutch, 63-49, on Sept. 8 and faces Butler this weekend. Coffeyville dropped a 58-26 verdict to the Blue Dragons in the season opener and faces Butler Oct. 20. Fort Scott lost at Butler, 60-14, on Sept. 8.
Garden City quarterback Nick Marshall completed 18 of 27 passes for 372 yards and three touchdowns -- all to running back Tyreek Hill -- while also rushing for 244 yards on 20 carries. No Fort Scott team had allowed as many yards in the air since the 2001 season, when Highland threw for exactly 400 yards in a 72-39 loss to the 'Hounds.
Garden City's 670 yards of total offense were the most since Blinn gained 694 total yards in last year's season opener.
Marshall scrambled 28 yards for Garden's first score barely 3 1/2 minutes into the game. But Kevin Short returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards to tie the score. That was Fort Scott's eighth defensive or special-teams touchdown of the season.
Hill's first touchdown reception was a 37-yarder that put the Broncbusters ahead for good with 8:23 left in the first quarter.
Marshall ran for another touchdown, a 30-yard scamper, just eight seconds into the second period to extend the Busters' lead to 21-7. He and Hill connected for a 55-yard scoring play with 7:52 left in the half.
A 68-yard Marshall-to-Hill connection with 13:22 on the clock in the third made it 35-7. Jamaal Tyler's 1-yard run with 9:01 left gave the Busters their final points of the night.
"They've got too much team speed we just couldn't handle," FSCC head coach Curtis Horton told the Garden City Telegram. "They've got some tremendous players who made some big-time plays. Hats off to them, you've got to give kudos where they're deserved."
Stanley Hagan scored just Fort Scott's ninth offensive touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run with 5:51 left in the third. Garden City held Hagan out of the end zone on four straight runs later in the contest after the 'Hounds had a first-and-goal from the 9-yard line.
Fort Scott managed only 203 total yards. Hagan rushed for 125 yards on 23 carries. Quarterback Colton Morrison played for the first time since he suffered an injury to the thumb on his throwing hand at Butler but completed just 8 of 19 passes for 75 yards. Courtney Ward caught 5 of those for 55 yards.
Hill was credited with 196 yards on just 7 catches for the Busters, who rushed for 298 yards on 44 carries and had 25 first downs.
FORT SCOTT.. 7 0 6 0 -- 13
GARDEN CITY 14 14 14 0 -- 42
From the Garden City Telegram
Team Stats | Fort Scott | Garden |
First downs | 13 | 25 |
Rushes-yards | 36-128 | 44-298 |
Passing yards | 75 | 372 |
Total offense | 203 | 670 |
Passing (c-a-i) | 8-22-1 | 18-29-1 |
Punts-avg. | n/a | n/a |
Fumbles-lost | 3-1 | 1-1 |
Penalties-yards | 7-47 | 10-83 |
Scoring
First quarter
GC -- Marshall 28 run (Peterson kick), 11:33
FS -- Short 97 kickoff return (Whitrock kick), 11:20
GC -- Hill 37 pass from Marshall (Peterson kick), 8:23
Second quarter
GC -- Marshall 30 run (Peterson kick), 14:52
GC -- Hill 55 pass from Marshall (Peterson kick), 7:52
Third quarter
GC -- Hill 68 pass from Marshall (Peterson kick), 13:22
GC -- Tyler 1 run )(Peterson kick), 9:01
FS -- Hagan 1 run (run failed), 5:51
Individual statistics
PASSING: Fort Scott -- Morrison 8-19-1-75, Jordan 0-3-0-0. Garden City -- Marshall 18-27-1-372, Curran 0-1-0-0, Coleman 0-1-0-0.
RUSHING: Fort Scott: Hagan 23-125, Rooks 2-20, Cage 2-11, Ellis 1-8, Morrison 8-(minus 36). Garden City -- Marshall 20-244, Tyler 17-48, Hill 3-15, Silva 1-(-13), Curran 1-2, Lamb 1-1, Weber 1-1.
RECEIVING: Fort Scott: Ward 5-55, Hagan 2-15, Hoskin 1-5. Garden City -- Coleman 8-98, Hill 7-196, Silva 2-69, Kelly 1-9.