FOOTBALL FRIDAY: Conqs looking to move up

Right now there are just two teams with winning record remaining on Fort Scott Community College's schedule. But they meet one of them on Saturday on the road -- No. 17 Dodge City, which is 3-0 in the Jayhawk Conference and 3-1 overall.

Dodge City's lone loss is to Iowa Western (3-2) -- the other team on Fort Scott's schedule with a winning record. And the Conquistadors rebounded from that loss two weeks ago to beat Hutchinson on the road, 27-14, knocking the Blue Dragons (1-2, 3-2) from No. 8 in the NJCAA poll to completely out of it.

The loss to Iowa Western bumped Dodge City out of the poll for all of one week. Western's two losses are to No. 2 Coffeyville and No. 3 Butler and the Reivers have played for national championships more than once in the short but stories history of their football program, so the Conquistadors' loss to them shouldn't really have been as poorly regarded by the poll voters as it was.

Defensive back Quandreko Statham (6' 0", 190, Fr,. Athens, Ga.) was named Jayhawk Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his performance at Hutchinson. He had 10 tackles and returned two interceptions against the Blue Dragons. He has three interceptions for the season and is 14th in the NJCAA with 11.3 tackles per game (second in the conference).

Dodge City had 354 yards of total offense last week while holding Hutchinson to 267 yards. Quarterback Tommy Lazzaro (6' 4", 225, Fr., Colorado Springs) completed 15 of 20 passes for 202 yards. He is second in the conference in passing with 1,127 yards. He has thrown 7 touchdown passes and 4 interceptions.

Dodge City running back Mark Thompson (6' 3", 220, Soph., Lamont, Pa.), who rushed for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns on 29 carries last week, leads the conference in rushing with 638 yards and has scored 10 touchdowns.

The Conqs lead the conference in rushing defense, allowing just 85.4 yards per game. But they're seventh against the pass, allowing 258.8 yards per game. That could be good news for the Greyhounds as long as freshman quarterback Mike Glass, who has thrown for over 200 yards twice this season, can stay on track.

It is difficult to gauge Fort Scott's statistically within the conference because a computer error has the Greyhounds' numbers posted without the individual stats from the Butler game on Sept. 19. Nonetheless, the 'Hounds need those numbers to improve and this is as good a place as any to begin.

Saturday's game at Dodge City kicks off at 5:30 p.m.