Missed opportunities hurt 'Hounds

COFFEYVILLE -- Both team's head coaches will probably tell anyone who watched the game between Fort Scott Community College and No. 16 Coffeyville here Saturday night that his team left points on the field.

The Greyhounds (2-3) probably felt like they could have scored two more first-half touchdowns after failing to convert two fourth downs in Coffeyville territory. The Red Ravens (3-1) got into Fort Scott territory five times in the first half but only scored once in each of the first two quarters.

The ultimate difference was that the Red Ravens held the Greyhound offense to no gain or negative yards on nearly half of their offensive plays. And Coffeyville claimed a 29-8 victory.

"I felt like (the offense) got into situations to make plays but we just weren't able to come through on some of those," Fort Scott head coach Curtis Horton said.

Along the way to victory, Coffeyville's defense held Marceice Jackson, the Jayhawk Conference's leading rusher, to zero yards or less on 10 consecutive carries in the first half. And after completing 4 of his first 5 passes, quarterback Matt Bollig went into a 0-for-10 slump that lasted well into the fourth quarter ? though Bollig also suffered a couple of drops and had to deal with the Red Ravens' pressure.

"Several of their guys were very athletic," Horton said. "They moved well in space."

Fort Scott made the game's first big defensive play when Kevin Short intercepted his conference-leading fourth pass of the season early in the game. It was the first interception Coffeyville quarterback Najee Tyler has thrown this season. But the 'Hounds couldn't convert a fourth-and-1 at the Coffeyville 29 as Jackson was thrown for a one-yard loss.

Tyler converted a fourth down for a score on the ensuing drive as he snuck over the goal line from 1 yard out with 2:23 left in the first. The drive lasted nearly six minutes.

The Red Ravens advanced to the Fort Scott 29 on their next drive and sent out the field-goal team. But a delay of game penalty moved the Ravens out of field-goal range. Coffeyville also advanced to the Greyhound 16 later in the period but a personal foul backed the Ravens up and eventually forced them to punt.

Fort Scott was pinned back on its own one to start the next drive and had to punt after gaining only 3 yards. Grail Brewster got through to block the kick and the Ravens took over at the Greyhound 8. They scored four plays later on another fourth-down play as Brewster took it over from a half yard out with 1:26 remaining in the half.

The 'Hounds advanced to the Coffeyville 25 on the next drive. But a second-down sack moved Fort Scott back to its own 39 and the drive ended with two incomplete passes, the second intended for Jonathan Wright in the end zone on fourth down with 10 seconds left that appeared to be tipped by a defender.

Coffeyville recovered a Jackson fumble at the Raven 18 with less than 11 minutes on the clock in the third period and scored two plays later from the 11 as Hayden Groves broke a tackle at the 5 and ran in with 9:57 left to make it a 21-0 lead.

Fort Scott's only score came on the ensuing drive as the 'Hounds have the Raven defense a steady dose of backup tailback Luke Lundy. He carried the ball on every play of a 9-play, 76-yard drive, including the last from one 4 yards out with 7:41 remaining. The snap was bad on the extra point but holder Bollig ran it into the end zone for a 2-point conversion to bring Fort Scott within 21-8.

"One thing about this team that I can tell you is that they don't quit," Horton said. "They play four quarters and they played every down."

Jamarius Green posted the game's final score on a 30-yard run with 7:15 in the fourth quarter. John Zeno ran in a 2-point conversion.

Despite the loss, Horton felt that the Greyhounds are starting to come around as a team. Consider that Coffeyville was the third ranked team they've played this season, but the margin of defeat was just three touchdowns. Earlier in the season, Fort Scott lost to Blinn by 47 points and Butler by 31.

"After the game, the players hurt," Horton said. "They knew we left a lot of points on the field; we left a lot of opportunities on the field. And I told them, 'When we get up tomorrow, we're going to get up a little bit earlier, we're going to work a little bit harder, and we're going to go a little bit faster. And they seemed to respond well. I'd be much more concerned if I went (in the locker room) and nobody cared."

Coffeyville finished with 357 yards of total offense, 257 on the ground. Fort Scott averaged 3 yards per play, running 60 plays for 178 total yards.

The Ravens had three backs finish with 70 or more yards rushing. Green gained 70 on 12 carries, Groves 73 on 17 and Brewster led the way with 95 on 22 rushes. Taylor completed 9 of 18 passes for exactly 100 yards.

After starting with minus-11 yards on his first 12 carries, Jackson finished with 81 on 25 totes. Lundy finished with 57 on 13 carries, still limited somewhat by a shoulder injury.

Bollig finished 6 of 18 for 54 yards. Brannon Green caught 2 passes for 29 yards while Griffin Knopp caught 2 for 14.

Due to Fort Scott's probationary status, the game did not count in Jayhawk Conference standings.

The Greyhounds will host No. 11 Hutchinson at 1 p.m. Saturday at Frary Field. The Blue Dragons will be the second consecutive FSCC opponent to have a bye the week before facing the 'Hounds.

NOTES -- Linebacker Martese "Bam Bam" Jackson did not play, serving the first half of a two-game suspension. He received the sanction after he was ejected for a late hit the week before against Garden City....

Freshman running back Kyle Brunson, who rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown in the Greyhounds' victory over Independence two weeks ago, did not get on the field for a single offensive snap....

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Fort Scott...... 0 0 8 0 -- 8

Coffeyville..... 7 7 7 8 -- 29

Scoring

First quarter

C -- Tyler 1 run (Bishop kick), 2:23 [10, 70, 5:51]

Second quarter

C -- Brewster 1 run (Bishop kick), 1:26 [4, 8, 2:06]

Third quarter

C -- Groves 11 run (Bishop kick), 9:57 [2, 18, :46]

FS -- Lundy 4 run (Bollig run), 7:41 [9, 76, 2:10]

Fourth quarter

C -- Green 30 run (Zeno run), 7:15 [7, 81, 3:32]

Individual statistics

RUSHING: Fort Scott -- Marc. Jackson 25-81, Lundy 13-57, Bollig 4-minus 14. Coffeyville -- Brewster 22-95, Graves 17-73, Green 12-70, Thames 1-15, Zeno 1-7, Tyler 1-1, team 2-minus 4.

PASSING: Fort Scott -- Bollig 6-18-0-54. Coffeyville -- Tyler 9-18-1-100.

RECEIVING: Fort Scott -- Green 2-29, Knopp 2-14, Wright 1-10, Marc.Jackson 1-1. Coffeyville Jenkins 3-39, Zeno 2-31, Berry 2-25, Footman 1-3, Brewster 1-2.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: Coffeyville -- Hamacher 42 (WL).