Ranger defense keeps Greyhounds in check

Monday, December 4, 2006
Fort Scott Community College/Melamie McGee -- Patrick Roberts gets a block from Ryan Westmoreland (3) on a punt return during the Heart of Texas Bowl in Copperas Cove, Texas, Saturday afternoon.

COPPERAS COVE, Texas -- The clock struck midnight on the Cinderella season of Fort Scott Community College's football team here Saturday afternoon as the Greyhounds suffered a 19-7 loss to 17th-ranked Kilgore (Texas) in the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl at Bulldawg Stadium.

The 11th-ranked Greyhounds scored first on a one-yard keeper by quarterback Greg Cross with seven seconds left in the opening quarter. But Fort Scott, 7-5, never showed many signs of offensive life.

The 'Hounds had only two first downs and 102 total yards in the game. And the second first down and 46 of those yards came on a last-ditch pass from Cross to Avery Kelly that was stopped at the nine-yard line on the game's final play.

Fort Scott was one of 10 on third-down conversions and its inability to keep possession of the ball eventually resulted in a worn-out Greyhound defense that surrendered 129 yards in the fourth quarter, when Kilgore, 6-6, scored the go-ahead and game-clinching touchdowns. The 'Hounds gave up just 85 total yards in the first half but The Rangers gained 97 yards just in the third quarter.

Neither team had much going offensively in the first quarter. A muffed punt return gave Fort Scott its first opportunity to score but Jared Oshel missed a 42-yard field-goal attempt.

Later in the period, Patrick Roberts returned a punt 57 yards to give the Greyhounds the ball at the Kilgore 18-yard line. Cross hit Patrick Riley for 14 yards on third down and a Ranger penalty moved the ball one more yard to set up Cross' score.

Martin Vazquez missed a 38-yard field-goal try in the second quarter and also saw the only sustained drive of the half go 10 plays and consume 4 1/2 minutes of game time only to end with a fourth-and-20 punt from the Fort Scott 43.

Lucien Antoine intercepted a pass early in the third quarter to give Fort Scott the ball at its own 41. But Cross was picked off by Kilgore's Avery Norris just two plays later, giving the Rangers the ball at their own 24.

Martin ran for a two-yard loss on the first play, giving him seven carries for seven yards at that point. But Kilgore kept giving him the ball and he ran it on seven of the nine other plays of the drive. Meanwhile, quarterback Jerred Wallace hit Kendrick Holloway for a 60-yard gain down to the Fort Scott 15. Martin vaulted over the line from the one to tie the game with 6:33 left in the third quarter.

Martin went on to gain 100 yards on 26 carries, producing 91 yards in the second half.

Early in the fourth quarter, Logan Morris went in for Wallace at quarterback and led the Rangers' second scoring drive. Keith Smith ran a sweep for 33 yards to the Fort Scott 31 on the first play. Morris ran a keeper for 15 on third-and-one at the 20.

It looked like Fort Scott's defense caught a break after Kilgore got the ball down to the one. The Rangers committed consecutive penalties, moving the ball back to the 11. But Morris threw his only pass of the game to tight end Marcus Bogony for a touchdown that put Kilgore ahead with 10:50 to go. The PAT kick was no good.

The Rangers weren't finding much space up the middle of the Fort Scott defense in the first half, especially with linebacker Tony Charles coming up to help clog up plays. But Kilgore began running sweeps to the outside and started beating the tiring Greyhound defense.

Kilgore took over at its own 46 with 3:22 remaining and Martin ran the ball on the first four plays, gaining 27 on the first and nine on the second as he moved the ball to the Fort Scott seven.

Martin then suffered a two-yard loss and linebacker Tim Brown sacked Morris, pushing the ball back to the 11. On third down, Morris ran a keeper to the five and Kilgore ran the clock down to 25 seconds before calling time out (Fort Scott had used its last time out after the Morris run).

Kilgore ran a play that was probably intended just to run off some more time and pin the Greyhounds back a little further. But Martin ran around, back, and then over the left side to score the clinching touchdown with 13 seconds remaining. The PAT was again unsuccessful.

Kilgore finished the game with 13 first downs and 311 total yards of offense, rushing for 222 on 54 carries. Smith added 78 yards on 16 carries.

Kelly was Fort Scott's leading receiver with three catches for 56 yards. Cross was just five of 18 for 78 yards. He didn't complete his first five passes.

NOTES -- Fort Scott fell to 1-9 in bowl games. The Greyhounds' only bowl victory came in the 1970 Shrine Bowl, which gave FSCC the national championship....

H.O.T. Bowl director Jack Welch was FSCC's football coach from 1987-92, taking the Greyhounds to bowl games the last three seasons of his tenure. His last team won eight games, the most in a season until this year….

The seven wins Fort Scott had this season were the most since Welch's 1992 team went 8-4. This was also the first team since that year to finish over .500. The Greyhounds were 4-4-1 in 1993 and 1995 and 5-5-0 in 1994, 1999 and 2001....

The Greyhounds won more games this season than in the last four seasons combined (four)....

This was Kilgore's first bowl win since the 2001 Red River Bowl, when they defeated Tyler, Texas, 14-7….

Jovani Franklin, the Jayhawk Conference's leading rusher, was held to 25 yards on 12 carries. He was injured on the first play of the fourth quarter and never returned….