Greyhounds can't catch Dodge City

Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Fort Scott defensive lineman Aaron Adams (72) brings down Dodge City running back Rodney Murphy for a loss during first-quarter action at Frary Field Saturday night. The visiting Conquistadors went on to a 45-35 victory in Jayhawk Conference play. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

Fort Scott Community College trailed 21-0 after nine minutes of play at Frary Field Saturday night. Although the Greyhounds were able to get within a touchdown three times, they were never able to catch No. 20-ranked Dodge City and fell 45-35 in Jayhawk Conference play.

The win gave the visiting Conquistadors (3-1 Jayhawk, 6-2 overall) a boost in the latest national poll up to No. 12. They will face No. 1 Garden City, led by former FSCC head coach Jeff Sims, Saturday night in Dodge City. Garden City (5-0, 7-0) became No. 1 when it beat Iowa Western, 27-17, and former No. 1 Northwest Mississippi lost to No. 4 East Mississippi by 19 points.

Dodge City's early scores came on a 30-yard pass from Caden Walters to Douglas Butts, a 3-yard run by running back A.J. Walker, and a 52-yard interception return by Kereon Merrell. The Conqs were up 21-0 with 6:01 left in the first quarter.

Fort Scott finally got on the board following the interception return. The 'Hounds had to recover a bad snap in the pistol formation on the first play but then moved downfield. On third-and-10 from his own 35, quarterback Nathan Rourke found receiver Fred Daughtry for 27 yards to the Dodge City 38. On the next play, Johnnie Hankins went up the middle and ran into the end zone. Brody Southwell's extra-point kick was good with 4:48 on the clock.

Rourke ran up the middle from 13 yards out with 11:45 on the clock in the second quarter to bring the Greyhounds within 7 for the first time, 21-14, as Southwell knocked another PAT through.

Dodge City responded immediately as Butts returned the kickoff 98 yards to the house.

Fort Scott got back within a touchdown by halftime on a drive set up when Dominic Cizauskas recovered a fumble by Andre Brown on a punt return. The Greyhounds started at the Dodge City 29 and scored five plays later when Rourke rolled to his left and found Sirr Green in the end zone with 2:17 on the clock. Southwell's kick brought FSCC within 28-21.

Rodney Murphy scored on a four-yard run for Dodge City with 10:49 to go in the third. That was set up by a 27-yard punt return by Brown that put the ball at the Fort Scott 31.

The 'Hounds responded with a 10-play, 7-0-yard drive capped with Harry Trotter's 18-yard run with 8:13 on the clock, cutting the deficit to 35-28.

Walters found Murphy out of the backfield from 29 yards out with 3:50 to go in the third. With 5:34 to go in the game, the Conqs capped an 82-yard drive -- starting at their own 9 after a punt -- with a 29-yard field goal by Sebastian Mejia to make it 45-28.

The Greyhounds needed just three plays to score with Daughtry hauling in a 29-yard scoring pass from Rourke with 4:42 left in the game. They tried an onside kick, but Dodge City fell on the ball at midfield.

The defense forced the Conqs into a three-and-out but the Greyhounds had to start from their own 2-yard line with 3:23 to go.

On third-and-11, Rourke rolled left and found Green for a first down at the 18. Rourke then connected with Daughtry on back-to-back passes for gains of 5 and 25 to get the ball to the Fort Scott 48.

Rourke found Daughtry again but after a few yards, he was stripped of the ball and Dodge City recovered at its own 35 with 2:30 remaining. Fort Scott used its last time out with 1:39 left when the Conqs faced a third-and-1 at the their own 44 but Walker gained 14 yards when play resumed and Dodge City was able to run out the clock.

Rourke threw for 256 yards for the Greyhounds as he completed 26 of 38 passes with one interception. It was his fifth 200-yard passing game of the season. In the past 20 seasons, only three Fort Scott quarterbacks have had as many or more 200-yard games. Bill Whittemore had five in the 2001 season. Bob Pesavento had six in the 1999 season. And Greg Cross had seven over his two seasons here in 2006-07. All three of those quarterbacks ended up at Division I universities --Whittemore at Kansas, Pesavento at Colorado and Cross at Pittsburgh.

Daughtry caught 15 passes for 187 yards. He had 14 receptions for the season coming into the game. His number of catches is second in FSCC history to Chevelle Buie's 20-reception game against Coffeyville in 2013.

Fort Scott had 387 yards of total offense to Dodge City's 360. But the Conqs had 27 first downs while the 'Hounds had just 20.

Walters was intercepted three times but threw for 194 yards on 16 of 29 for Dodge City.

The loss continued Fort Scott's pattern of alternating wins and losses. The 'Hounds have not won consecutive games this season nor have the lost back-to-back contests.

The Greyhounds will travel to Ellsworth, Iowa, Saturday to take on the Panthers. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m.

NOTES -- Hutchinson and Highland received votes in last week's poll but dropped completely out this week. This is due to Highland's 45-24 loss at last-place Independence and Hutchinson's 23-20 home loss to Ellsworth. The Blue Dragons were denied a chance to go to overtime when a 54-yard field-goal attempt hit the left upright on the next-to-final play of the game....


DODGE CITY........ 21 7 14 10 -- 45

FORT SCOTT........ 7 14 7 7 -- 35

Team statsDodge CityFort Scott
First downs2720
Rushes-yards49-16633-131
Passing yards194256
Total offense360387
Passing (c-a-i)16-29-326-38-1
Sacked-yds. lost1-33-21
Punt returns-yds.3-550-0
Kickoff rets.-yds.6-1868-76
Int. returns-yds.1-523-21
Punts-avg.3-38.07-46.1
Fumbles-lost1-12-1
Penalties-yards9-11713-99

Scoring plays

First quarter

DC -- Butts 30 pass from Walters (Mejia kick), 12:22 [5, 52, 2:30]

DC --Walker 3 run (Mejia kick), 7:10 [8, 41, 3:24]

DC -- Merrell 52 interception return (Mejia kick), 6:01

FS -- Hankins 38 run (Southwell kick), 4:48 [4, 65, 1:07]

Second quarter

FS -- Rourke 13 run (Southwell kick), 11:45 [12, 72, 3:25]

DC --Butts 98 kickoff return (Mejia kick), 11:31

FS --Green 9 pass from Rourke (Southwell kick), 2:18

Third quarter

DC -- Murphy 4 run (Mejia kick), 10:49 [6, 31, 2:16]

FS -- Trotter 18 run (Southwell kick), 8:13 [10, 70, 2:33]

DC -- Murphy 29 pass from Walters (Mejia kick), 3:50 [10, 66, 4:21]

Fourth quarter

DC -- FG Mejia 29, 5:34 [14, 82, 7:27]

FS -- Daughtry 29 pass from Rourke (Southwell kick), 4:42 [3, 70, :45]

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Dodge City -- Minor 11-51, Walker 16-49, Murphy 13-41, Walters 7-35, team 2-minus 10. Fort Scott -- Trotter 10-47, Hankins 6-47, Rourke 12-35, Rivers 4-3, team 1-minus 1.

PASSING: Dodge City -- Walters 16-29-3-194. Fort Scott -- Rourke 26-38-1-256.

RECEIVING: Dodge City -- Butts 5-78, Watkins 4-45, Johnson 4-23, Haley 2-19, Murphy 1-29. Fort Scott -- Daughtry 15-187, Love 5-36, Green 2-18, Hankins 2-3, Trotter 1-8, Aldred 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.