Scott City routs Goodland

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–On Senior Night on Friday night, the Scott City Beavers played host to the Goodland Cowboys in a game that saw both teams riding confidence entering their week seven matchup. The Beavers had just taken down their fourth unbeaten team in five weeks and the Cowboys won their second straight game of the year, and knocked off their rival for the first time in nine seasons. Scott City would set the tone on their opening drive, and never let up, as they clinched the Class 3A, District 8 title with a 57-14 thumping of Goodland at Darner Field. 

It took less than a minute for the Beavers to get on the board. On their third offensive snap, Brady Welker would score from 25 yards out for the early 6-0 lead, after the PAT was no good. Following a Cowboy three-and-out, Scott City put together an eight-play, 54-yard drive. Welker capped it off with an eight-yard run with 6:09 left in the first quarter to go up 13-0, with the Freddy Saenz PAT. Both teams would go three-and-out, and then the Beavers accomplished something that hasn’t happened since 2018. Senior Aaron Ruelas would intercept a Mason Hernandez pass and run 32 yards for the pick-six to give Scott City a 20-0 lead with 1:13 left in the first quarter. Saenz booted in the extra point. The Ruelas interception for a touchdown was the first for the Beavers since September 14, 2018, when Gabe Bowers had a 31-yard interception return for a score against Goodland. It was Scott City’s 17th non-offensive touchdown since 2013.

In the second quarter, the Beavers scored three more times. The first came with 10:27 left before the break on a Jace Thomas 25-yard run. Lawson Bailey ran in the two-point conversion to make it 28-0. Three minutes later, Bailey would have Scott City’s longest play from scrimmage, on a 73-yard touchdown run with 7:14 left before halftime to push the lead to 35-0 with the Saenz extra point. The Beavers scored on another two-play drive late in the second quarter, as Dylan Metzger connected with Bailey on a 51-yard touchdown pass with 2:32 left before half. Aldo Munoz knocked in the extra point to make it 42-0, and that was the score at the break.

To begin the second half, Goodland fumbled on the kickoff return, and the Beavers recovered at the Cowboy 25. On the very next play, Cesar Peregrino scored from 25 yards out with 11:46 left in the third quarter to go up 49-0 with the Munoz kick. That forced a continuous clock for the rest of the night.

Scott City scored their final points of the night on a Camden Vulgamore one-yard quarterback sneak with 10:49 left. He would also run in the two-point conversion on a wild play to make it 57-0. Goodland would return the ensuing kickoff 84 yards, as Anthony Rubial set the Cowboys up at the nine yard line. Three plays later, Mason Hernandez scored from three yards out to make it 57-6 with 8:26 left. The Cowboys got one final score on the board, as Chayton Goodwin scored from eight yards out with 1:05 left to make it 57-12. Michael Johnston made the two-point conversion to make the final 57-14.

The Beavers finished with 357 yards of offense, with 283 coming on the ground. Lawson Bailey led the way with 130 on just four carries and a touchdown, and had 59 receiving yards on two catches and a touchdown. Dylan Metzger was 4-6 passing for 74 yards with a touchdown. 

Goodland finished with 73 yards of offense, all coming on the ground. Mason Berls had 30 yards on five carries to lead the Cowboys.

With the win, Scott City has now won 19 consecutive in the series, and leads the series 40-11. It was the most points the Beavers scored since 2019, when they won 55-0 at Goodland. Scott City has clinched the District 8 title, which is their first district championship since 2018. The Beavers have the tiebreaker over Holcomb, who closed out district play 3-1.

Scott City will wrap up the regular season and district play at Colby next Friday night, as they have a 6-1 record overall, and 3-0 in district play. The Eagles stepped out of district play, and held off Lakin 22-20 for their second win of the year. They’re 2-5 overall and 0-3 in district play. Goodland dropped to 2-5 overall, 1-2 in district play, as they’ll face Hugoton at home next Friday, who fell to Holcomb 24-17. The Eagles are 5-2 overall and 1-2 in district play. The winner will take third place in district play.

Assistant Coach Derek Brau Postgame