Longhorns fall to Scott City

Courtesy of Kirk Hutchinson
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The Holcomb Longhorns led early, but fell to the Scott City Beavers 21-14 Saturday night in the battle for first place in District 8 and the GWAC. The loss sets up a crucial battle with the Hugoton Eagles Friday night for the second seed in the playoffs.

Longhorn head coach Trey Teeter said this in his postgame interview, “This one hurts quite a bit. Two really good teams went to battle tonight, a really physical game. We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds again that hurt us at key times and it’s tough to win big games when you do that. “

The Longhorn defense had to turn back the Beavers twice in the opening minutes. On the game’s first possession, Scott City drove to the Holcomb 26 but got stopped on fourth down. Holcomb fumbled on the next play, setting up the Beavers on the Longhorn 34, but a penalty against Scott City and a sack forced a punt.

It then took just three plays for the Longhorns to strike, with Damon Mesa racing 49 yards for the touchdown. Manny Anguiano added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Holcomb appeared on the way to a second score when Camden Vulgamore picked off a Keegan Johnson pass at the Scott City 11. On the very next play, Collin McDaniel ripped off an 89-yard TD run and the game was tied at 7 after the PAT.

Just before the half, Greg Martinez snagged his 7th interception of the season, giving the Longhorns the ball at the Beaver 40. Six plays later, Mesa rolled into the end zone from 12 yards out for his second TD of the night. Mesa would finish the night with 175 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. “He ran really well,” Teeter said. “I’m really proud of Damon for stepping up.” Holcomb led 14-7 at halftime.

Scott City turned the tables on Holcomb in the 3rd quarter, stuffing the Longhorns on three plays and then marching 58 yards in 11 plays to tie the game up as Vulgamore scored on a 10-yard run.

“They were coming off the ball a little faster than us,” Teeter noted, “and it was key in the 2nd half for us to be more physical.” He went on to say, “I thought our kids played hard and had really good effort and a good attitude and that’s what we ask from them.”

The Longhorns moved the ball deep into Beaver territory but missed on a 37-yard field goal attempt. Scott City then drove 80 yards to take the lead in the 4th quarter on a 14-yard pass to Avery Knoll who outdueled Greg Martinez for the ball.

“He was in good position,” Teeter said of Martinez. “The kid just made a heck of a play to take it away from him.”

Holcomb drove back into Scott City territory, but Knoll intercepted a pass in the endzone and the Beavers ran out the clock.

The Longhorns fall to 4-2 on the season, 2-1 in district play, and will have to regroup quickly, as they travel to Hugoton Friday to face off against the Eagles in another critical district game.

“We just have to pull our bootstraps up and get ready,” Teeter added. “There’s no doubt they’re going to be ready for us, so as a coach you just have to get back it and get ready for them.”