Beavers blow by Southwestern Heights

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–It didn’t take long for Scott City to have their way against Southwestern Heights Friday night at Darner Field. Forcing three three-and-outs and scoring on their first five drives of the game, the Beavers pushed their way to a 53-14 3A, District 16 win. 

In the first quarter, Scott City (7-0, 1-0 District 16) scored three times on only eight plays. The first coming with 8:45 remaining in the first quarter on a Jarrett Jurgens 19-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0, following the Tre Stewart PAT. Then with 6:59 left in the opening quarter, Cooper Griffith found paydirt from seven yards out. Stewart’s PAT made it 14-0. Following a blocked punt, the Beavers struck through the air on an eight-yard pass play from Bo Hess to Drake McRae to make it 20-0 after one period. 

Southwestern Heights would get on the board in the second quarter with 11:14 before halftime. The Mustangs used a 13-play, 85-yard drive that was aided by a couple Scott City penalties. On fourth down from the Beaver 15, Efren Mercado found Gustavo Alvarado at the goal line to cut the deficit to 20-6. The Beavers would respond with 21 points to close out the half. Cooper Griffith found the end zone on a 36-yard run with 9:43 left in the half to make it 27-6 after the Stewart extra point. He would score once more on an 80-yard run nearly two minutes later to push the lead to 34-6. Kevin Aguilera closed the first half scoring on a two-yard run with 2:54 left before halftime to give Scott City a 41-6 halftime lead

The second half saw less scoring. On Senior Night, left guard Abe Wiebe got his first carry of his career and took it 11 yards for a touchdown with 7:47 left in the third quarter, give Scott City a 47-6 lead. Southwestern Heights (3-4, 0-1) scored with 8:49 left on a Cheo Puentes 80-yard run. Payton LaPoint ran in the two-point conversion to make it 47-14 Beavers. Scott City added one more score in a little over a minute later. Wyatt Hayes ran in his second touchdown of the season from 53 yards out to put the final touches on the score at 53-14

Southwestern Heights saw freshman quarterback Efren Mercado go 5-12 passing for 100 yards and a touchdown. Gustavo Alvarado caught four of the passes for 90 yards. Cheo Puentes had 98 yards on 14 carries, after being in negative rushing yards in the first half. The Mustangs rushed for 144 yards, and had 244 yards of offense.

Scott City’s Bo Hess was 5-7 passing for 107 yards with a touchdown. Jarrett Jurgens had 53 yards receiving on one catch, and Drake McRae had two grabs for 28 yards and a score. Cooper Griffith had seven carries for 147 yards and three scores. The Beavers rushed for 376 yards and had a season-high 483 yards of offense. 

In the win, Scott City has now won 20 consecutive district games going back to 2008, while Southwestern Heights has lost 11 straight district games, going back to 2011.

Next week, Southwestern Heights hosts Cimarron, while Scott City travels to Lakin. Cimarron is 5-2 after their 44-0 win over Lakin, which dropped the Broncs to 2-5. 

Glenn O’Neil Postgame