Two longtime rivals to face off in Scott City

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)—Over the past six weeks, its not been a certainty that football would be played, due to the coronavirus pandemic. You can now put away all the uncertainty, because football is making its return tonight at Darner Field, as Scott City hosts Ulysses for a 7 pm kickoff. It will mark the 65th consecutive year the two teams will meet up on the gridiron.

Ulysses is coming off its first winning season since 2015, when they went 5-4 last season before falling to Arkansas City in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. The Tigers are led by Rick Cue in his third season, and returns a majority of their defense from 2019. Ulysses averaged 22 points, while giving up 23 last season. Oscar Martinez is their returning rusher and receiver, while Koy Kenny returns as their leading tackler and all-league linebacker.

Scott City returns their entire offensive line, and six starters on defense from a team that finished 8-3 in 2019, losing to Cheney 38-7 in the sectional round of the Class 3A Playoffs. Jim Turner enters his fifth season as the Beavers head coach, taking the team to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. Harrison King returns as the starting quarterback, as he will start as the season-opening quarterback for the third straight year, and has two all-league lineman in front of him in Colten Cupp and Gabe Bowers. Defensively, Bowers had 66 tackles a year ago for a defense that gave up 11 points a game. Scott City averaged 26 points a contest last year. 

This will be the 73rd all time meeting between the schools, with Scott City holding a 41-30-1 edge in the series. The Beavers won 27-7 in Ulysses last year, and have won 12 of the last 14 meetings in the series. Ulysses last won against Scott City in 2013 25-6. 

It is believe to be the earliest meeting in the series between the teams,. The previous earliest meeting came in on September 14, 2007. 

There will be Senior Night ceremonies for cross country and football beginning at 6:30. Fans attending are strongly recommended to wear face masks, when social distancing cannot occur, and spectators to sit with their communities.

Kickoff is at 7 pm. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30. You can hear the Ulysses broadcast on 1420 AM KULY, and the Scott City broadcast on KSKL Mix 94.5. The games are also streamed online at westernkansasnews.com, and on the TuneIn App.