Big second half pushes Scott City past Colby

Colby, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–For the first 24 minutes, it looked like it would be anyone’s game. However, the last 24 minutes would belong to the Beavers. Scott City retook the lead late in the first half, and scored the games final 34 points in a 41-12 win over the Eagles to wrap up their third consecutive unbeaten district slate.

It would be a scoreless first quarter, as Colby took the opening possession down to the Scott City five yard line, but were stalled and turned the ball over on downs. The Beavers would use nearly seven minutes of the opening quarter on their opening drive to go along with 14 plays, but a fumble at the Eagle five yard line ended their drive late in the second quarter.

Scott City got the ball back early in the second quarter, and went to work. A 10-play, 55-yard drive resulted in a Kelton Cook one-yard run to put the Beavers up 7-0 with the Jackson Rumford extra point. Colby responded with the next two scores. Their first score was set up after a 28-yard pass play on third down, as Casen Carroll found a wide open Brayden Foss for a 52-yard touchdown pass to pull the Eagles to within 7-6 wiht 6:18 left before halftime. Scott City punted and wasted little time to take the lead. A third down pass play saw Carroll connect with Kasey Giesenhagen, who turned it back to the middle of the field, and scored from 57 yards out wiht 1:53 left before the break to take the lead at 12-7. They would miss the two-point conversion. The Beavers responded four plays later, as they marched it down in less than a minute. A four-play drive saw an eight-yard pass play from Drew Metzger to Kevin Wiebe to put Scott City up 14-12 with 1:11 left before intermission with the Rumford kick.

To open up the third quarter, Scott City was all about vintage Scott City–the ground and pound game. They opened up the third quarter with an eight-play, 57-yard drive, that resulted in a Drew Metzger two-yard run with 8:13 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 22-12 with the two-point conversion.

On their next drive, the Beaves would burn 6:13 off the clock. A 14-play drive, all on the ground, saw Kelton Cook score from one yard out, right in the exact spot he scored his first touchdown, as the Beavers extended their lead to 28-12 with 11:18 left. An eight-play drive saw Scott City run seven straight rushing plays. On the eighth play, it was Metzger on an out pattern to Alex Tarango, who finished the catch off with a 28-yard touchdown pass with 7:47 left to extend the lead to 34-12. Tarango wasn’t done, as he capped the scoring off with a 78-yard pick-six to make the final 41-12 with the Jackson Rumford extra point.

Scott City rolled up 473 yards in the game. Kelton Cook had 125 yards on 17 carries and two rushing scores. In his first varsity start, Drew Metzger was 11-15 passing for 177 yards with two touchdowns. Alex Tarango had four receptions for 84 yards. Cooper Irvin had an 11-yard pass. Scott City was 11-12 on third down in the game.

Colby finished with 373 yards of offense, with 340 coming through the air. Casen Carroll was 19-35 passing for 340 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Carroll led the ground game with 23 yards on eight carries. Guy Tubbs had 107 yards on six receptions.

With the win, Scott City has won three straight in the series, and has improved their record in the all-time series to 31-18. Scott City picked up their 69th win in the regular season over GWAC teams, as they were the first to six GWAC wins in a season, since the league expanded to seven schools. The Beavers have won 12 straight district games, and have their 24th unbeaten season in district play, all since 1987. They are now 110-33 in district play since 1981.

Scott City is 7-1 for a third straight season, and will be the third seed in the Class 3A Playoffs. They will host Clearwater next Friday night. The Indians will face Scott City for the first time since 2015. They are 3-5 on the year. Colby is 4-4, and are the 13th seed, as they hit the road to take on 7-1 Wichita Collegiate next Friday night.

Full game audio on Spotify.

Coach Jim Turner Postgame

Box Score
Scott City 0 14 8 19–41
Colby 0 12 0 0–12

Scoring Summary
2nd Quarter
SC 7:25 Kelton Cook 1-Yard Run (Jackson Rumford Kick) 10-55, 4:26
CO 6:18 Brayden Foss 52-Yard Pass from Casen Carroll (PAT No Good) 4-80, 1:07
CO 1:53 Kasey Giesenhagen 57-yard Pass from Carroll (2 Pt Conversion No Good) 6-70, :54
SC 1:11 Kevin Wiebe 8-Yard Pass from Drew Metzger (Rumford Kick) 4-67, :42
3rd Quarter
SC 8:13 Drew Metzger 2-Yard Run (Metzger Run) 8-57, 3:47
4th Quarter
SC 11:18 Cook 1-Yard Run (PAT No Good) 14-76, 6:13
SC 7:47 Alex Tarango 28-Yard Pass from Metzger (PAT No Good) 8-51, 2:29
SC 4:19 Tarango 78-Yard Interception Return (Rumford Kick)

Scott City
Rushing
Kelton Cook 17-125; Kevin Wiebe 11-67; Cayden Couchman 8-41; Pierce Vallejo 6-30; Matthew Wheeler 6-28; Drew Metzger 4-7; Cooper Irvin 1-0; Kevin Lopez 1-(-3); Total: 53-285
Passing
Drew Metzger 11-15 177 2-0; Cooper Irvin 1-1 11 0-0
Receiving
Alex Tarango 4-84; Jackson Rumford 3-55; Kevin Wiebe 3-34; Adan Tarango 1-11; Kelton Cook 1-4
Total Yards: 473

Colby
Rushing
Casen Carroll 8-23; Talon Wark 10-10; Total: 18-33
Passing
Casen Carroll 19-35 340 2-1
Receiving
Guy Tubbs 6-107; Kasey Giesenhagen 3-79; Brayden Foss 4-74; Talon Wark 4-67; Cody Wright 2-13
Total Yards: 373