Beaver defense prevails in win over Collegiate
Scott City, (westernkansasnews.com)–On a cold and blustery Saturday at Darner Field in Scott City, the last puzzle of the state semi-finals would be decided between two teams who came in with high-octane offenses. A north wind make it feel as low as 10 degrees at sunset. The Beavers used a solid defensive effort, and a ground and pound rushing attack knock off the Wichita Collegiate Spartans 26-6 to put them in their third straight Sub-State game.
Scott City scored on their first two possessions, in the first quarter. Their first score came with 3:21 left in the first period, on a one-yard plunge by Wyatt Kropp. Tre Stewart drilled the extra point to make it 7-0. The drive went 80 yards on 11 plays and took just over five minutes. The Beavers would score once more right before the end of the first quarter. Trey O’Neil would find Sloan Baker on a 52-yard touchdown pass with one second left in the first quarter to make it 13-0 Scott City, as the extra point was missed.
The score would remain 13-0 through the next two quarters, as both teams made defensive plays.
With the wind at their back in the fourth quarter, Scott City (12-0) would put the game away. A 10-play, 66-yard drive that took four minutes was capped off by a Kropp five-yard run with 6:54 remaining in the game to make it 19-0, as the two-point conversion would fail. Two plays after a Chantz Yager sack of the Spartans, Kropp scored his third touchdown of the game on an eight-yard run, and Stewart’s PAT made it 26-0 with 4:40 remaining in the game. Wichita Collegiate (10-2) scored their lone points of the game with 1:41 left, as Austin Waddell connected with Trevor Flamini on a 26-yard touchdown pass to make it 26-6, as the fake extra point failed. Scott City would recover the onside kick and run out the clock, and secure a trip to Halstead.
Wichita Collegiate saw an eight-game win streak come to an end. Jaques Williams rushed for 122 yards on 22 carries. He did not hit the century mark until his final carry that went 34 yards. Austin Waddell was eight-of-17 for 96 yards and a touchdown pass. Cooper Root was their leading receiver, as he had 36 yards on two receptions. For the game, the Spartans had a total of 250 yards of offense, 154 coming on the ground.
Scott City saw Trey O’Neil throw for 164 yards and a touchdown on nine-of-12 passing. Sloan Baker would be the leading receiver, catching four passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Cooper Griffith rushed for 126 yards on 13 carries. The Beavers amassed 424 yards of offense, 260 coming on the ground. Wyatt Kropp had three rushing touchdowns, and added 70 yards, which put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. That makes two Scott City backs over the 1,000-yard plateau for the year. Griffith is at 1127 yards. O’Neil is now 302 yards shy of 2,000 passing yards for the season.
Scott City will now hit the road to take on the Halstead Dragons. Halstead went to Minneapolis and pounded the Lions Friday night 66-12. The Dragons are 10-2 on the year, and have won five straight. Gametime is set for 2:30 pm at Hess Field in Halstead.
Head Coach Glenn O’Neil Postgame.
