Beavers outlast Hugoton in overtime
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Entering Friday’s Class 3A, District 8 game, both Hugoton and Scott City came in with a lot of confidence, following rough finishes to last year. The Eagles were off to their best start since 2009, and the Beavers were looking to match their win total from last year. Hugoton would start off hot, and rallied to force overtime, but it would be Scott City, who picked up the win in overtime, with a 27-21 thriller at Darner Field on homecoming.
The Eagles had little problem in finding the end zone on their first two drives. After forcing Scott City to punt on a three-and-out, Hugoton went 10 plays in 55 yards, and ran nearly five minutes of the first quarter clock for the first points of the night. Quarterback Isaac Martin would punch it in from one yard out to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 5:24 left in the first quarter after the Christian Zizumbo Nieto PAT. It would take Hugoton just two plays for their second score of the night. With 3:01 left in the first quarter, Adam Mendoza scored from 44 yards out to put the Eagles up 14-0 with the Nieto kick. It was the first time since 2005 that Hugoton scored more than seven points against the Beavers, or in 11 games.
Scott City marched right down the field for their first points of the game. An 80-yard drive in 11 plays in 4:25 saw Lawson Bailey score from six yards out with 10:36 remaining before halftime. Aldo Munoz tacked on the PAT to pull the Beavers to within 14-7. Both defenses would come up with stops during the remainder of the first half, as Hugoton took the lead into the break at 14-7.
To begin the second half, the Eagles marched down the field, until Aaron Ruelas came up with an interception that set Scott City up at their on 47 yard line. The Beavers would pull to within one two plays later, as Dylan Metzger found a wide open Collin McDaniel on a 50-yard pass play to get to within 14-13 with 7:11 left in the third quarter. The extra point was no good. Scott City forced a punt, and would take advantage of short field for their first lead of the night. With 2:37 remaining in the third quarter, Metzger found Bailey in the flats, and Bailey took it 16 yards for the touchdown, diving in to give the Beavers a 19-14 lead with 2:37 left in the third frame. Brady Welker caught the two-point conversion from Metzger to put the Beavers up 21-14. That would be the score heading into the fourth quarter.
Scott City would force the Eagles into their third turnover of the night, recovering the ball at the Hugoton 38 yard line with 8:07 left. The Beavers were driving down the field, when Martin would pick off Metzger, setting the Eagles up at their own 13 yard line. Hugoton would convert several third downs on their 12-play, 87-yard drive, that took off 5:35 off the clock. Martin would score from a yard out with 1:10 left to pull to within 21-20, and the Nieto PAT tied the game at 21. Collin McDaniel would take the kick return to the Hugoton 44 yard line on the ensuing kickoff, barely stepping out of bounds. A penalty on Hugoton on the kickoff aided the Beavers, putting the ball at the Eagle 34 yard line. Scott City would turn the ball over on downs with 33.9 seconds left. Hugoton would also go four-and-out, setting up the Beavers at their own 40 with 6.5 seconds left. Metzger would be intercepted on the final play of regulation, and overtime would take place.
Hugoton got the ball first in the extra session. On the first play of overtime, Avry Noll would intercept the halfback pass from Santiago Macias. The Beavers would lose two yards on their first play in overtime, and on the very next play, Metzger scrambled to his left after rolling to his right, and found nothing but green grass in front of him, as he scored from 12 yards out, as the Beavers would walk it off with a 27-21 win.
The Eagles would outgain Scott City unofficially 302-214 in the contest. Dylan Metzger was 7-14 passing for 133 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Collin McDaniel led the Beavers with 50 yards receiving on his touchdown catch. Brady Welker led the Beavers on the ground with 59 yards on 15 carries, as Scott City rushed for 81 yards.
For Hugoton, Isaac Martin went 7-14 passing for 102 yards with two interceptions. Freshman backup quarterback Miguel Hernandez threw one pass for 20 yards in his only snap he took. Santiago Macias had three receptions for 52 yards. Adam Mendoza rushed for 80 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown, while Martin rushed for 74 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns. The Eagles rushed for 180 yards in the game.
Scott City has improved to 5-2 in overtimes since 1980. It was their second overtime game at Darner Field. The first time was back in 1998, when they defeated TMP-Marian 13-10 in overtime in district play. It was the Beavers’ first overtime game since 2019, when they lost to Colby in double overtime 28-20. Hugoton was involved in their first overtime since their triple overtime loss to Lakin 28-20 in 2017.
With the win, Scott City has now won 11 straight in the series, and improved to 33-10-1 overall over Hugoton. In the win, Beaver coach Jim Turner became the sixth coach in program history to reach 50 wins as a Scott City coach. He is tied with Ken Caywood for fifth in school history with 50 wins.
Scott City improves to 4-1 overall, 1-0 in district play, as they will face their fourth unbeaten team in five weeks next Friday night, as they face Holcomb at Broncbuster Stadium in Garden City. The Longhorns improved to 5-0 with a 39-12 win over Colby on the road. They are 2-0 in district play. Hugoton is 4-1 overall, 1-1 in district play, as they will be out of district play, as they face Cimarron at home in their first meeting since 2009 next Friday night. That matchup was a Hi-Plains League game 13 years ago. The Bluejays won their first game of the year on Friday night with a 23-14 win at Larned on Friday night.
Coach Jim Turner Postgame
