Beavers overcome penalties, turnovers to shut out Hugoton

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Week one of the season can be a challenge for teams that had a lot of personnel changes from the previous year. Hugoton and Scott City both faced that challenge Friday night at Darner Field, as both teams saw a lot of newcomers to the varsity field. Despite 15 penalties and five turnovers, Scott City was able to withstand any Eagle threat, and produce two long drives in a 14-0 win to begin the 2019 season.

Both teams would move the ball on their first three drives, but would come up empty. Hugoton had the first opportunity to score, after a 41-yard pass play from Sawyer Harper to Trevor Bogan that set them up at the Beaver three. The Eagles would come merely inches from scoring the first points of the game. They would be pushed back to the five yard line and on fourth down, throw an incomplete pass. Scott City used that momentum to score their first points of the night in the second quarter. The Beavers converted a third and 12 with a 31-yard pass play from Harrison King to Hunter Yager, and on fourth and 18 a 24-yard pass with the same combo to set up first and goal at the eight. Cale Goodman would score on the next play from eight yards out to put Scott City up 7-0 with 3:52 left in the first half, after the Alexis Reyes PAT. The Beavers were able to overcome two blocks in the back on that drive. 

After a scoreless third quarter, Scott City found themselves pinned back in their own territory at their own four yard line. An 11-play, 96-yard drive in a little over four minutes resulted in a Brandon Winderlin five-yard run to put them up 14-0, with the Alexis Reyes kick with 4:25 remaining. Both teams would see their share of turnovers, as the Beavers were able to run out the clock after an interception.

Despite only scoring 14 points, Scott City finished with 456 yards of offense. They rushed for 292 yards, led by Hunter Yager’s 130 yards on 15 carries, while Cale Goodman added 82 yards on 12 carries, and Parker Gooden had 68 yards on eight carries. Harrison King threw for 164 yards and an interception. Yager hauled in seven passes for 111 yards. Scott City was penalized 15 times for 153 yards and had five turnovers. 

Hugoton finished with 107 yards of offense, with 105 coming through the air, as Sawyer Harper led the team with 105 yards passing and three rushing yards. Ivan Valles also had three yards rushing. Trevor Bogan had to grabs for 55 yards, as they had four penalties for 35 yards and one turnover. 

With the win, Scott City has now won 10 straight in the series, and improved to 32-10-1 in the series all-time. It was the second straight year that the Beavers shut out Hugoton, after winning 35-0 last year. With the win, Coach Jim Turner moved into an eighth place tie with Phil Hower and Bill Blaesi for the most wins in program history with 29. 

Up next for the Beavers will be a home game with Holcomb on Friday night. It will be Military Appreciation night at Darner Field. The Longhorns are 1-0 after a 48-6 win against Goodland to open the Season. Hugoton is 0-1 and will face Colby, who shut out Ulysses 36-0 Friday night in Ulysses.

Assistant Coach Landon Frank Postgame