Beavers shutout Clearwater in season opener

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–As it was with any school Friday night, Scott City had questions entering their season-opening game with the Clearwater Indians. One area in particular was the offensive line, where the Beavers only return two starters from last season. For now, the answers look good, as Scott City cruised to their seventh straight week one win, with a 37-0 victory over Clearwater at Darner Field.

After both teams went three-and-out on their opening possessions, Scott City got on the board first, with a 35-yard drive, capped off by a 26-yard field goal by Tre Stewart to give the Beavers a 3-0 lead, that proved to be the lone score after the opening period.

The Beavers were able to open the game up more in the second frame, as Cooper Griffith plunged in from four yards out with 10:46 remaining before halftime, and Stewart’s PAT gave Scott City a 10-0 lead. Almost four minutes later, on a third down play, Trey O’Neil ran a naked quarterback bootleg 37 yards to paydirt to give the Beavers a 16-0 lead with under seven minutes remaining before halftime. Stewart’s kick made it 17-0 Scott City.

In the third quarter, the Beaver defense forced an early three-and-out, and Scott City wasted little time to score. A three play, 37-yard drive in 38 seconds was capped off with a 30-yard scamper by Griffith to give the Beavers a 23-0 lead. Following another three-and-out by Clearwater, the Beavers used another three-play drive to find the end zone. Marshal Hutchins scored his first career touchdown from 18 yards away with 7:38 to go in the third quarter, and Stewart’s extra point kick gave Scott City a 30-0 lead.

The Beavers scored one more time early in the final period, as O’Neil found Sloan Baker open in the end zone from nine yards out with 9:43 to go. Stewart hit the PAT for the final point of the night, and Scott City cruised to a 37-0 victory.

A lot of positives came out of this first game. The offensive line opened up some big holes to run. Scott City (1-0) finished with five different players with over 30 yards rushing, including two over 75 yards. The first team committed only one penalty, the defense was relentless, giving up fewer than 200 yards with four sacks, and the special teams play was nearly flawless for a first game of the season.

It was Scott City’s first shutout in a season opener since 2009, when they blanked Lakin 39-0. Offensively for the Beavers, Trey O’Neil threw for 122 yards on eight completions with a touchdown. Brett Meyer had two receptions for 34 yards. Cooper Griffith led the ground attack with 83 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. Scott City rushed for 271 yards, and had 393 yards of total offense unofficially. 

Clearwater (0-1)  got 154 passing yards from Hunter Hall on 16 completions, and Jake Wright led the ground game for the Indians with 36 yards on 16 carries. Max Whetstone caught four passes for 54 yards. Clearwater finished with 185 yards of offense unofficially.

Scott City will begin GWAC play on Friday, as they travel to Colby to take on the Eagles, while Clearwater will host the Goddard Lions Friday night. Scott City’s gametime will be at 7 pm at Dennen Field. All GWAC games will kick off at 7 pm this year. 

Coach Glenn O’Neil