Busters explode; rest of country takes notice–Audio Highlights

Garden City, Kan (westernkansasnews)-One game doesn’t necessarily mean much in the grand scheme of things, but the small sample taken away from Buffalo Stadium Saturday night, might make coaches rethink where they picked Garden City Community College to finish in the Jayhawk Conference. 

Akeem Jones threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns, and the Buster defense held Independence (0-1, 0-1) to just 51 total yards and forced three turnovers in a 67-0 demolition of the Pirates in week one. 

Making his first college start, Jones looked like a savvy veteran on the game’s opening drive, completing 2-of-3 passes, including a 22-yard touchdown strike to sophomore Michael Gerst giving the Busters a 7-0 lead. 

Garden City (1-0, 1-0) would get the football right back when a bad snap on fourth down went over Pirates’ punter Josh Muckenthaler’s head and landed at the Independence 19 yard line. But the Busters squandered an opportunity to score when Brandon Snell’s fourth-down pass on a fake field goal, sailed over the head of Brandon Snell in the left corner of the end zone. 

After forcing a three and out, Garden City would get the football back at their own 48. But the drive stalled when Jones lofted a pass that was intercepted at the goal line by Cinwon Whitehead. 

However, Independence would hand the football right back when Pirates’ freshman quarterback Brian Morgan fumbled inside his own 10. Four plays later, Tyler Peterson connected on an 18-yard field goal stretching the lead to 10-0. 

The Busters would get another red zone chance when Akeem Jones converted a third and ten with an 11-yard scamper down to the Pirates’ 17 yard line. Two players later, sophomore Tyreek Hill made it 17-0 on a beautiful nine-yard touchdown run. 

Hill, who finished the night with a workmanlike 10 carries for 78 yards, scored his second touchdown on the Busters’ next possession, capping a six play, 52-yard drive with a five-yard march to pay dirt. 

Hill then watched his freshman quarterback engineer two more scoring drives in the first half; the first resulting in 40-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Snell; the other: an eight-yard hookup with his fellow Miami Carol-City teammate giving the Busters a 38-0 half-time lead. 

In the second half, Jones’ legs proved just as vital as his arm. He capped off his nine carry, 70-yard night with a one-yard rushing touchdown with 7:19 remaining in the third quarter. 

Meantime the defense, which allowed just five first downs all night, got on the scoreboard after Wonderful Terry intercepted Morgan and returned it 30 yards to the end zone. The red-shirt freshman added a punt return for a touchdown later in the third quarter. 

Reserve running back Matt McDonald finished the scoring off for Garden City, with a 50-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter. 

Week one audio highlights: 8.24.13 Week 1 highlights

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