Red Demons open new era with road win

DCHS at Wichita West (1st Quarter Audio)

DCHS at Wichita West (2nd Quarter Audio)

DCHS at Wichita West (3rd Quarter Audio)

WICHITA, Kan. — The Dodge City High School football team opened up the Glenn O’Neil era with a 28-6 win over the Wichita West Pioneers on Friday night at Adair-Austin Stadium on the Friends University campus. The game was called final with 3:50 left in the third quarter when inclement weather moved into the metro area.

The Red Demons rushed the ball 25 times for 120 yards, including three rushing scores, two from Stone Wilson and one from Tucker Smith. The rushing attack wasn’t a surprise to anyone who knows Glenn O’Neil and the success he had at Scott City and most recently, Topeka Seaman over the past 14 seasons.

Dodge City (1-0) got the scoring started just over three minutes into the season following a 3-yard score from senior Stone Wilson, capping a 4-play 22-yard drive after a great punt return from Isaiah Taylor.

After the Red Demons took a 7-0 lead, Wichita West (0-1) would pull within one after a 1-yard touchdown run from Kobey Figures on the first play of the drive following an interception thrown by Tucker Smith. The PAT was blocked, and those six points would be the only points the Pioneers would squander all night.

Dodge City scored two more first half touchdowns, both of which came on the ground. Wilson collected his second of the night when he found the end zone from 14 yards away with 3:13 to go in the first quarter. The Red Demons would lead 14-6 after the first frame.

Smith made up for his earlier interception with a 2-yard touchdown run, capping off a 9-play 68-yard drive, the longest of the night for the Red Demons, and a drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock to give Dodge City a 21-6 lead with 5:57 remaining before halftime.

There would only be one more touchdown scored in the contest, and that was a 14-yard touchdown pass from Smith to D’Andre Vontress to give the Red Demons a 28-6 lead with 9:32 to play in the third quarter.

The game went into a weather delay at 8:54pm when lightning was within 10 miles of the stadium. The rain and win started to pick up shortly after that point and then it never stopped. The game was officially called final at 9:16pm.

Dodge City will host Liberal (1-0) on Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Dodge City with kickoff scheduled for 7pm. This game also marks the annual Ring of Honor game, as Grace Gwinner and Admiral John Gingrich will both be inducted.