Scott City begins 2017 season with a trip to Hays

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The two-a-days, and nearly three weeks of practice are over for the Scott City football team. It can be a long and grinding time. Tonight, the Scott City Beavers will head to Hays to face the Indians in a 7 pm start at Lewis-Field Stadium on the campus of Fort Hays State University.

Scott City returns six starters on both sides of the ball from a team that finished 7-3 in 2016. Their leading returner on offense is junior Wyatt Hayes, who rushed for 1,023 yards and 14 touchdowns, while grabbing two more touchdowns through the air last year. A year ago, the Beavers rushed for 226 yards a game, and averaged 359 yards of offense per game, while putting up 38 points a contest. Jarret Jurgens also returns with a combined 11 touchdowns a year ago, nine coming on the ground. Parker Gooden will take the reigns as the starting quarterback for the Beavers. Defensively, Scott City allowed 215 yards per contest and yielded 13 points a game in 2016. Over their final eight games, they allowed double digit points twice, and had three shutouts. Nick Nowak will be a three-year starter on the defense after tonight, and is the top returning tackler with 91 stops a year ago.

Hays is coming off their second straight 2-7 campaign. A year ago the Indians averaged around 240 yards of offense and only 14 points a game. Senior quarterback Hunter Brown leads the charge, passing for 826 yards and nine touchdowns a year ago, and is their returning leading rusher with 378 yards and three scores. The will start four new offensive lineman tonight. Defensively, Hays gave up 315 yards of offense and 29 points a contest a year ago. Brown is their top returning tackler with 63 tackles a year ago. They will also see a good amount of first-time starters on the defense. The Indians were a win against Wamego away from making the playoffs a year ago. Hays defeated Scott City and Abilene 23-12 for their only wins of 2016.

Hays leads the all-time series 3-1. Scott City’s lone win came in Hays in 2002, while the Indians rallied with 21 fourth quarter points to win 31-21 last year in Scott City. The first meeting of the series was in 1931.

Kickoff is set for 7 pm at Lewis-Field Stadium in Hays. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 on Mix 94.5, and can also be heard online at westernkansasnews.com, and on the Mix 94.5 app that’s free to download. Search for KSKL in your apple or android store to download.