Scott City begins district play with Southwestern Heights

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Six down, three to go. The 2015 regular season is two-thirds over with. Tonight begins a second season of sorts, as district play begins at 7 pm at Darner Field, as Scott City takes on the Southwestern Heights Mustangs.

Southwestern Heights is 3-3 on the season entering Scott City. The Mustangs have lost two straight, after a 33-8 loss at Hugoton last Friday night. They trailed the Eagles 26-0 at the break, before tacking on a fourth quarter score to avoid their second shutout. Southwestern Heights has switched offenses in 2015, going to a double-wing, double-tight end formation. It’s very similar to what Beloit runs, if you can remember their games with the Beavers a couple years ago. This year’s Mustang team already has a one-win increase from last year, and despite hardly throwing the ball, has an increase in yards per game. They average 21 points a contest while giving up 23, while averaging 274 yards of offense per contest. All but 13 yards per game have come on the ground. Southwestern Heights will be without two of their top seniors due to injury. Efrain Chavez leads the team with 424 yards rushing and quarterback Emilio Bernabe are out for tonight’s game. That leaves Payton LaPoint as the leading rusher, with 327 yards and six touchdowns on the season.

Scott City is coming off a big high last week, as they shutout rival Ulysses 35-0 at Maxwell Field last Friday night to claim their fifth GWAC title in the six years of the league. In the win, the Beavers recorded their first shutout, and halted the powerful Tiger rushing attack to just over 100 yards for the game. The 2015 Beavers are defeating opponents by an average of 34-8, and have held opponents to seven points or less four times. Cooper Griffith is the leading rusher for Scott City with 738 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Bo Hess has thrown for 741 yards and nine touchdowns, with Drake McRae leading the receiving with 21 grabs for 418 yards and four touchdowns. Scott City averages 363 yards per game, while holding opponents to 160 yards a game.

Scott City has defeated Southwestern Heights in all four meetings all-time, three coming in district, and the first meeting in the 2007 playoffs. The Beavers come in with a 19-game district win streak that goes back to 2008, while the Mustangs have lost their last 10, dating back to 2011.

It’s senior night at Darner Field. Kickoff is at 7 pm. Pregame coverage on Mix 94 begins at 6:30. You can also hear the game online at https://www.westernkansasnews.com/mix94/, on Mix 94 using TuneIn Radio, and the KSKL app that’s free to download.