Scott City hammers Ulysses in homecoming rout

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–As the month of September has closed, the 0-2 start for Scott City seems like a distant memory. Friday night at Darner Field, the Beavers started off slow, but finished with a bang. Much like last week at Hugoton, Scott City exploded in the second half, scoring 20 third quarter points and never looking back, as they defeated the Ulysses Tigers 53-7 on homecoming night.

It took 11:58 for Scott City to get on the board. The Beavers capped off a 10-play drive with a Bo Hess to Justin Faurot connection from 10 yards out to give them a 7-0 lead after the first quarter, with a Gustavo Gonzalez PAT.

Scott City (3-2, 2-1 GWAC) marched down the field on their second scoring drive. On second from the Tiger 48, Wyatt Hayes ran it in on his first score of the night, and the Gonzalez PAT to give the Beavers a 14-0 lead. Ulysses (2-3, 1-3) came right back. With 8:09 left before the break, AB Romero scored on an 89-yard touchdown run to cut their deficit in half at 14-7 with the Maurice Ochoa extra point. The Tigers would have only two more first down the rest of the night. Scott City executed their two-minute offense without any timeouts late in the second quarter. With 17 seconds left before halftime, a 53-second drive that began at the Ulysses 48 finished with a five-yard touchdown pass from Hess to Marshal Faurot, as Gonzalez capped off the first half scoring for a Beaver 21-7 lead.

After finishing the first half on a high note, Scott City took it to another level in the second half. Jarret Jurgens had a bobble of the kickoff return to begin the second half, but picked the ball up, broke a tackle, and took off down the Ulysses sideline for an 81-yard kickoff return to begin the scoring to give the Beavers a 28-7 lead, including the Gonzalez PAT, just 16 seconds into the second half. Scott City would take advantage of a short field on their next drive, set up by a Jordan Horn blocked punt. Kevin Aguilera punched it in from four yards out with 10:06 remaining in the third quarter, as the Beavers pushed their lead to 35-7 after the Gonzalez extra point. Scott City was not done in the period. Set up by a 38-yard punt return by Justin Faurot, the Beavers scored on a 23-yard drive, capped off by a Hayes four-yard run on fourth down to give them a 41-7 lead after three quarters.

In the final quarter, senior Kevin Lozano found paydirt for the first time this year on an 18-yard run with 8:17 left to give Scott City a 47-7 lead, as the PAT was missed. The scoring on the night was capped off with the second team in for the Beavers, as freshman Cale Goodman scored from five yards out with 1:45 remaining to make the final 53-7.

Ulysses finished with 189 yards of offense, with 140 coming on the ground. AB Romero finished with 119 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown. Zak Anderson was 2-9 for 33 yards and two interceptions, as Xavier Gallegos caught two passes for 21 yards. 

Bo Hess threw for 103 years with eight completions and two touchdowns. Justin Faurot had three catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. Wyatt Hayes had 15 carries for 127 yards and two touchdwons, while Jarret Jurgens added 83 yards on nine carries. Scott City rushed for 329 yards and finished with 432 yards of offense, both season bests. 

Scott City scored a non-offensive touchdown, which was their 12th since 2013. The kickoff return by Jurgens was the first since November 16, 2012, when Dalton Buehler returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Beloit in the Sub-State championship game. The Beavers have now won nine of the last 11 games over Ulysses. Scott City’s margin of victory over the Tigers Friday night was the largest since 1994, when the Beavers shut out Ulysses 47-0. 

Scott City will step out of GWAC play next Friday night, as they head to Wellington. The Crusaders are 0-5, after a 52-0 loss at Wichita Collegiate Friday night. Ulysses will return home next Friday to wrap up league play, as they face the Goodland Cowboys. The Cowboys are 1-4, after they lost 42-28 to Hugoton at home. In the other GWAC game, Holcomb rallied from a 13-7 halftime deficit to defeat Colby 27-13 at Dennen Field in Colby.

Assistant Coach Landon Frank Postgame