Scott City hosts Clearwater in opening round of playoffs

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–After completing their third straight unbeaten district slate, the Scott City Beavers will play at home tonight in a Week 9 Playoff at home against the Clearwater Indians.

Clearwater enters as the No. 14 seed in the west of Class 3A, as they have a 3-5 record following a 35-7 loss to Garden Plain in their regular season finale last Friday night at home. The Indians started the season out 2-0 with wins over Rose Hill and El Dorado, but faced perhaps one of the toughest schedules in Class 3A over the final six games. Their schedule included teams that were ranked at one point in the season with Cheney, Wichita Collegiate, Pratt, Wellington and Garden Plain. Wellington is Class 4A and Garden Plain is in Class 2A. The Indians lone district win came against Chaparral. This year, Clearwater is led by quarterback Cooper Williams, who has thrown for 581 yards and has rushed for 12 touchdowns and 725 rushing yards. Garrison Wells has rushed for under 1,000 yards and seven scores. The Indians average 21 points and over 300 yards of offense per game, while allowing 28 points and nearly 300 yards of offense.

Scott City is the No. 3 seed in the west of Class 3A, after they picked up a 41-12 road win at Colby last Friday night to improve to 7-1 on the season. After leading 14-12 at the break, the Beavers went to the ground game, and had 21 straight run plays, before one pass that was good for a touchdown. They scored 19 fourth quarter points to put the game away. Scott City rolled up 459 yards of offense, with 285 coming on the ground. Drew Metzger made his first start and threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another, and Alex Tarango had a pick-six to close the scoring out in the victory. This year, the Beavers are averaging 35 points and nearly 380 yards of offense, while allowing 10 points and just over 200 yards per game. This is the third straight year that Scott City is 7-1 entering the playoffs. Kelton Cook leads the ground game with just under 600 yards and six touchdowns, while Camden Vulgamore has passed for over 800 yards and seven scores.

The playoff system has changed this year, as teams are seeded in Class 3A down to Class 1A, similar to what Classes 4A-6A have done over the past few seasons. The District champion is seeded 1-4, runner-up 5-8, 3rd place 9-12 and 4th place 13-16. The higher seeds in the bracket will host each round.

This will be the third meeting between the Beavers and Indians, with Scott City winning the first two. The Beavers won at home in 2014 and 30-15 at Clearwater to open the 2015 season.Tonight’s winner will face either Hesston or Goodland next Friday.

Pregame coverage from Darner Field begins at 6:30, with kickoff at 7 pm. You can hear the broadcast on KSKL, Mix 94.5, online at westernkansasnews.com, or on YouTube on the Beaver Broadcasting Network.