Scott City hosts Norton renew battle
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Whenever Norton and Scott City have met up in the past, you got a hard fought, physical ball game. Today should be no different, as the Bluejays head south to face the Beavers in a 3 pm kickoff at Darner Field in the regional round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Norton is 8-2 on the season, and winners of four straight, after a 37-0 shutout win over the Marysville Bulldogs Tuesday night in the Bi-District round. The Bluejays scored all 37 points in three quarters, getting three touchdowns from sophomore quarterback Jace Ruder, two coming on the ground. Norton has outscored their opponents by an average of 36-13, and average 366 yards per game overall, with 256 coming on the ground per game. Ruder has thrown for 1,091 yards and eight touchdowns. Sophomore Tevin Petrie leads them in the rushing category with 840 yards and seven touchdowns, but expect a bigger dose of senior Gavin Lively, who mmissed four and half games due to an injury. Lively has 811 yards on the ground and 15 touchdowns, while catching eight passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns. Jodan Dole leads the Bluejays in receiving with 287 yards and two touchdowns.
Scott City has kept rolling in 2015, as they are 10-0 after their 54-0 shutout of the Lyons Lions Tuesday night at Darner Field. The Beavers wasted little time getting on the board as Bo Hess connected with Drake McRae on a 56-yard touchdown pass on their first offenseive possession, and eventually took a 44-0 halftime lead. Cooper Griffith had three total touchdowns, including an interception return. Wyatt Kropp added two scoring runs as well, as he was in his second game back from a midseason injury. Scott City has defeated their opponents this year by an average score of 41-7, including three shutouts in their last five games. They have averaged nearly 400 yards of offense per contest, with 290 coming on the ground. Griffith leads the team on the groudn with 1241 yards and 22 touchdowns, while Hess has thrown 13 touchdowns and for 1,084 yards. McRae is the Beavers’ leading receiver with 25 catches for 569 yards and seven touchdowns.
Scott City leads the all-time series 5-2, and has won the previous two meetings. Including today, six of the eight meetings have come in the playoffs. Last year, Scott City won 55-20 over Norton at Travis Field.
Kickoff is at 3 pm. Pregame coverage on Mix 94 begins at 2:30. You can also listen online at https://www.westernkansasnews.com/mix94/, on Mix 94 using TuneIn Radio, and the KSKL app that’s free to download.
