Scott City outlasts Concordia

Concordia, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Both Scott City and Concordia knew they were playoff bound entering Friday night’s regular season finale at Harold M. Clark Stadium. For the Beavers, a win or loss would not change their standing, while the Panthers needed a win and a Beloit loss to take the third spot in District 8. While Scott City had the lead the entire night, Concordia would give the Beavers fits all night, primarily in the passing game. In the end, it was Scott City who would come away with a 43-20 road win over the Panthers.

Scott City took the early 7-0 lead after the first quarter, as they cashed in on a Concordia turnover. A quick three-play, 56-yard drive was finished off by a Wyatt Hayes 44-yard run with 8:52 left in the first quarter. Moses Hinojos kicked in the extra point.

The Beavers would score on their second series of the game, and run nearly five minutes off the clock. a 12-play drive was finished by a Hayes one-yard plunge with 11:16 left before halftime to extend the lead to 14-0 with the Hinojos PAT. After a Scott City fumble at the Beaver 44 yard line, Concordia converted two fourth downs for their first score of the night. A 14-play drive that burned off 6:31 would finished by Dyelan Reed, who scrambled around and eventually found a wide open Wyatt Trost in the end zone on a four-yard pass play with 1:24 left before halftime to cut the margin to 14-6 after the missed two-point conversion. The Beavers would respond quickly, executing a two-minute drill. A pair of third down conversions and a fourth-down conversion helped Scott City get an 18-yard touchdown pass from Parker Gooden to Marshall Faurot with 17 seconds remaining before halftime to extend the lead to 21-6 with the Hinojos PAT.

To begin the second half, Scott City would go on a four-play, 58-yard drive in 76 seconds. The four plays would be runs, as Brandon Winderlin found paydirt from 15 yards out. The Beavers faked the extra point, as the ball was flipped to Moses Hinojos by holder Hunter Yager, and he found a wide open Parker Vulgamore for the two-point conversion to extend the lead to 29-6 with 10:44 left in the third quarter. Concordia would drive deep into Scott City territory twice in the third quarter, only to be denied by an interception and a turnover on downs at the 18 yard line.

The Beavers would put together one of their longest drives of the season late in the third quarter to the first few minutes of the fourth quarter. With 8:15 left, Gooden found Vulgamore from 14 yards out for the touchdown on a Parker to Parker pass play to push the lead to 36-6 with 8:35 left. Concordia would answer back on an eight-play drive that took over three minutes. Keyan Miller rushed in from seven yards out with 4:48 left to pull to within 35-13 with the Hunter Schroeder PAT.

Scott City recovered the onside kick and went down the field in a little over four minutes to score again. With 35 seconds left in the game, quarterback Parker Gooden scored from four yards out to go up 43-13 with the Hinojos kick. The Panthers closed out the scoring, as Dyelan Reed hit Chas Calgren on a five-yard pass on the final play of the game to make the final 43-20 with the Schroeder extra point.

Wyatt Hayes rushed for 217 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns unofficially. Parker Gooden was 10-14 passing for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Marshall Faurot caught six passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. The Beavers finished with 456 yards of offense, with 347 coming on the ground.

Concordia saw Dyelan Reed go 20-32 passing for 261 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Chas Calgren was the leading receiver with 133 yards on eight catches and a touchdown, while Wyatt Trost caught four passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. Keyan Miller rushed for 60 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. The Panthers finished with 346 yards of offense, the most given up by Scott City, which included 85 yards rushing.

With the win, Scott City improves to 8-0 on the season for the seventh time in the last nine years, and improved to 12-1 all time against teams from the North Central Kansas League, including a 3-0 all-time series lead against Concordia.  Also in the win, the Beavers have now won 33 straight district games going back to week nine of the 2008 season and improved the all-time district record to 89-27, dating back to 1981.

Scott City will host Nickerson next week in the first round playoff game at Darner Field. The Panthers enter the game with a 2-6 record, after a 49-14 loss at home against Pratt on Friday. It will be the first meeting between the schools since 2001, when Scott City won 35-21 in the Regional round of the Class 4A playoffs. Concordia drops to 3-5 on the year, and will play at 8-0 Pratt next Friday.

Assistant Coach Landon Frank Postgame