Scott City rallies for big GWAC win over Holcomb

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Whenever Scott City and Holcomb face off, you know it’s going to be a battle. The Longhorns would take advantage of big plays and field position for about the first 12:12 of the game. After that, the Beavers woke up and stormed back to knock off Holcomb 23-14 Friday night at Darner Field. The game saw both teams combine for 25 penalties for 214 yards.

In the first quarter, it was a domination by Holcomb, as they took advantage of the field position. The Longhorns would score on their second series on a five-yard run by Trey Gilbert on third and goal to make it 6-0 after the misses extra point kick. Holcomb would score on the first play in the second quarter after setting up with good field position.

Just 12 seconds into the second quarter, the Longhorns could say the ball bounced their way. After a Reece Morss 20-yard reception to the Scott City 26 yard-line, Morss fumbled the ball right into the hands of Chance Rodriguez, who took it all the way for a touchdown. Gilbert would run in the two-point conversion to make it 14-0 Holcomb. The Beavers would bounce back in a big way. Their first core came with 10:06 left in the half on a 35-yard pass form Parker Gooden to Marshal Faurot, and the Moses Hinojos PAT cut the Longhorn lead to 14-7. Following a three-and-out by Holcomb, Scott City tied the game on a four-play, 42-yard drive, capped off by a Nick Nowak 20-yard run, and the game was tied on a Hinojos kick to get the score to 14-14. The Beavers would take the lead after committing two costly penalties. Holcomb would jump offsides on a 45-yard field goal attmept. Hinojos would take advantage of the offsides and drill a 40-yard field goal to give the Beavers a 17-14 lead at the break.

After a scoreless and a penalty infested third quarter, field position make a big difference in the fourth quarter. Holcomb would give Scott City the ball at the Longhorn 16 yard line following a 14-yard punt. The Beavers would convert a fourth down to the Holcomb two yard line. On the very next play, Wyatt Hayes would punch it in to give Scott City a 23-14 lead with 3:36 remaining. The extra point was missed. Holcomb converted two first downs, and punted the ball with a little over a minute down. The Beavers converted a first down late and ran out the clock, securing the win.

Parker Gooden was 6-11 passing for 87 yards with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Marshal Faurot, who was the leading receiver with his lone reception. Five different players caught the ball. Jarret Jurgens had eight carries for 70 yards, while Nick Nowak had 62 yars on 11 carries and a touchdown. The Beavers rushed for 187 yards and had a total of 274 yards. They did have 15 penalties that hurt them for 129 yards.

For Holcomb, Trey Gilbert was 10-28 passing for 87 yards. Reece Morss led the way with 22 yards on one reception, and had 65 yards rushing on five carries. The Longhorns had 90 yards rushing and finished with a total of 177 yards of offense. They were penalized 10 times for 75 yards.

Scott City improves to 2-0 overall, 1-0 in GWAC play, and will face a 1-1 Cimarron team, who won 70-0 at Stanton County Friday night. Holcomb drops to 1-1 overall, 0-1 in league play, and visits Ulysses next Friday. The Tigers lost a heartbreaker at Hugoton 14-13 to drop to 0-2 overall, and o-1 in GWAC play.

Assistant Coach Todd Richardson Postgame