Scott City Survives Holcomb Scare

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The Holcomb Longhorns came into Scott City Friday night with a chance to prove that they belong with the best in Class 3A. They left Darner Field with that belief, as the Beavers had to rally to defeat the Longhorns 21-7 in Scott City’s 2012 home opener.

Both teams were unable to put a scoring drive together on their first possessions. Scott City was the team to score first with 4:27 left in the opening quarter, on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Brett O’Neil to Drew Kite. The extra point miss to keep it at 6-0 Beavers. Scott City’s scoring drive was an eight play, 83-yard drive, taking 2:59 off the clock.

Holcomb would respond and take their lone lead of the night on the ensuing drive, as Tyler LaSalle connected with Jeremy Cox about nine and a half yards deep in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the seven yard line. Heath Tucker’s extra point made it 7-6 Holcomb with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.

Scott City would take the lead for good late in the first half. It was a 10-play, 87-yard drive that was completed on a spectacular one-handed catch by Tyler Hess from O’Neil, who dove just inside the right pylon of the end zone with 57 seconds remaining in the first half that gave the Beavers a 12-7 lead. O’Neil took the ball across the goal line for the two-point conversion to make it 14-7, a score that would hold up through three quarters.

After both teams either punted or turned the ball over on downs, Scott City put together a drive that was one of the longest and best by a Beaver team in quite some time. A 17 play, 78-yard drive was capped off on a six-yard touchdown run by Dalton Buehler with 5:04 remaining to give Scott City a two score lead, and it was 21-7 after O’Neil’s extra point kick. The drive was a six-minute, 31-second drive, highlighted by a fake punt, run by O’Neil on fourth-and-13 from the 19-yard line for 15 yards.

Holcomb tried to mount a comeback, but a penalty gave the Longhorns poor field position at their own 15 and a LaSalle pass was picked off by Trey O’Neil. Scott City would run the final 3:01 of the game off the clock, as they converted a pair of first downs. For the game for Scott City, Dalton Buehler rushed for 173 yards on 28 carries, and a touchdown run. He now has eight rushing scores for the season. Brett O’Neil was 10-for-17 passing for 154 yards and two touchdown passes. His leading receiver was Tyler Hes, who had three receptions for 52 yards and a score. Tyler LaSalle led Holcomb again in rushing with 41 yards on 11 carries, while passing for 130 yards on 6-of-14 passing with a touchdown and an interception.

Scott City (3-0, 2-0 GWAC) will host Ulysses next Friday night. The Tigers shutout Colby 24-0 at home. Holcomb (2-1, 1-1) returns home to face a 2-1 Goodland Cowboy squad. Goodland shutout rival Burlington, Colorado 41-0.

Glenn O’Neil Postgame Comments

Note**

The Image for this story is the brand new sculpture called “Tradition”. It was dedicated Friday night before the football game in memory of SCHS 2002 graduate Ryan Haxton, who was an avid Scott City Beaver Football fan. The scultpure and pedestal is about seven-feet tall, and sits on the south side of the SCHS Fieldhouse.