Scott City visits Holcomb with state birth on the line

Holcomb, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Ten weeks or 70 days ago, Scott City and Holcomb battled at Darner Field for a step up on the GWAC title. The Beavers would rally from a 14-0 hole early in the second quarter to win 23-14, en route to their sixth league title in eight seasons. Since then, the teams haven’t been defeated. Fast forward to game 12. Both teams have not only the top two defenses in the state, but also have the two longest winning streaks in the state heading into the Sub-State Championship game in Holcomb, as the Longhorns host Scott City in a 7 pm start. There’s no doubt this is the biggest game in the rivalry’s history that started in 2004.

Scott City enters with an 11-0 record after a 21-13 win at Clay Center last Friday night in the Sectional round of the Class 4A, Division II playoffs. Unlike their previous two games, the Beavers had the lead and held on for the win. They led 7-0 at the break, and consumed nearly 10 minutes in the third quarter on their two scoring drives to take a 21-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the final period, the Tigers struck quickly with two touchdown passes to pull to within 21-13 late in the game, but the Beavers recovered both onside kicks, and on the second one, ran out the clock. Scott City shut down the Clay Center rushing attack, limiting them to only 54 rushing yards and gave up 155 total yards, with 101 passing yards coming in the final quarter. The Beaver offense put up 337 yards, with 298 on the ground, and had two rushing scores from Jarret Jurgens and one more from Wyatt Hayes. So far this year, Scott City has outscored their opponents by an average of 30-9, and have outgained their opponents by a 350-165 margin. Wyatt Hayes locked in his second straight 1,000-yard rushing season, and Jarret Jurgens is within striking distance of 1,000 yards on the ground.

Holcomb has won nine straight, as they dominated the Smoky Valley Vikings 26-6 last Friday night in Lindsborg. The Longhorns scored the games first 26 points, leading 6-0 after the first quarter, 20-0 at the break, and scored on their opening drive of the second half to go up 26-0. Smoky Valley scored a late touchdown to get on the board. Trey Gilbert threw two scoring tosses in the win, one to Chance Rodriguez, and the other to Andrew Morss, while Reece Morss scored two rushing touchdowns. Holcomb forced two turnovers and limited the Vikings to 155 yards of offense and just four passing yards. The Longhorn defense also held Smoky Valley out of the end zone inside the Holcomb 10 on two occasions in the third quarter. This year, the Longhorns have outscored opponents by an average of 27-9, and have outgained foes by an average of 339-195. Offensively, they are as balanced as you can get. Holcomb has 1867 passing yards and 1859 rushing yards. Trey Gilbert has passed for all those yards and has 23 touchdowns. Chance Rodriguez leads the team in receptions with 42 catches for 615 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Kaden Tichenor leads the Longhorns on the ground with 753 and Reece Morss has eight rushing scores.

This is the fourth time that the two rivals have met up in the playoffs. Scott City has won two out of three. Holcomb won 34-20 in Scott City last year in the Regional round.

Scott City leads the all-time series 14-3.

Kickoff in Holcomb begins at 7 pm, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30. You can hear the Holcomb broadcast on AM 1030 KBUF and on the KBUF app. The Scott City broadcast is on Mix 94.5 and on the KSKL app. You can also listen to the games on the TuneIn radio app and online at westernkansasnews.com.