Tigers control first half of season opener

Fort Scott High's football team made it look easy in the first half of its season-opening game against Parsons Friday night at Frary Field.

In the second half, however, they showed that there's still a bit of work to do, particularly on offense. Still, the Tigers defeated Parsons for the 23rd consecutive time by a score of 30-0 in Southeast Kansas League play. It was Parsons' 20th consecutive loss overall, last winning in the eighth game of the 2011 season.

Fort Scott rolled up 270 yards of total offense in the first half while holding Parsons to 65. But in the second half, Fort Scott only managed 64 yards of total offense and committed three turnovers.

"We, obviously, have some things to work on," Fort Scott head coach Bob Campbell said. "To Parsons' credit, they played hard in the second half. Some of their quickness gave us trouble. No. 9 (Isaac McPherson), who is an extremely fast runner in track, was playing nose guard and gave us a little trouble at times. But overall, I thought it was a good win."

Fort Scott's defense was consistent throughout the evening, holding Parsons to just four total yards in the second half for a grand total of 69 yards on 43 plays. Of those, 23 Viking plays went for zero or negative yards.

"I thought our defense was extremely quick and athletic and I like the way we flew to the football," Campbell said. "Eighteen yards rushing against a Parsons team that has some good guys, speed, quickness, I was proud of the way we played and I thought we tackled well for a first game."

The Tigers scored on their first three possessions. It took just a little over a minute for the first points of the season to get on the scoreboard as quarterback Mason Knopp followed a convoy into the end zone from 16 yards out with 10:12 on the clock, capping a five-play drive which began at their own 25.

Knopp was responsible for 56 yards on that drive. He gained 16 on a keeper on the second play and found Alex Fink on a 24-yard pass play to set up his TD run.

Fort Scott got the ball at its own 47 after forcing Parsons to go three-and-out. That drive ended with Fink's leaping grab of a Knopp pass in the left side of the end zone with 6:33 on the clock to make it 14-0 after Brody Southwell's conversion.

Another three-and-out have Fort Scott the ball at the Parsons 35. Six plays later, Kevin Armstrong went over the left side of the line from 4 yards out to make it 20-0 with 1:54 left in the first quarter. A bad snap thwarted the PAT.

Carter Young scored on a 3-yard run with 5:13 left in the first half, then Knopp found Fink on a pass for the 2-point conversion to make it 28-0.

At the half, Knopp was 6 of 6 passing for 137 yards. Fink had 4 catches for 93 yards.

The second half didn't go as well for Knopp or the offense for the most part, although fullback Chase Brown did gain slightly more than half his yards in the second 30 minutes, allowing the Tigers to maintain some ball control.

The defense, however, continued to play well. Nick Woods tackled a Parsons runner in his own end zone for a safety with 1:16 left in the third quarter -- the game's last points as it turned out -- after pressure from the right side of the line forced a bad pitch. And Brendyn Quinney and Kaleb DeLaTorre ended Parsons' final two possessions with interceptions.

"I think the key to the game was our defense," Campbell said. "Anytime we give up less than 70 yards of total offense, I like our chances."

Five running backs got carries for the Tigers out of their new Flexbone offense, Brown leading the way with 83 yards on 17 carries. Knopp gained 50 yards on 14 carries and Young 35 on 7 totes. Armstrong, Quinney and Joe Doherty also got at least two carries each.

"That's the way it's going to be," Campbell said. "We're going to have five or six different running backs at times. I thought Mason made a lot of good decisions in the first half. He was a little frustrated in the second half when he had that turnover (a fumble). But overall, I thought for a first game and the conditions with the rain, our kids handled it pretty well."

The Tigers will travel to Spring Hill next Friday for a non-league road game. It will be the first meeting between the teams since the 2000 Class 4A playoffs.

NOTES -- This was Campbell's 199th game as Fort Scott's head coach. His record, including Friday night, is 152-46. He has coached 109 more games than the coach in second place on the FSHS games coached list, Dick Hedges, who led the Tigers from 1968-76....

While other games in the region had their start times pushed back or were outright postponed by thunderstorms, the game at Frary Field kicked off on time and was completed without a hitch. There was a brief period of heavy rain in the second quarter, but that was really all

Parsons' last victory over Fort Scott was a 28-27 decision at Frary Field on Sept. 16, 1994....

This was the 100th meeting between Fort Scott and Parsons, a series which began in 1896. The Tigers have played only Pittsburg longer (1895) and more often (111 times).

Fort Scott leads the series with Parsons 61-36-3. The Tigers have more wins over Parsons than any other opponent....

The highly-anticipated Coffevyille-Pittsburg game that was scheduled to be on state-wide television didn't get started until 8:50 p.m. Pittsburg went on to a 55-16 victory on its home field....

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TIGER BOX

PARSONS........... 0 0 0 0 -- 0

FORT SCOTT.. 20 8 2 0 -- 30

Scoring plays

First quarter

FS -- Knopp 16 run (Southwell kick), 10:12 [5 plays, 75 yards, 1:30 time of poss.]

FS -- Fink 21 pass from Knopp (Southwell kick), 6:33 [5, 53, 2:00]

FS -- Armstrong 4 run (kick failed), 1:54 [6, 35, 3:03]

Second quarter

FS -- Young 3 run (Fink pass from Knopp), 5:13 [10, 69, 4:02]

Third quarter

FS -- Safety, Woods tackled Parsons runner in end zone, 1:06

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Parsons -- Thende 11-16, Wells 4-7, Mayhue 5-6, Edwards 3-6, Feess 1-minus 4, Bernal 7-minus 13. Fort Scott -- Brown 17-83, Knopp 14-50, Young 7-35, Doherty 2-12, Armstrong 3-11, Quinney 2-8, team 1-minus 2.

PASSING: Parsons -- Bernal 1-8-1-51, Feess 0-3-1-0, N.Taylor 0-1-0-0. Fort Scott -- Knopp 6-10-1-137.

RECEIVING: Parsons -- I.Taylor 1-51. Fort Scott -- Fink 4-93, Hudiburg 1-23, Brown 1-21.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.