Blue Dragons pull away in second half

Quarterback Danarious Graham scampers downfield for Fort Scott's only touchdown of the night during the third quarter of play at Frary Field Saturday night. It was the Greyhounds' only score of the night in a 37-6 loss to Hutchinson in Jayhawk Conference play. (Fort Scott Community College photo)

The first quarter of Saturday night's Jayhawk Conference football game between No. 4 Hutchinson and Fort Scott Community College at Frary Field was competitive for one quarter. At halftime, the Greyhounds had a chance to get back into things despite a two-touchdown deficit and about midway through the third quarter they looked as though they had a shot to mount a comeback and make things very interesting.

But an ill-advised call to go for a two-point conversion, which failed, turned the momentum completely around. Hutchinson responded quickly with a score and turned what could have been at worst a very competitive night into a 37-6 thumping that didn't feel as close as the score indicated.

Fort Scott head coach Curtis Horton gave the start at quarterback to Mike Glass, who played the entire game the previous week as the 'Hounds defeated Iowa Central on the road in the season opener. But Garden City transfer Danarious Graham, who was the conference's third-leading passer last season, became eligible to play during the week and it was his 63-yard scramble with 7:39 left in the third quarter that brought the Greyhounds within 14-6.

And then for some reason, the 'Hounds decided to go for two points. It did not appear to be Horton's call as he expressed displeasure after it failed. On the fifth play after the kickoff, Hutchinson quarterback Kylen Binn hit DeQuan Bowman down the right sideline for a score from 29 yards out to make it 21-6 with 6:06 left in the period.

The Hutchinson defense forced a 3-and-out. Two plays after that, Binn found Gary Cross from 30 yards out with 3:15 on the clock to extend the lead to 22 points. It was the second score the pair had connected on during the night.

As the Blue Dragons' defense began to step up, so too did its defense. Hutch (1-0 Jayhawk, 2-0 overall) held Fort Scott to 2 yards per play in the second half. Devin Taylor, the nation's leading rusher last season, gained just 9 yards on 7 carries in the final 30 minutes. And either Graham was sacked or the Greyhounds had to recover a fumbled snap on six plays in the last 21 minutes.

Kassidy Lemons kicked a 29-yard field goal for Hutch with 12:45 left in the fourth quarter. Tre Griffin, one of three running backs the Dragons used to good effect in the game, ran in from 11 yards out with 2:20 left two plays after a shanked minus-1 yard punt gave Hutchinson the ball at the Fort Scott 23-yard line.

In between Hutchinson's fourth quarter scores, the offense had another drive in which they held the ball for 13 plays over 5 1/2 minutes. Although the Dragons did not score -- the 'Hounds stopped Graham with a run blitz on fourth-and-1 from the Fort Scott 15 -- it was effective simply for the fact that it denied the Greyhounds any chance to make a game of it.

Hutch finished with 395 yards of total offense -- an average of 5.2 yards per play -- with 215 of it on the ground. Griffin was just the Dragon's third-leading rusher on the night, gaining 58 yards on 12 carries. Tyren Jones rushed for 82 yards on 17 carries while Treyvon Paulk, the starter, added 64 yards on 17 totes.

Binn completed 7 of 15 passes for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns. Dimonic McKinzy threw for 54 yards on 5-of-10 passing.

Taylor finished the game with just 34 yards on 16 carries. Although Graham had that long run, sacks and losses on other plays saw him credited with a total of just 32 yards. He went 5 of 9 passing for 24 yards. Glass, who did not see any second-half action, finished 3 of 8 for 17 yards with an interception.

Fort Scott (0-1, 1-1) had just 7 first downs in the game -- 2 at halftime -- and finished with 120 yards of total offense. 'Hound quarterbacks were sacked 7 times for 53 yards in losses.

The first quarter of play, though optimistic for Greyhound fans, turned out not to be a sign of things to come. There was no scoring and Hutch had just 49 yards in 18 plays, going 0 for 4 passing, while Fort Scott had 41 yards on 16 plays.

From the start of the second quarter through the final buzzer, however, Hutchinson outgained Fort Scott 346 yards to 79.

The Blue Dragons scored with 9:59 on the clock in the second when Binn and Cross connected for the first time on a 35-yard scoring pass. This came two plays after the 'Hounds were forced to punt from their own 5-yard line with the kick going just 31 yards. Hutchinson's next score was set up by a blocked punt, which went out of bounds at the Fort Scott 9-yard line, 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage. On the very next play, Paulk ran in to make it 14-0 with 3:18 left before the half.

This was the first of three consecutive games versus nationally-ranked teams for Fort Scott. Saturday, they will travel to Coffeyville to take on the No. 6 Red Ravens. The following weekend, the 'Hounds will host No. 10 Butler.

NOTES -- There were 24 punts in the game, 15 by Fort Scott....

There were also a total of 20 penalties. Hutchinson's cost the Dragons 100 yards while Fort Scott was penalized for 74 yards....

Former Fort Scott High player Brendan Blackburn played right guard for Hutchinson. Blackburn is a sophomore for Blue Dragon head coach Rion Rhoades, who was the Greyhounds' head coach in 2006....

Jamain Lang was Fort Scott's leading receiver, catching 4 passes for 58 yards. Taylor was the only other Greyhound who caught a pass, 3 for 3 yards....

HUTCHINSON..... 0 14 14 9 -- 37

FORT SCOTT........ 0 0 6 0 -- 6

Scoring plays

Second quarter

H -- Cross 35 pass from Binn (Lemons kick), 9:59 [2, 36, :29]

H -- Paulk 9 run (Lemons kick), 3:18 [1, 9, :06]

Third quarter

FS -- Graham 63 run (pass failed), 7:39 [4, 85, 1:54]

H -- Bowman 29 pass from Binn (Lemons kick), 6:06 [5, 71, 1:25]

H -- Cross 30 pass from Binn (Lemons kick), 3:15 [2, 54, :27]

Fourth quarter

H -- FG Lemons 29, 12:45 [10, 50, 3:18]

H -- Griffin 11 run (kick failed), 2:20 [2, 23, :24]

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Hutchinson -- Jones 17-82, Paulk 11-64, Griffin 12-58, King 1-8, Binn 4-5, McKinzy 6-minus 2. Fort Scott -- Taylor 16-34, Graham 14-32, Fils-Aime 4-13, Williams 1-2, Lang 1-0, Glass 8-minus 2.

PASSING: Hutchinson -- Binn 7-15-0-126, McKinzy 5-10-0-54. Fort Scott -- Glass 3-8-1-17, Graham 5-9-0-24.

RECEIVING: Hutchinson -- Bowman 5-74, Cross 3-74, Griffin 2-10, Mays 1-12, Jones 1-10. Fort Scott -- Lang 5-38, Taylor 3-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.