FOOTBALL FRIDAY: The return of Jeff Sims

A few people have anticipated the return of former Fort Scott Community College head football coach Jeff Sims to Frary Field Saturday. But no one could have anticipated at the beginning of the season that both the Greyhounds and Sims' Garden City team would both be 1-6 and on six-game losing streaks.

Sims coached the Greyhounds from 2007-10, compiling a 32-12 record and a national runner-up finish in 2009. He is in his first season at Garden City, which is his first head-coaching job since leaving Fort Scott.

Fort Scott (0-6 Jayhawk Conference) hasn't won since the opening week of the season, when the Greyhounds defeated Iowa Central on the road. Garden City (1-5 Jayhawk) hasn't won since beating Highland on the road on opening day.

There are reasons both teams are so woeful this season but two things stand out for the Broncbusters.

1) They cannot stop the run. Garden City has allowed a conference-worst 226.3 yards per game on the ground this season, 25.3 yards per game more than seventh-ranked Fort Scott.

2) They cannot run the ball. Garden City's 35.4 YPG is the worst in the conference by 83.3 yards per game (Fort Scott averages 128.7 YPG) and is the third-worst in the NJCAA. They average 1.1 yards per carry, second worst in the NJCAA (Only Northland, Minn., at 0.6 YPC, is worse) and have scored just 4 touchdowns on the ground. The Busters' best rusher, quarterback Jayru Campbell, averages 7.5 yards per game.

Garden City, with Campbell under center, averages 235.7 YPG passing. But that's not enough to counter the awful rushing numbers.

Because of the Broncbusters' better passing numbers -- Fort Scott averages 142 passing YPG -- the Greyhounds have the lowest-ranked offense in the Jayhawk Conference by the scant margin of 4/10ths of a yard per game.

What each of these teams need to get their seasons back on track is a good game against the other. The question is whether this will be a good game or a bad one.

It could be a good one for Fort Scott. Consider these factors:

1) Fort Scott has sophomore tailback Devin Taylor, the leading rusher in the NJCAA last season. He's been looking for another 100-yard game since going for 128 in the season opener. He has 526 yards this season, fourth in the conference, and 9 touchdowns. A good night by the offensive line could result in Taylor having that big game he's been waiting for.

2) When Mike Glass is healthy and under center, the Greyhounds can move the ball. But if can't play tonight, backup Danarious Graham has some motivation of his own. He was the third-best passer in the Jayhawk Conference last season at Garden City and probably wouldn't mind showing his old team that perhaps they ought to have stuck with him.

3) Fort Scott has the conference's leading tackler, Gabe Loyd, who makes 12.4 tackles per game. He also leads the Jayhawk in tackles for a loss, 17.5 for the season. If Garden City can't get something going on offense, he'll be having quite a few personal meetings with the Broncbusters in the backfield and over the middle.

This will be the first afternoon home game of the season. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Frary Field.