Menu
Defense keeps Pirates off board
Fort Scott Community College's defense didn't have much on Independence's fill-in quarterback, Jarius Williams, to work with when it took the field for Homecoming Saturday at Frary Field.
But that didn't matter much as the Greyhounds held the Pirates to 29 total yards in the first half and 144 in the game, a 35-0 whitewashing in Jayhawk Conference play.
Although Independence had two other quarterbacks on its roster, head coach David Ward and his staff chose to move Williams, a receiver, behind center and have him use his athleticism. Williams was standing in for Parsons native Jeff Schibi, who suffered a concussion during last week's game against Garden City and wasn't cleared to play Saturday.
The Pirates' offensive effort consisted mainly of short passes, Williams keepers and attempts to run between the tackles. There were some tries to the outside thrown in, but there was only one short stretch all day when Indy's offense was effective.
"Honestly, I think it was harder to defend this than what Schibi would have done," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Sims said. "With Schibi, I can watch three game films and get tendencies and have an idea of what they like to do in certain situations. With this young man, we had an idea he was going to play. We asked around. But if you look at Ohio State or Michigan, those athletic quarterbacks can get you. He broke a couple of runs that I was concerned about. And we don't have any tendencies (to study). We don't know what he's going to do or what play they're going to run so, in a way, I thought it was more difficult."
The Pirates did finish with 113 rushing yards, but had only 31 yards passing. And 22 of those passing yards came on an option pass from a receiver to Williams.
The first quarter finished scoreless. The ninth-ranked Greyhounds (4-0 Jayhawk, 5-0 overall) got on the board when Jasmin Hopkins took a left-side run, cut back inside to elude three tacklers to score from 34 yards out with 10:02 left in the second quarter.
Although Hopkins came into the game second in the conference in rushing, this was his first touchdown of the season.
Fort Scott got to the Indy 17 on its next drive and looked as if it would settle for a 34-yard field goal. Instead, holder Aaron Sexton rolled right and just missed Brandon Kinnie in the end zone on a pass.
Hopkins got the Greyhounds on the board two plays after the defense recovered a fumble at the Pirates' nine-yard line. It was on a five-yard run on the second play with 3:11 to go that made it 14-0.
The special teams set up Fort Scott's third touchdown as Derrick Stewart -- who was named Jayhawk Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his work last week in the win over Hutchinson -- tipped a punt that ended up going only six yards to the Independence 30. Kinnie made a diving catch at the one-yard line on the first play of the drive and fullback Brad Terron went over the goal line on the next play with 2:02 left in the half.
That was still the score about midway through the third quarter when Indy was forced to punt from its own nine after the Greyhounds had two sacks and the Pirates had a penalty on a possession that started at the 22. But roughing the punter was called and Independence was rewarded with a new set of downs at the 18.
Williams broke off two long runs, one of 18 yards and another of 35, to help get the Pirates down to the Greyhound 16-yard line. Akeem Shavers gained five yards to get to the 11 but was stripped on the next play. David Garrett picked up the ball for the Greyhounds and ran it back to the Fort Scott 29 before he was tackled.
The Pirates gained 71 yards after the roughing penalty, just about half of its total offense on the day.
"I apologized," Sims said when asked what was done to get the defense back to its normal self during that drive. "I called the time out at the 50 and I told the guys, 'I'm sorry. We shouldn't have went after the block.' We should have returned it, had our offense on the field and rested our defense. Our defense got tired because they played 13 plays in a row in that series. So I called the time out and said. 'Get my back, go out and play hard and I'll get you off the field. We won't make that mistake again.'
"We were just trying to put the game away and, looking back, it was a decision I would probably make differently."
The third quarter was scoreless. A pair of sophomores were rewarded for their hard work for the Greyhounds with fourth-quarter touchdowns. Fullback Brent Lewis plunged in from two yards out with 10:42 to go. Tight end Jeremy Sutton took a short pass from backup quarterback Arvel Nelson and ran 56 yards down the right sideline with 6:30 left.
"That catch by Sutton was awesome," Sims said. "I'm not the best coach in the world as far as throwing to the tight end. But I really think it's fun on Homecoming, when the parents are here, for a sophomore to make a big play that can help him remember. And Brent Lewis…to (everyone else) that was just a two-yard touchdown. But he's been on our team for two years and done a lot of the dirty work. We made it a point to get him that touchdown today and I'm proud that he got that."
The Greyhounds had their second-highest offensive output of the season in picking up 394 total yards. Hopkins rushed for 124 yards on 24 carries and quarterback Zac Dickey rushed for 57 on seven carries. Fort Scott had 207 rushing yards on 46 carries.
Dickey also went 12 of 22 for 124 yards passing. Nelson was two of two for 63 yards.
Though the 'Hounds won convincingly, posting their second consecutive shutout and third in four weeks, Sims didn't feel his team played as well as it could.
"It wasn't a perfect game," he said. "I felt like we played a lot better last week against Hutch than we did today. But a win's a win.
"One thing we've done all year -- we didn't to it as well today, but we've done it this year -- was be consistent and keep coming at them. I feel like we did that today and as the momentum turned, we were successful."
Fort Scott will travel to Dodge City Saturday to take on the winless Conquistadors (0-3, 0-5), who had last week off. According Dodge City Community College Ath;etic Director Howie Smith, the game will kick off at 1:30 p.m.