Dangerous Huskies next opponent

After facing winless teams in consecutive weeks, the No. 3 nationally-ranked Fort Scott Greyhounds must now travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to face a dangerous and much improved Air Force Prep Husky football team.

The 'Hounds, (7-0) made the 12-hour bus ride due west to the Air Force Academy last night, where they will face the Huskies (5-3) at 3 p.m. Central time Friday.

The Air Force Prep team is made up of all freshmen that play one year with the prep squad and then will either have the opportunity to go play for the Division I Falcon team or pursue other options inside the academy.

There's a possibility that snow will greet the Greyhounds when they practice this afternoon as one to three inches is expected in the Colorado Spring area. But the game time forecast calls for sunny skies and a game-time temperature in the mid-50's.

The Huskies have come a long ways from being the push over team everybody wanted on their schedule to a solid 5-3 team this year.

In last year's contest at Frary Field, the then-fourth-ranked 'Hounds escaped with a 35-28 win over the Huskies.

"They just never gave up, every time they were down, they just kept fighting back. That's the kind of team they are," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Sims said about last year's contest against AFP.

So far this year the Huskies are averaging 332 yards per game on offense, 183 passing and 149 on the ground.

On defense, they are giving up an average of 311 yards per game, 148 through the air and 163 on the ground.

Last week at Hutchinson, Air Force Prep gave up a season high 413 total yards in a 51-10 loss to the Dragons.

Fort Scott knows that it must control the ball like it has so far this season and that will be with its strong running game.

Sophomores Jasmin Hopkins and Justin Woods are looked upon to carry the bulk of the running load. Hopkins is 37 yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark for the season and Woods has 639 yards in the first seven games.

Sophomore quarterback Dominique Davis showed his talents last Saturday through the air against Highland as he completed 18 of 27 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Hounds continue to show improvement in the middle of their line and will look to put a lot of pressure on the Husky offense.

The 'Hounds held Highland to 220 total yards last Saturday with only 28 coming on the ground.

Defensive tackles Byron Jerideau and Anthony White have been showing that hard work in practice pays off as they are improving game in and game out. Jerideau had 11 tackles (with 4.5 for loss) and White had 5 tackles (1.5 for loss) against the Scotties.

Defensive back Dennis Herbin had 7 tackles to go along with his school record 4 interceptions against the visitors.

Air Force Prep does not keep individual stats.

Fort Scott in NJCAA rankings this week:

* 10th in total offense, 415 yards per game.

* Sixth in rushing offense, 256 yards per game.

* Dennis Herbin ranks sixth in interceptions with 5.

* Jasmin Hopkins ranks seventh in rushing, 137.5 yards per game, and is tied for ninth in scoring by non-kickers with 60 points.

* Luke Halsey ranks 15th in scoring by kickers with 41 points (32 PAT's, 3 field goals).

This week's 'Hounds of the Week are:

* Quarterback Dominique Davis (6' 4", 210, Soph., Lakeland, Fla.) completed 19 of 28 passes for 204 yards and one touchdown while scoring another TD on the ground. It was his second 200-yard game of the season and a strong rally from two sub-par weeks in which he went 17 of 45 for 202 yards with 3 interceptions and 2 touchdowns combined.

* Dennis Herbin earned the defensive honor for his 4 interceptions, which is likely a school record although that is difficult to confirm. That effort vaulted him to the top of the interception list in the Jayhawk Conference as the only player with 5 picks.

* Jasmin Hopkins was given the special teams honor after he returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. Ironically, Hopkins was back deep because he wasn't expected to get the ball. The Greyhounds were expecting an onside kick and Hopkins plays deep on the "hands" team. But after Highland botched the initial onside kick, they elected to kick deep and paid for it.

The Fort Scott Community College Athletic Department provided information for this article.