Former Butler coordinator seeks to bring life to Highland program

The Fort Scott Community College Greyhounds will open the 2012 football season Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Highland in a Kansas Jayhawk Conference Community College contest. Greyhound Head Coach Curtis Horton enters his second season at the helm for the Hounds, sixth season overall, and will look at experience as a key to this year's team success.

"We were young last season and we went through some hard knocks," Curtis said, "but we did it as a team and the season ended good for us. With the work the kids have put in during the off season, we look forward to the challenge of a new season"

Despite being on probation and ineligible for the Region VI Playoffs, Fort Scott posted a 4-4 record for a team that lost 90 percent of its starters from the season before.

(For a comprehensive preview of FSCC, see the story at the top of this page.)

Highland (1-5 in the KJCCC last season, 1-8 overall) brings what it feels will be a much improved football team from previous years under new Head Coach Ryan Held, who was previously the offensive coordinator at Butler. The Scotties feel they could make some noise in an already-powerful Jayhawk Conference.

The Scotties will look for Held to bring in the level of talent that he had at Butler and it may start with quarterback Shunquez Stephens, a 6' 5" Alabama State transfer, who brings speed, size, and a strong arm to an offense that has had trouble scoring points in the past. The only returning player from last season's team is running back Brian Handley (5' 9", 185, Soph., Monticello, Ark.), who will be vying for the starting spot as will Skylar Hawkins from Paola.

Defensively, the Scotties will be playing a "swarming" type of defense that looks to create turnovers. Held wants to install a fun, attacking and simple defensive scheme that allows the players to go play, fly around, and have fun while utilizing their talents. Held knows that his team must improve on tackling and has made fundamentals the defensive unit's number one priority.

In the 2011 contest, the Greyhounds handed the Scotties a 34-14 loss that was dominated from start to finish by the home team.

Fans who cannot make it to Highland can listen to the game on KSEK-FM, 99.1, the voice of the 'Hounds. Pregame will start at 6 p.m. and live play-by-play will start at 7 p.m. Fans can also utilize the internet to listen to live streaming of the game on www.991espnfortscott.com.

A new feature for FSCC athletic fans is the new and improved Greyhound Athletics web page. This can be found by typing www.fsgreyhounds.com. All Greyhounds sports can be found on this page along with stats, media relations, and stories about Greyhound teams.