Roaring Back: Tigers rally from 10-point deficit with 5:30 remaining to beat Nado

Fort Scott senior Chase Brown (11) brushes off a tackle by Coffeyville's Isaiah Mayfield during Friday night's game at Frary Field. Brown rushed for 133 yards and scored three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers rallied from a 10-point deficit to win 46-42. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Editor's Note: Corrections have been made to the Fort Scott's total offense and to the combined amount of total offense in this game. The Tribune regrets the error.

The 99 was the big play in a game that saw 88 points go up on the scoreboard.

Alex Fink caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Mason Knopp on the "99" route with 22 seconds on the clock at Frary Field Friday night to give Fort Scott High a 46-42 victory over Coffeyville in one of the highest-scoring games in school history.

"We knew the corner(back) would be on top of me," Fink said. "I ran a 99; it's an outside route. Mason just threw it up top and let me go get it."

Fink had to fight off tight man-to-man coverage most of the night. But on this play, the Golden Tornado was apparently more concerned over being beaten down the middle. And when Knopp saw Coffeyville shade its coverage toward slotback Brendyn Quinney, he knew Fink would be able to get open.

"Brendyn Quinney was going down the center of the field, which was my first option," Knopp said. "We thought the safety was probably going to go over to Alex. (But) the safety went to Quinney so I looked him off and went to Alex and he made a heck of a catch. And our line did awesome tonight."

The Tigers (2-1 Southeast Kansas League, 3-1 overall) gained 470 yards in total offense, the most they've had in one game in almost 15 years. They set a new school record for points allowed in a game which they still won.

And yet, this was a 0-0 game after one quarter.

"It was crazy," Knopp said when reminded of the scoreless opening frame. "The intensity level was super high and from last week, at Pitt, when we didn't score, we were kind of down. This week in practice, we were telling everyone to keep their heads up. We're going to come and get them this next week. And we did."

Fort Scott trailed by 10 points with 5 1/2 minutes to go after LaDarrius Johnson scored his third touchdown of the night on a 53-yard run down the right sideline to make it 40-32. Johnson then ran in the 2-point conversion -- the Nado don't have a PAT kicker -- to boost the lead.

Coffeyville (1-3 SEK and overall) then squibbed the kickoff, which Kevin Armstrong fell on at his own 47-yard line. Carter Young gained 9 yards on first down. Then Knopp found Fink, who beat a double-team for a 40-yard gain to the Nado 4. On the next play, Chase Brown scored on a 4-yard run with 4:54 on the clock. Brody Southwell's PAT kick brought the Tigers within 42-39.

After the kickoff, Coffeyville took over at its own 47. A steady diet of LaDarrius Johnson -- who was responsible for over 300 yards in total offense -- got the ball down to the Fort Scott 24, where the Tornado faced fourth-and-1 with 2:19 to go.

The Nado lined up in the Wildcat formation and Johnson took the direct snap only to be stopped by the Tigers for a one-yard loss.

"It was a great feeling," Brown, a middle linebacker on defense, said of the stop. "Everybody came together and poured their hearts out to make that play."

Taking over on their own 25 with 2:11 to go, the Tigers began to move downfield, Brown fighting to convert a fourth-and-1 at his own 34 and getting 14 yards up the middle to keep the drive going. Two plays later, Fink hauled in a 16-yard pass to get to the Nado 35. Knopp then hit Drew Martin for 7 yards to the 28. Coffeyville jumped offsides on the next play to give Fort Scott a first down at the 22, setting up Fink's game-winning score.

Fink caught 3 passes, all of them in the final stanza, for 78 yards. Knopp completed 6 of 12 passes for 106 yards. Brown rushed for 133 yards on 17 carries while Young added 91 on 14 rushes and Knopp gained 60 on 10 carries. Fort Scott had 364 yards rushing.

Johnson rushed for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns on 26 carries, caught a pass for 65 yards and a score and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass. As a team, Coffeyville gained 297 of its 450 total yards on the ground.

An 88-point game with 920 yards of total offense didn't seem likely after the first quarter. The Tigers had only 73 total yards and the Golden Tornado had just 9 total yards in 6 plays and no first downs.

But things completely changed at the beginning of the second quarter. Young gained 17 yards on the first play of the period, 15 on the second and 14 on the third. The fourth play was his one-yard touchdown plunge that broke the ice.

Coffeyville came right back with Johnson throwing on a halfback option to Kamaren Wilson from 19 yards out on the next drive. Johnson also ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 8-7 with 7:02 in the half.

One play after the Nado defense sacked Knopp on fourth down, Johnson rambled down the right sideline for a 66-yard TD run. Quarterback Dillon Humble's 2-point run made it 16-7.

Armstrong scored on a 7-yard run with 1:09 in the half and Southwell's kick brought the Tigers within 2 points at the break.

Brown scored the first TD of the second half on a 4-yard run and Brown also ran for the 2-pointer to put Fort Scott up 22-16.

Humble found Jawaun Thompson on a 56-yard pass play with 5:10 to tie game. Southwell kicked a 27-yard field goal with 1:22 on the clock to put Fort Scott ahead. Johnson's 65-yard touchdown on a screen pass put the Nado ahead 28-25 after three.

Destin Downing made it a 2-score lead, 34-25, when he ran in from 35 yards with 9:47 left in the game. Brown scored his second TD with 7:55 left to bring the Tigers within 2 points.

COFFEYVILLE. 0 16 12 14 -- 42

FORT SCOTT.. 0 14 11 21 -- 46

Scoring plays

Second quarter

FS -- Young 1 run (Southwell kick), 10:49 [8, 73, 3:08]

C -- K.Wilson 19 pass from L.Johnson (L.Johnson run), 7:02 [10, 65, 3:47]

C -- L.Johnson 66 run (Humble run), 2:37 [1, 66, :12]

FS -- Armstrong 7 run (Southwell kick), 1:09 [6, 61, 1:27]

Third quarter

FS -- Brown 4 run (Brown run), 7:12 [8, 29, 2:52]

C -- Thompson 56 pass from Humble (run failed), 5:10 [5, 84, 1:50]

FS -- FG Southwell 27, 1:22 [7, 55, 3:42]

C -- L.Johnson 65 pass from Humble (pass failed), :20 [3, 69, :53]

Fourth quarter

C -- Downing 35 run (pass failed), 9:47 [6, 49, 2:26]

FS -- Brown 15 run (Southwell kick), 7:55 [5, 70, 1:45]

C -- L.Johnson 53 run (L.Johnson run), 5:32 [4, 60, 2:22]

FS -- Brown 4 run (Southwell kick), 4:54 [3, 53, :37]

FS -- Fink 22 pass from Knopp (Southwell kick), :22 [8, 75, 1:49]

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Coffeyville -- L.Johnson 26-237, Downing 10-70, Hardrick 2-2, Humble 3-0, team 1-minus 12. Fort Scott -- Brown 17-133, Young 14-91, Knopp 10-60, Quinney 7-36, Thurston 5-19, Armstrong 4-16, Deliney 1-9.

PASSING: Coffeyville -- Humble 3-6-1-134, L.Johnson 1-1-0-19. Fort Scott -- Knopp 6-12-0-106.

RECEIVING: Coffeyville -- L.Johnson 1-65, Thompson 1-56, K.Wilson 1-19, Downing 1-13. Fort Scott -- Fink 3-78, Hudiburg 1-16, Martin 1-7, Quinney 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.