Pittsburg rolls past Tigers, 28-0

PITTSBURG -- Host Pittsburg was able to finish off long drives while Fort Scott High was unable to do so itself. This led the Purple Dragons to a 28-0 victory over the Tigers in a non-league game here Friday night.

The Dragons' fourth straight win over Fort Scott was not league sanctioned as Pittsburg -- the Southeast Kansas League's only Class 5A school -- is playing an independent schedule for the foreseeable future due to the new playoff structure in that class. This was the Purple Dragon's third consecutive shutout of the Tigers, who last scored against them on the final play of the 2013 meeting.

Pittsburg (2-2) made the first error of the game, muffing a Fort Scott put at what should have been the end of the game's first possession. Instead, the Tigers (2-2) recovered the ball at their own 45-yard line.

However, 14 plays and 40 yards later, a fumble on a completed pass play went out the back of the end zone, resulting in a touchback for Pittsburg.

The Dragons moved the ball down to the Fort Scott 30 in six plays, aided by a 38-yard pass play from Chase Curtis to Elijah Harris on the third play that moved the ball to the Fort Scott 30. But Pittsburg also fumbled the ball away, with Morgan Stoughton recovering at the Fort Scott 37.

Seven plays and two Dragon penalties later, The Tigers had a first down at the Pittsburg 13. But then two Fort Scott penalties moved the ball back to the 32 and the Tigers were stopped on fourth down at the 26 by a Dragon sack early in the second quarter.

The Dragons took over at the Fort Scott 35 after the sack with 9:12 left in the half. They burned over seven minutes off the clock in moving 65 yards in 15 plays for the game's first score, a 9-yard pass from Curtis to Wright to make it 7-0.

Zarek Fewell returned the ensuing kickoff 32 yards to the Fort Scott 47. The Tigers were able to move downfield quickly, with a Pittsburg pass interference penalty helping along the way.

Fewell gained 16 yards on a pitch play to create first-and-goal at the 3 but the Tigers were unable to move the ball any further before the half ended.

Jhalani Long's 42-yard scoring run on the fifth offensive play of the second half extended Pittsburg's lead to 14-0. The Tigers got into Pittsburg territory for the fourth time in as many possessions after that but stalled on fourth down at the Dragons' 43.

The Dragons made it 21-0 midway through the fourth on Curtis' 33-yard scoring strike to Drew Roelfs with 7:59 to go. Deveron Duncan provided the game's final score when he intercepted a screen pass and returned it 35 yards with 4:38 to go.

Fort Scott had more first downs than Pittsburg (17-12), outrushed them (197 yards to 135) and had one more yard in total offense (264-263).

After his big game against Chanute last week, Pittsburg was focused on stopping Fewell, holding him to 65 yards on 21 carries. Jessie Lawrence led the Tigers with 85 yards on 10 carries. Jones completed 8 of 14 passes for 67 yards. Brown caught 6 of them for 56 yards.

Curtis completed 7 of 9 passes for 128 yards for Pittsburg. Harris was the leading receiver with 80 yards on 5 catches. Noah Vaughn rushed for 64 yards on 15 carries.

Fort Scott fell to 0-2 on the road this season. Pittsburg's only victories are shutouts of SEK teams, having also shut out Chanute two weeks ago.

The Tigers return home next Friday to take on Labette County, a 42-21 winner over Parsons, in a Southeast Kansas League contest.

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FORT SCOTT....................... 0 0 0 0 -- 0

PITTSBURG.......................... 0 7 7 14 -- 28

Scoring plays

Second quarter

P -- Wright 9 pass from Curtis (Neef kick), 1:57

Third quarter

P -- Long 42 run (Neef kick), 10:04

Fourth quarter

P -- Roelfs 33 pass from Curtis (Neef kick), 7:59

P -- Duncan 35 interception return (Neef kick), 4:38

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Fort Scott -- Lawrence 10-85, Fewell 21-65, Bollinger 8-36, Stoughton 5-19, Jones 7-minus 8. Pittsburg -- Vaughn 15-64, Long 5-59, Harris 3-19, Kent 1-8, Jefferson 1-1, team 3-minus 6, Curtis 5-minus 10.

PASSING: Fort Scott -- Jones 8-14-1-67. Pittsburg -- Curtis 7-9-0-128.

RECEIVING: Fort Scott -- Brown 6-56, Engstrom 2-11. Pittsburg -- Harris 5-80, Roelfs 2-48.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.