Conqs hold off ’Hounds, 36-29

DODGE CITY — Dodge City quarterback Caden Walters threw five touchdown passes here Saturday night as host Dodge City held of Fort Scott Community College, 36-29, in Jayhawk Conference play.

Although both teams had roughly the same amount of passing yards and first downs, Dodge City’s rushing game produced 146 more yards.

Walters threw a 19-yard touchdowns pass to Braxton Haley late in the first to open scoring. Fort Scott (1-3 Jayhawk, 2-4 overall) tied the score on Darious Abrams’ 27-yard run a minute and a half later.

Watkins threw three of his touchdown passes in the second quarter. A 29-yarder to Anthony Watkins with 12:05 on the clock broke the tie and a 66-yarder to Tyler Minor made it a 19-7 lead as conversions failed after each score.

Fort Scott chipped back into the lead as Garrett Sharp threw a 25-yard scoring strike to Braxton Curry with 2:16 to go. But Walters hit Andrew Morton from 50 yards out just 15 seconds later to extend the Conqs’ lead to 26-14.

Brody Southwell hit a 33-yard field goal with 7 1/2 minutes to go in the third quarter to bring Fort Scott within 26-17. Walters connected with Caleb Mills from 18 yards out with 1:19 left to extend the lead back to 12 points.

Sharp found Edward Aldred from 29 yards out with 28 seconds left in the third to bring the Greyhounds within 33-23.

Devonta Guillory made a 27-yard field goal with 8:50 left in the game for Dodge City (1-3, 4-4) to extend the lead to 36-23. Sharp hit Aldred again from 25 yards away with 3:10 to go but the extra point was blocked.

Sharp, who filled in for starter Dalton Sneed, completed 18 of 44 passes for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns and was intercepted twice. He also rushed for a team-high 56 yards on 17 carries. Aldred caught 7 passes for 95 yards and Kyle Harrison caught 6 for 66 yards.

Walters completed 13 of 23 passes for 239 yards, using nine different receivers. Rodney Murphy rushed for 77 yards on 17 yards for the Conqs while Tyler Minor rushed for 76 on 20 rushes.

Dodge City was ranked in the NJCAA pre-season poll but this was its first conference victory of the season. The Conqs broke a three-game losing streak while Fort Scott saw a two-game win streak stopped.

Game time for this Saturday’s home contest against Ellsworth (Iowa) has been changed to a 6 p.m. start due to the fact that Fort Scott High School is hosting a volleyball Sub-State tournament in the afternoon, which means that locker room facilities and parking areas won’t be available until after the tournament concludes.

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FORT SCOTT.. 7 7 9 6 — 29

DODGE CITY.. 7 19 7 3 — 36

Scoring plays

First quarter

DC — Haley 19 pass from Walters (Guillory kick), 4:26

FS — Abrams 27 run (Southwell kick), 2:59

Second quarter

DC — Watkins 29 pass from Walters (kick failed), 12:05

DC — Minor 66 pass from Walters (run failed), 8:25

FS — Curry 25 pass from Sharp (Southwell kick), 2:26

DC —Morton 50 pass from Walters (Guillory kick), 2:09

Third quarter

FS — FG Southwell 33, 7:33

DC — Mills 18 pass from Walters (Guillory kick), 1:19

FS — Aldred 29 pass from Sharp (pass failed), :28

Fourth quarter

DC — FG Guillory 27, 8:50

FS — Aldred 25 pass from Sharp (kick blocked), 3:10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Fort Scott — Sharp 17-56, Abrams 8-38, Harrison 1-minus 15. Dodge City — Murphy 17-77, Minor 20-76, Walker 13-49, Walters 5-17, Watkins 2-6.

PASSING: Fort Scott — Sharp 18-44-2-231. Dodge City — Walters 13-23-1-239.

RECEIVING: Fort Scott — Aldred 7-95, Harrison 6-66, Curry 3-59, Abrams 1-9. Dodge City — Watkins 3-10, Haley 2-31, Mills 2-18, Minor 1-66, Morton 1-50, Watkins 1-29, Richie 1-24, Minter 1-10, McMullen 1-1

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.