No. 16 Busters thump ’Hounds

Fort Scott Community College starting quarterback Dalton Sneed gained 45 yards on a quarterback keeper on the first offensive play of Saturday afternoon’s Jayhawk Conference football game at Frary Field. From that point on, however, No. 16 Garden City had nearly-complete control in a 69-0 victory.

Fort Scott got down to the 12-yard line on that opening possession but Sneed’s fourth-down pass was broken up by the Garden City defense. Then the Broncbusters moved downfield 87 yards in 14 plays with quarterback Terry Wilson scoring from 23 yards out on a fourth-down draw play with 3:40 on the clock.

Sneed was injured on the final play of the Greyhounds’ second possession and never returned. Backup Garrett Sharp completed only 4 of 15 passes for 43 yards and was sacked six times — the Busters had seven sacks in all.

Meanwhile, Garden City (5-2 Jayhawk, 8-3 overall) went on to rush for 326 yards and gain 433 yards in total offense in 65 plays. Fort Scott managed just 151 yards in total offense on 58 plays. After Snead’s game-opening run, the ’Hounds (2-5, 4-6) gained only 36 yards on their other 36 carries.

Fort Scott was playing to get to the .500 mark and avoid a losing season. The last time the Greyhounds finished at least .500 was 2011, when Fort Scott went 4-4 for a season in which it was on NJCAA probation. A fifth win also would have been the most for the program since the 2009 national runner-up season, when it went 11-1.

Garden City was playing for a possible tie for the conference title — Independence beat Coffeyville Saturday night to win it outright — and improve its portfolio for a potential bowl bid. Twenty-eight second-quarter points definitely improved the Busters’ bowl prospects.

Wilson’s shovel pass to Nigel Kirby on a 10-yard scoring play made it 14-0 six seconds into the second quarter. Wilson also threw a 13-yard scoring strike to a wide-open Billy Mane in the end zone with 11:58 on the clock.

Warren Saba returned an interception 87 yards for another Broncbuster score with 3:51 to go. Wilson’s 21-yard scoring pass to Daniel Davis with 31 seconds to go made it 35-0 at the half.

Backup tailback Taylor Thomas scored the first of his three touchdowns to open second-half scoring from 2 yards out with 12:03 on the clock. Dom White kicked a 43-yard field goal with 8:49 to go and Thomas ran in from 4 yards out with 6:03 left, making it 52-0 going into the fourth.

White kicked a 40-yard field goal six seconds into the final stanza. Backup quarterback Rayvon Bartlett carried a couple of defenders with him into the end zone at the end of a 19-yard touchdown run with 10:39 remaining. And Thomas scored on a 7-yard run with 5:55 to go.

Starting tailback Charles West rushed for 177 yards on 20 carries to lead Garden City. Thomas ran for 66 yards on 13 rushes. Wilson completed 8 of 9 passes for 81 yards.

Sneed finished as Fort Scott’s leading rusher with 39 yards on 2 carries. Sharp was next with only 17 yards on 19 carries.

Edward Aldred caught 5 passes for 56 yards. Sneed went 4 of 6 for 27 yards before his injury.

NOTES — Although it’s scored more points in a game, this was the most-lopsided victory in the history of Garden City’s program and the most it’s ever scored on Fort Scott. The Busters had scored 63 points on FSCC twice....

The 69 points were the fourth-most ever allowed (tie) by Fort Scott in a home game, fifth-most (tie) in a conference game and ninth-most (tie) in any game....

Independence’s conference title is its first since tying with Garden City in 1977 and its first outright since 1937. It’s just the fourth conference championship in school history. The Pirates will face Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in the Midwest Classic Bowl at Miami, Okla., on Dec. 3.

The final NJCAA regular-season poll has East Mississippi (10-1) at No. 1 and Arizona Western (9-0) at No. 2. The goal of the NJCAA is to get them to agree to play in the same bowl, preferably the Mississippi Bowl. However, Arizona Western hosts the El Toro Bowl every season and may not want to play in Mississippi.

Iowa Western (10-1) is No. 3 followed by Southwest Junior College Football Conference champion Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (9-2) at No. 4 and Northwest Mississippi (8-2) at No. 5.

Independence (8-2) is No. 7 with Garden City at No. 12, Butler (8-3) 15th. The Grizzlies lost a stunner to previously winless Iowa Central, 7-0, at El Dorado Saturday night....

GARDEN CITY..... 7 28 17 17 — 69

FORT SCOTT......... 0 0 0 0 — 0

Scoring plays

First quarter

GC — Wilson 23 run (White kick), 3:40 [14, 87, 7:41]

Second quarter

GC — Kilby 10 pass from Wilson (White kick), 14:54 [3, 14, 1:33]

GC — Mance 13 pass from Wilson (White kick), 11:58 [3, 56, 1:09]

GC — Saba 87 interception return (White kick), 3:53

GC — Davis 21 pass from Wilson (White kick), :31 [6, 59, 1:08]

Third quarter

GC — Thomas 2 run (White kick), 12:03 [6, 79, 2:51]

GC — FG White 43, 8:49 [4, minus-2, 2:00]

GC — Thomas 4 run (White kick), 6:03 [2, 4, :43]

Fourth quarter

GC — FG White 40, 14:54 [7, 23, 3:09]

GC — Bartlett 19 run (White kick), 10:39 [5, 37, 2:19]

GC — Thomas 7 run (White kick), 5:55 [6, 48, 3:32]

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Garden City — West 20-177, Thomas 13-66, Bartlett 10-49, Wilson 7-40, team 3-minus 6. Fort Scott — Sneed 2-39, Sharp 19-17, Crum 3-13, Blanton 6-8, Randle 5-3, Griffin 2-1.

PASSING: Garden City — Wilson 8-9-0-81, Bledsoe 0-1-0-0, Bartlett 2-2-0-26. Fort Scott — Sneed 4-6-0-27, Sharp 4-15-1-43.

RECEIVING: Garden City — Davis 3-33, Kilby 3-31, Bledsoe 2-26, Mance 1-13, West 1-4. Fort Scott — Aldred 5-56, Harrison 1-7, Curry 1-6, Sharp 1-1.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.