Highland rallies to beat ’Hounds in opener

HIGHLAND — Highland scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the end zone with just over a minute remaining here Saturday and came away with a 29-28 victory over Fort Scott Community College in the season opener for both teams in Jayhawk Conference action.

Even though Greyhound kicker Dustin Rieser missed a 25-yard field goal with 5:50 left in the contest, the Scotties took over at their own 20 and needed to go 80 yards with an offense that was much better at the run on the day than the pass.

However, Highland played to its strength. The Scotties ran the ball on 11 of the 13 plays on the ensuing drive and had first-and-goal at the nine with just about a minute and a half to go.

Michael Thomas, the game’s leading rusher with 129 yards on 21 carries, got the ball but fumbled at about the 5-yard line. The ball went forward into the end zone where a pile of players fell on it. Highland receiver Antoine Thompson had the ball at the bottom of the pile. The Scotties went for two and failed.

Following the kickoff, the Greyhounds had the ball with 58 seconds remaining but no time outs. Quarterback Gunnar See got Fort Scott downfield with three passes but the ’Hounds were forced to try a 59-yard field goal with five seconds left that fell short.

See, a sophomore from Jefferson City, Mo., who was the No. 3 quarterback last season, was responsible for each of Fort Scott’s four scores in the game. The first came on a 77-yard run with 8:05 left in the first quarter. Michigan transfer running back Kareem Walker was in the game for his first play. See faked to him and found the middle of the field wide open.

See also scored on a 3-yard keeper nine seconds into the second quarter to make it 14-0.

Highland quarterback Avery McCall scored on a one-yard run with 7:20 left in the first half. Then Darius Johnson returned an interception 70 yards for the game-tying score with 3:23 remaining.

See put Fort Scott back in front with 15 seconds left in the half on a 4-yard run around the right side to make it 21-14.

Highland got a 30-yard field goal from Ryan Schemtob with 4:40 on the clock in the third. But the Greyhounds needed only two plays to respond after the kickoff as See found Kolby Easley on a 62-yard scoring pass to make it 28-17.

Thomas scored from 13 yards out with 10:27 left in the game to bring the Scotties within 28-25. A 2-point conversion run was unsuccessful.

See finished with 323 yards in total offense. He passed for 249 yards, completing 21 of 37 attempts, and rushed for 74 on seven carries. Damon Bonds added 51 yards on 13 rushes and Walker had 48 on 13 totes.

Darious Abrams caught 5 passes for 78 yards for Fort Scott while Jaylan Jenkins hauled in 4 for 37 and Bonds had 4 for 32.

McCall was 15 of 31 for 102 yards passing for Highland. Justin Ruiz added 73 yards on the Scotties’ rushing attack on 10 carries while Kevin Brown had 71 on 16 rushes.

Fort Scott outgained Highland in total offense, 431 yards to 383. But the Scotties gained 281 yards on the ground on 56 carries. On the game-winning drive, they ran the ball 11 times for 63 yards, or nearly 6 yards a carry.

Fort Scott plays its home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday night against Coffeyville. The Red Ravens fell to No. 2-ranked Iowa Western, 19-6, at home Saturday night in the first game back for head coach Aaron Flores since he had a lung transplant during the middle of last season.

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NOTES — This was the sixth straight win for Highland over Fort Scott....

When No. 5 Independence beat Dodge City, 38-20, on the road Thursday night, the Pirates picked up their first victory in a season opener since 2005, when they beat Highland. Indy held a 38-10 lead after three quarters, outgained the Conquistadors by 94 yards and held Dodge to 1-of-12 on third down...

Saturday afternoon, Iowa Central beat No. 13 Butler at Fort Dodge, Iowa., 26-16. The Tritons also beat Butler in the final game of last season, 7-0, at El Dorado.

Butler is now 8-5 versus Iowa schools since the schedule agreement between Iowa and Kansas schools started in 2014. However, in four of those losses, a ranked Grizzlies team has lost to an unranked Iowa squad. This was also Butler’s first season-opening loss since an overtime defeat to Navarro in 2011. Meanwhile, this just the sixth win over a Kansas school for Iowa Central since the series began (6-27)....

Hutchinson beat Ellsworth on Thursday, 30-12, Erin Collins rushed for 104 yards for the Blue Dragons on 17 carries. He scored three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter that broke open what was a 16-12 game at the time....

Garden City did not play. The No. 10 Broncbusters open their season at home Saturday against Dodge City....

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’HOUND BOX

FORT SCOTT...................... 7 14 7 0 — 28

HIGHLAND......................... 0 14 3 12 — 29

Scoring plays

First quarter

FS — See 77 run (Rieser kick), 8:05 [3, 86, 1:06]

Second quarter

FS — See 3 run (Rieser kick), 14:51 [9, 36, 3:01]

H — McCall 1 run (Schemtob kick), 7:20 [9, 72, 3:07]

H — Johnson 70 interception return (Schemtob kick), 3:17

FS — See 4 run (Rieser kick), :15 [8, 65, 3:02]

Third quarter

H — FG Schemtob 30, 4:40 [6, 17, 1:32]

FS — Easley 62 pass from See (Rieser kick), 3:48 [2, 68, :46]

Fourth quarter

H — Thomas 13 run (run failed), 10:27 [8, 53, 2:25]

H — Thompson recovered fumble in end zone (run failed), 1:02 [13, 80, 4:48]

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Fort Scott — See 7-74, Bonds 13-51, Walker 13-48, Fils-Aime 6-9. Highland — Thomas 21-129, Ruiz 10-73, K.Brown 16-71, McCall 9-8.

PASSING: Fort Scott — See 21-37-1-249. Highland — McCall 15-31-1-102.

RECEIVING: Fort Scott — Abrams 5-78, Jenkins 4-37, Bonds 4-32, Fils-Aime 3-19, Easley 2-65, Smothers 1-11, Pierre 1-10, Powell 1-minus 3. Highland — Davis 3-23, K.Brown 3-0, Driver 2-32, Thompson 2-18, Thomas 1-15, Parker 1-8, Crowder 1-4, Ruis 1-2, Stores 1-0

MISSED FIELD GOALS: Fort Scott — Rieser 49 (WR), 25 (WR), 59 (Short).