Pittsburg holds off Fort Scott comeback, 17-14

PITTSBURG — Caden Bressler’s 30-yard field goal with 1:19 remaining here Friday night gave Pittsburg the lead late in Friday night’s game. Fort Scott High then drove to the Pittsburg 16-yard line with less than a minute remaining only to see the Purple Dragons, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, get a sack and force a pair of incompletions that allowed them to survive a Tiger rally for a 17-14 victory.

The Tigers (2-2) went into the fourth quarter trailing 14-0. But they began the final stanza with possession at their own 47 ready to run the fourth play of a drive that began after holding Pittsburg (4-0) on downs at the 25 late in the third.

Alec Michaud gained 15 yards on that first play of the fourth to the Dragons’ 38. Two plays later from that spot, quarterback Matt Campbell gained 11 yards on a keeper for a first down. Treyton Wilson gained 5 on the next play. Then Dalton Colvin was given the ball on the next four plays, scoring from the 6 to get the Tigers on the board with 8:04 to go.

Fort Scott went for two on the conversion and Campbell found tight end Jarret Shoemaker to bring the Tigers within 14-8.

After the kickoff, Michaud’s second-down sack of Pittsburg quarterback Ty Roark brought up third-and-18 from the 14. Nick Lawrence made his second interception of the night and returned the ball to the Pittsburg 26.

After a penalty, Campbell found Ty Gorman from 31 yards out, tying the score with 6:09 to go. A bad snap on the extra-point attempt forced Campbell to try to run the ball in but he was stopped short.

After the kickoff, Pittsburg took over at its own 37. Brett Freeman gained 15 yards on the first play of the drive. Brandis Evens gained 7 yards, then 11 for a first down at the Fort Scott 30.

A holding call moved the ball back to the 38. But Roark found Brett Wiemers for 5. Another penalty moved the ball back again and Roark threw to Dylan White for 15 to the 23. Roark kept for 5 and a first down at the 18.

The drive stalled at the 12 but Bressler came in to make the game-winning kick.

Gorman returned the ensuing kickoff to the Pittsburg 46. On third-and-7 from the 43 with 58 seconds to go, Campbell found C.J. Horton for 17 yards to the 26.

Campbell kept to the 16 on the next play. But Trenton Austin broke through for a sack and a loss of 12 on first down. Campbell spiked the ball to stop the clock on second down. Pittsburg forced two incomplete passes and got the ball back on downs. There was a penalty on the fourth-down play, but it was a dead-ball personal foul after the play was over so Pittsburg got to keep the ball.

For as much of a nail-biter that the game became at the end, the beginning was inauspicious. There were three penalties on the opening kickoff and turnovers on consecutive plays early in the first quarter.

The Tigers got the ball at the Pittsburg 34 following the second turnover but were unable to convert fourth-and-4 at the 28. Pittsburg took over, moved to the Fort Scott 29 and themselves turned it over on downs following a fourth-and-11 .

Roark and Wiemers connected for both first-half scores. The first was from 22 yards out with 2:33 remaining in the first quarter. That was set up in part when White rolled out to his right for a rugby-style punt in fourth-and-3 at the 50 only to see no one covering that side, allowing him to run for 12 yards.

The Tigers advanced to the Pittsburg 6 early in the second only to turn it over on downs.

Lawrence ended Pittsburg’s ensuing drive with his first interception. But then the Dragons got the ball back on a White interception. He ran to the end zone but a penalty on the return put the ball at midfield.

The Dragons only needed three plays to get a 33-yard scoring pass from Roark to Wiemers that made it 14-0 with 40 seconds left in the half.

Pittsburg finished with 315 yards of total offense. The Dragons gained 194 in the air as Roark completed 9 of 17 passes. They gained 82 of their 121 rushing yards in the second half.

Freeman led the Dragons with 95 yards on 16 carries. Wiemers caught 4 passes for 74 yards.

Campbell completed only 5 of 15 passes for 81 yards. But he hit on 6 of 7 second-half throws for 62 yards. Gorman hauled down 3 passes for 56 yards.

Michaud led the Tigers in rushing with 95 yards on 22 carries. The Tigers had 219 yards of total offense, 138 on the ground.

Pittsburg defeated Fort Scott for the sixth consecutive time and the 70th time in 116 meetings.

The Tigers will face Labette County Friday night at Frary Field in a game that will give the winner the lead in the Southeast Kansas League as both teams are 2-0 in the SEK (Chanute begins league play Friday night at Independence). The Grizzlies defeated Winfield, 26-20, Friday night in Altamont to improve to 3-1.

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FORT SCOTT....................... 0 0 0 14 — 14

PITTSBURG.......................... 7 7 0 3 — 17

Scoring plays

First quarter

P — Wiemers 22 pass from T.Roark (Bressler kick), 2:33

Second quarter

P — Wiemers 33 pass from T.Roark (Bresslec kick), :40

Fourth quarter

FS — Colvin 6 run (Shoemaker pass from Campbell), 8:04

FS — Gorman 31 pass from Campbell (kick failed), 6:09

P — FG Bressler 30, 1:19

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Fort Scott — Michaud 22-95, Colvin 4-22, Wilson 7-18, C.Bradbury 1-6, Fess 1-4, Campbell 6-minus 7. Pittsburg — Freeman 16-95, Evans 9-23, White 1-12, team 1-minus 2, T.Roark 6-minus 7.

PASSING: Fort Scott — Campbell 5-15-1-81. Pittsburg — T.Roark 9-17-2-194.

RECEIVING: Fort Scott — Gorman 3-56, Horton 2-25. Pittsburg — Wiemers 4-74, Kafka 2-69, White 2-36, Austin 1-15.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.