Tigers claim top spot in SEK, 21-6

Alec Michaud (16) uses his blockers, Treyton Wilson (13) and Mason Couch on a running play during the second half of play versus Labette County at Frary Field Friday night. Michaud scored two touchdowns for the Tigers in a 21-6 victory that gives them the lead in the Southeast Kansas League.

Scott Nuzum/Tribune

Fort Scott High took the early lead in the Southeast Kansas League football race with a 21-6 victory over Labette County on Homecoming at Frary Field.

Matt Campbell came within a few yards of breaking the school record for passing yards in a game, completing 15 of 27 attempts for 268 yards, the second-most in school history. The record is Matt Wheeler’s 275 yards in a win over LCHS on Sept. 28, 2007.

But while offense was what many anticipated, it was defense that won the game

“I thought the key to the game was our defense,” Fort Scott head coach Bob Campbell said. “We held them in check and did a lot of good things. Offensively, we were kind of feast or famine. We’d do some good things, then we’d shoot ourselves in the foot.”

In a dual what many would consider to be the top two quarterbacks in the SEK, Labette County (2-1 SEK, 3-2 overall) struck first as Iowa State signee Easton Dean hit running back Zach McCarty on a screen pass and McCarty ran 94 yards to the end zone with exactly eight minutes to go in the first quarter. The extra-point kick was unsuccessful.

That lead was short-lived as the Tigers (2-0, 3-2) struck back quickly as Campbell found Alec Michaud out of the backfield for a 70-yard score less than a minute later. Jacob Zubieta made his extra point and Fort Scott led 7-6.

The rest of the game was controlled by the defense.

“Early in the game, we were able to get them with some play-action and get some guys open down the middle of the field,” Campbell said. “They did a good job of adjusting on defense.”

The offensive fireworks calmed down after that. Each team’s next possession ended with incomplete fourth-down passes in the opponent’s territory.

A bad pitch by Dean fell to the ground and Hunter Zubieta picked it up and returned it to Labette County’s 9-yard line with almost a minute and a half gone in the second quarter. Three plays later, fullback Treyton Wilson found his way into the end zone from three yards out. It was 14-6, Tigers, with 9:19 left in the half.

The Tiger defense forced Dean to throw another incompletion of fourth-down play at the Fort Scott 15. There wasn’t much offensive action the rest of the half as the defenses took over.

No scoring took place in the third quarter as only one drive by either team crossed midfield.

Dean found Kale Irwin on a screen pass on a fourth-and-9 play from the Fort Scott 30 early in the fourth but Dalton Colvin stopped Irwin one yard shy of the first-down marker to give the Tigers possession at their own 23.

“It was an outstanding job by (defensive co-ordinator Bo) Graham tonight,” Campbell said. “I thought it was a great game plan. They did a nice job of mixing things up. And credit to our kids, we had some kids make some big plays. Nick Lawrence made some nice reads in the secondary. Ty Gorman made some plays at cornerback and our guys did a nice job of getting pressure on the quarterback. At times, we were able to flush him out of the pocket and make him move around.”

Despite some errors and penalties, it appeared the Tigers had made a game-clinching score as Campbell found Gorman streaking down the right sideline from 87 yards out with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the game. But a downfield official believed Gorman performed an act of taunting on the score and threw a penalty flag at the Labette County 10. The spot foul moved the ball back to the LCHS 25 but it was first-and-10 there.

Five plays later, Michaud ran to the left side of the line and scored from 8 yards out with 4:22 to go.

Labette County drove down to the Fort Scott 14 but Michaud ended the threat with an interception at the goal line that he returned out to the 21 with 1:57 remaining. The Grizzlies opted not to use their time outs and the Tigers ran out the clock.

“Our kids played physically tough and they had to play mentally tough,” Campbell said. “There was a lot of adversity tonight.”

Gorman hauled in 6 passes for 138 yards for Fort Scott while C.J. Horton brought in 5 for 41. Michaud led Tiger rushers with 55 yards on 15 carries.

Dean finished the night 18 of 34 for 222 yards and was also Labette County’s leading rusher with 56 yards on 16 carries. Irwin caught 10 passes for 81 yards and McCarty gained 116 yards on 4 receptions.

The teams combined for 680 yards of total offense. Both quarterbacks were over the 100-yard mark in passing by the end of the first quarter.

Next up for the Tigers is a road trip to Chanute next Friday. The Blue Comets (1-0, 4-1) played their first league game Friday night, routing winless Independence on the road 40-6.

LABETTE COUNTY............. 6 0 0 0 — 6

FORT SCOTT...................... 7 7 0 7 — 21

Scoring plays

First quarter

LC — McCarty 94 pass from Dean (kick failed), 8:00 [3, 90, 1:05]

FS — Michaud 70 pass from Campbell (J.Zubieta kick), 7:05 [2, 74, :51]

Second quarter

FS — Wilson 3 run (J.Zubieta kick), 9:19 [3. 9, 1:19]

Fourth quarter

FS — Michaud 8 run (J.Zubieta kick), 4:22 [10, 77, 5:17]

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Labette County — Dean 15-56, Z.McCarty 13-38, Irwin 2-16, team 1-minus 5. Fort Scott — Michaud 15-55, Colvin 3-34, C.Bradbury 5-14, Wilson 5-12, Campbell 4-minus 30.

PASSING: Labette County — Dean 18-34-1-222, Irwin 0-2-0-0, Fort Scott — Campbell 15-27-0-268.

RECEIVING: Labette County — Irwin 10-81, McCarty 4-116, Smith 3-21, Lee 1-4. Fort Scott — Gorman 6-138, Horton 5-41, Michaud 2-73, Colvin 1-10, Daniels 1-6

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.