Tigers clinch first SEK title since 2012

CHANUTE — Fort Scott High clinched the Southeast Kansas League football championship for the first time since 2012 with a 22-10 win over Chanute here Friday night.

Fort Scott has won 19 SEK titles, third behind two teams that currently are playing as independents — Pittsburg with 33 and Parsons with 22. The Tigers are the third different team to win the SEK since Pittsburg went the independent route following the 2015 season.

Alec Michaud rushed for 214 yards on 30 carries and scored twice for the Tigers (4-0 SEK, 4-2 overall), who have concluded league play as well as the road portion of their schedule. Chanute was playing its second league game and fell to 1-1, 4-2.

The win also moved the Tigers up to the sixth in the Class 4A East standings, which will determine playoff seeding. The Tigers lead a pack of three 4-2 teams on point differential. Fort Scott is at plus-31, Chanute at plus-27 and Tonganxoie at plus-8.

Chanute got on the board first with a 30-yard field goal from Jacob Adams with 5:03 left in the first quarter. The Tigers answered quickly as Michaud scored his first touchdown with 27 seconds left on the clock. Ty Gorman ran in the 2-point conversion to make the score 8-3.

Fort Scott drove to the Chanute 18 late in the half. But the Tigers lost 5 yards in the next three plays and were stopped on fourth down.

Quarterback Matt Campbell scored on a one-yard sneak with 6:36 left in the third quarter.

Chanute looked to punt on fourth down from its own 27 when the snap sailed over the punter’s head. Briley Peavy picked up the ball in his own end zone and ran it out 41 yards for a first down. Three plays later, Comet quarterback Ty Bowman found Lane Harvey for a 57-yard scoring strike. Adams’ extra point brought the Comets within 15-10 with 3:32 left in the third.

Harvey intercepted Campbell in the end zone on an early-fourth quarter drive and ran the ball back to the Chanute 43. Bowman found Harvey for a gain to the 11 on the next play but the Tiger defense held.

Fort Scott took over at its own 14 and moved the ball behind Michaud and Dalton Colvin. On third-and-10 at his own 32, Campbell found C.J. Horton on a diving catch for a 42-yard gain to the Chanute 26.

Michaud went on to score on a 1-yard with wit 1:54 left in the contest.

Chanute fell on the kickoff at its own 37 and the Tigers sacked Bowman for a 7-yard loss on first down. Bowman found Corbett Kimberlin for eight yards but his next two passes were incomplete, forcing a turnover on downs.

Fort Scott gained 320 yards in total offense, 265 on the ground. Colvin added 49 yards rushing on 12 carries. Campbell completed 4 of 11 passes for 55 yards.

Chanute finished the game with 200 yards of total offense, only 17 on the ground. In fact, his fumble return on the botched punt snap made Peavy his team’s leading rusher for the night. Bowman was 13 of 22 for 137 yards.

Fort Scott has two home games to conclude regular season play. Winning both should ensure that the Tigers have a first-round playoff game in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs under its new “everybody’s in” format. The Tigers host Bolivar, Mo. in the first-ever meeting between the schools Friday night and Eudora on October 19.

---

FORT SCOTT....................... 8 0 7 7 — 22

CHANUTE............................ 3 0 7 0 — 10

Scoring plays

First quarter

C — FG Adams 30, 5:03

FS — Michaud 5 run (Gorman run), :27

Third quarter

FS — Campbell 1 run (J.Zubieta kick), 6:36

C — Harvey 57 pass from Bowman (Adams kick), 3:32

Fourth quarter

FS — Michaud 1 run (J.Zubieta kick), 1:54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Fort Scott — Michaud 30-214, Colvin 12-49, Wilson 3-7, Campbell 7-minus 3, team 1-minus 2. Chanute — Peavy 1-14, Davis 6-8, Powell 2-4, Coston 1-2, Bowman 11-minus 11

PASSING: Fort Scott — Campbell 4-11-1-55. Chanute — Bowman 13-22-0-137, Kimberlin 1-1-0-46.

RECEIVING: Fort Scott — Horton 1-42, Shoemaker 1-11, Gorman 1-7, Michaud 1-minus 5. Chanute — Almond 3-17, Harvey 2-103, Davis 2-24, Kimberlin 2-20, Peavy 2-12, Costin 2-8, Manbeck 1-minus 1.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.