Tigers to face Atchison in first-round of 4A playoffs

Fort Scott and Atchison will face each other on the gridiron for the first time since 1960 when the teams meet for a Class 4A first-round playoff game Friday night at Frary Field.

The Tigers are 6-2 on the season and the No. 7 seed on the East side of the bracket. They’ll come into the contest on a four-game winning streak. They were 2-2 following a 17-14 loss at Pittsburg on Sept. 21 but have since beaten Labette County, Chanute, Bolivar, Mo., and Eudora. The Tigers are 5-0 at home this season and 20-11 all-time in home playoff games.

Atchison is 4-4 but has played well on the road, going 3-1 away from home. Because the Redmen play in the Kansas City-Atchison League, they have not played very many Class 4A teams. They’re 0-3 against opposition against the class and have been outscored by a combined total of 132-42 although that includes a 42-7 road loss at No. 1-seeded Louisburg and a 34-7 home defeat at the hands of second-seeded Basehor-Linwood. The other loss came to Kansas City-Piper by a 56-28 score on Sept. 14.

Fort Scott and Atchison have met twice. The Redmen won the 1959 season opener at Frary Field, 7-6, while the Tigers took the 1960 curtain-raiser at Atchison, 38-7.

Atchison, according to stats taken from MaxPreps, is led by senior quarterback Brayden Dame, who has thrown for 526 yards and 5 touchdowns this season while also rushing for 345 yards and 6 touchdowns. However, Dame has also thrown 10 interceptions and has only completed 37 percent of his passes.

Senior Sercy Duncan is both the Redmen’s leading rusher and receiver. He has gained 571 yards on the ground and caught 13 passes for 251 yards. He has scored a total of 10 touchdowns. Duncan is one of three Redmen who have gained at least 250 yards rushing. Xavier Cushinberry has gained 274 yards and scored four times.

Second in receptions is senior Malaki Vick, who has 8 catches for 117 yards and a score. Garyeon Simpson is second in receiving yards with 120 on 6 catches.

Vick is also Atchison’s leading tackler with 45 on the season, 31 of them unassisted. Simpson has made 30 solo stops and 40 total. Sophomore Patrick Denton has made 17 solo tackles and assisted on 14 others.

Abilene has gained 1,637 yards on the ground as a team, an average of 204.6 per game. The Tigers have allowed only 1,176 yards rushing, an average of 147.0. The Redmen have also thrown for 619 yards as a team (77.4 yards/game) while the Tigers have allowed 1,024 (128.0 yards/game).

Offensively, Fort Scott has gained 1,321 yards on the ground (165.1 ypg) and 937 in the air (121.6) as Matt Campbell has completed 64 of 136 passes for 8 touchdowns while also throwing 9 interceptions.

Alec Michaud still leads the Tigers in rushing with 688 yards on 109 carries and 7 touchdowns but will miss the rest of the season after suffering a shoulder injury against Bolivar on Oct. 12. In his place, Dalton Colvin and Cooper Bradbury got the most carries last week against Eudora. Colvin has rushed for 315 yards and two touchdowns while Bradbury has gained 117 yards and scored three times. Combined, they’re averaging 4.7 yards per carry.

Ty Gorman has caught 20 passes for 356 yards to lead the Tigers in both areas even as he has played a great deal of the season with a club-type cast on one hand. C.J. Horton has caught 19 passes for 246 yards. Both he and Gorman have caught three touchdown passes.

Fort Scott averages 23 points per game while allowing a shade under 19. Atchison scores more, 29 points per game, but also allows more, 26.4 points.

The winner of Friday’s game faces the winner of the game between No. 15 Eudora (1-7) and Basehor-Linwood (6-2) at the site of the team with the higher seed a week from Friday.

Other games involving Southeast Kansas League teams Friday night are:

• No. 11 Chanute (4-4) is at Tonganoxie (6-2). The teams have never met before.

• No. 12 Labette County (4-4) at No. 5 Bishop Miege (6-2). This is a rematch of a second-round game played last season which Miege won 69-23 on its way to a fourth consecutive Class 4A-Division I title (Miege won all four Class 4A-DI title games that were held).

• West bracket bottom seed Independence (0-8) plays at McPherson (8-0), the top seed. This will be the first time these teams have ever played each other.

• West No. 5 Coffeyville (4-4) will host No. 12 El Dorado. Likewise, these two schools have never met in a football game. Coffeyville will be playing its first playoff game since 2014.

Games involving the two league schools playing as independents are:

• No. 13 Spring Hill (4-4) at No. 4 Pittsburg (7-1), another first-time pairing.

• Parsons (6-2) hosting Girard (5-3) in a Class 3A playoff game. This will be the fourth playoff meeting between the schools with Girard winners of the last two. The Vikings are seeking their first playoff win since 1976, having lost their last 11 post-season games.

NOTE — Because Friday’s game is a KSHSAA event, no passes will be accepted, including student activity cards. Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for students....