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Pittsburg stuns Fort Scott, 53-14
PITTSBURG, Kan. -- Pittsburg took advantage of two first-quarter Fort Scott turnovers at Hutchinson Field Friday night and jumped out to a three-touchdown lead on its way to a 53-14 Southeast Kansas League victory.
As has been the case in all three games this season, the running game was key. Fort Scott (0-2 SEK, 0-3 overall) rushed for only 28 yards on 33 carries and allowed 376 yards on 53 rushes.
"I felt we settled in and moved the ball better (later)," Fort Scott head coach Don Epps said. "But throughout the game, it was the same old, same old. We had a hard time running the ball and we couldn't stop the run. And we couldn't get into an offensive flow. And it doesn't matter what offense it is, anywhere in the nation, if you can not run the ball, you're going to be out of sync on offense."
RaShawn Davis recovered a Tiger fumble at the 2-yard line on Fort Scott's second offensive play and scored from there on the very next play as the Purple Dragons (2-1, 2-1) went up 6-0 just 51 seconds into the contest. Gary Floyd blocked Blake Wilson's extra-point kick.
The Tigers punted at the end of their next possession and Keenan Soles returned it 22 yards to the Pittsburg 42. Mario Corado gained 31 yards on the first play and fullback Jace Erwin capped the drive by plunging through the middle from one yard out with 6:42 to go. The Dragons tried to run for two points but didn't make it.
Soles recovered a fumble at the Tiger 20 on Fort Scott's first play of the ensuing drive and Davis carried the ball on the next five plays to get it down to the 3. From there, Wilson kept the ball over left guard for the score and kicked the extra point to make it 19-0 with 3:33 remaining.
"When we started the game, we played hesitant and we didn't play physical," Epps said. "This team is too good to come out and come out early and give them opportunities. We had only one turnover in two games and we came out and had two in the first quarter. They had good position all first quarter."
The Tigers scored late in the period. Floyd took the kickoff and used his blockers to return it to the Fort Scott 42. On third-and-15, quarterback Trevor Swim hit tight end Josh Hawkins, who lost his helmet on the play, for 17 yards to the Pittsburg 46.
Fort Scott faced fourth-and-40 at the Dragon 40 but Swim hit Floyd down the left sideline for a touchdown with 22 seconds left in the period. Griffin Knopp's kick made it 19-7.
Fort Scott recovered a Pittsburg fumble at the Dragon 39 early in the second quarter but couldn't take advantage and gave the ball back up on downs. Davis took the ball 22 yards to the Fort Scott 42 on the first play of their drive. He also gained 18 to the Tiger 20 on a cutback run and Wilson kept on the next play for another touchdown with his own PAT making it 26-7 with 9:08 left in the half.
Corado carried the ball on four of the six plays of Pittsburg's next scoring drive, including a two-yard run to the right for a touchdown with 4:10 to go, Wilson's kick making it a 33-7 lead.
Swim found Floyd again on another fourth-and-long scoring strike, this one from 26 yards out along the left sideline with 26 seconds left in the half to get within 33-14.
"We made some good plays in the first half," Epps said. "We made a big play right before halftime, where we ran the slant route."
The Dragons scored on their first two possessions of the second half. Erwin scored his second TD on a 3-yard run with 8:18 to go. Davis scored from 1 yard out with 1:39 left. The PAT was unsuccessful after the second one, making it 46-14 going into the fourth quarter.
Reserve running back Marcus Striplin scored at the end of an 11-play, 5:13-long drive with 6:30 left in the game to cap the scoring for the game.
Pittsburg had 18 first downs and 390 yards of total offense. The Dragons threw only one pass, completing it. Corado gained 99 yards on 10 carries, Davis 84 on 12 rushes, Erwin 63 on 10 totes.
Fort Scott had 113 total yards as Swim threw for 85 yards. Floyd had three catches for 68 yards. Backup quarterback Luke Brown was the Tigers' leading rusher with 20 yards on 2 carries.
Pittsburg did not punt in the game. On the other hand, the Tigers were called for just one penalty for 5 yards.
"We came out at halftime and challenged out kids to stop the run and just play hard," Epps said. "We want to improve. Right now, what we're going to take from this game is we're going to improve from it. We want to be playing our best football by districts and that's still three games away.
"The motivation is that we must see improvement. We're going to coach as hard as we can possibly coach. We're going to wake up early in the morning, go trade film and work all weekend to get our kids into position to win."