Rivalry renewed: Scott City hosts Holcomb in Regional Playoff round

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–For the third time in the brief series, Scott City and Holcomb will meet up in a playoff opener. Two of the top five teams in Class 4A, Division II will square off in the Regional round tonight at Darner Field in a 7 pm kickoff. 

Holcomb enters tonight’s game with an 8-1 record, and fresh off a 47-7 home win vs Hugoton last Friday night to secure their first GWAC football title, and the runner-up spot in District 8. In essence, last week’s game with the Eagles was a playoff game, with the winner advancing to the playoffs. After their first setback two weeks ago at Pratt, the Longhorns rolled up a season-high 577 yards, with 325 of those yards coming from quarterback Trey Gilbert. This year’s Holcomb squad has been explosive offensively, averaging 39 points and 409 yards of offense, while allowing opponents only 173 yards and 11 points a contest. Gilbert has thrown for 1737 yards and 23 touchdowns, and Dillon Williams has rushed for 604 yards and six touchdowns, while Conner VanCleave has six touchdown receptions to go along with 526 receiving yards.

Scott City enters with a seven-game winning streak, after completing the District 7 sweep with a 42-0 win over Concordia last Friday night at Darner Field. The Beavers have shut out three of their last opponents. In last week’s win, the Beavers took a little while getting going, and were shut down on their first two possessions, as well as the first quarter. They scored on their next six possessions and never looked back, as they had 409 yards of offense. Bo Hess has thrown for 1129 yards with 10 touchdowns, and Wyatt Hayes has 956 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Justin Faurot leads a balanced receiving group with 272 yards and two touchdowns. Scott City averages 368 yards and 39 points on offense, while yielding 11 points and 193 yards on defense per game. Scott City has allowed only 33 points in their last seven games, after giving up 63 in the first two games.

Scott City leads the all-time series 12-2. Holcomb won the first matchup in week two 32-13 on September 9, after the teams were tied at 6 at halftime. The Beavers are 2-0 against the Longhorns in the playoffs, after winning Bi-District games in 2008 (19-0) in Holcomb, and 52-6 in 2009 in Scott City.

Holcomb is making their 18th playoff appearance and is 13-16 in the playoffs. They’ve won four straight playoff openers and are the defending Class 4A, Division II Champions. Scott City is 47-17 all-time in playoff games, and have the eighth most wins in Kansas High School playoff history. They’ve won 12 consecutive playoff openers, going back to 2001, all coming in Bi District in Class 4A & 3A.

The winner will play the winner of the Wichita Collegiate/Clay Center game next week. Wichita Collegiate is the host school tonight. If Scott City wins, they will host the Spartans or travel to Clay Center, while a Holcomb win will give them a home game against either Wichita Collegiate or Clay Center.

You can listen to the Holcomb broadcast on 1030 AM KBUF,  https://www.westernkansasnews.com/kbuf/, on the KBUF app, or using TuneIn Radio. The Scott City broadcast can be heard on Mix 94,5, online at  https://www.westernkansasnews.com/mix94/, on the KSKL app that is free to download for your Apple or Android device, or using TuneIn Radio.