Scott City shuts out Russell

Russell, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The second half of the season began on Friday night, as Scott City made the trip to Shaffer Field to face the Russell Broncos in Class 3A, District 6 play. Scott City would play ball control for a majority of the night, and come away with a 20-0 win over the Broncos.

The Beaver defense would be tested early on, as Russell would try a fourth down quarterback sneak on their first series of the game. Scott City would stuff it, and take advantage of short field. An eight-play, 37-yard drive in under five minutes was capped off by a three-yard Carson Faurot with 5:55 remaining in the first quarter to go up 6-0. The extra point would be missed. A Bronco drive next would be halted at the Beaver 44 yard line late in the first quarter to set up Scott City at their own eight yard line with 2:02 left in the opening frame.

On the Beavers’ second drive, they would burn up four minutes and 39 seconds, and go nine plays and 92 yards. Jace Thomas would convert the third straight third down on the drive with a 52-yard touchdown run with 9:23 left before halftime to double the score at 12-0. The two-point conversion would fail. Scott City had two more drives that would stall in Russell territory, including one at the 15 yard line in the second quarter. The Broncos had one final drive in the first half with 3:20 left before halftime. They would have two touchdowns called back due to penalties, and had it at the Beaver five, but the Scott City defense stood up and denied them a chance to score before halftime to take a 12-0 lead.

Scott City would be forced to punt on their opening drive of the second half on fourth and short, but a Russell penalty gave the Beavers and automatic first down at midfield. They would take advantage of their second chance, converting a fourth down and a pair of third downs on the drive. With 5:05 remaining in the third quarter, Jace Thomas found the end zone from three yards out, and Harrison King ran in the two point conversion to make the score 20-0. It would end up being a 14-play, 62-yard drive that chewed up almost seven minutes. 

In the fourth period, Scott City had it deep into Bronco territory two times, before turning it over back to Russell. The Broncos had one drive start in Beaver territory, but would be stuffed at the Scott City 21 early in the fourth. That was as close as they came to scoring in the second half.

Scott City had 323 yards of offense, with 211 coming on the ground. Jace Thomas had 90 yards on 17 carries two touchdowns. Harrison King went 7-13 passing for 112 yards with two interceptions. Isaac Tarango led the team with 41 yards on four catches. The Beavers were penalized two times for 20 yards. 

For Russell, they ended up with 152 yards of offense, with yards coming through the air. Braydon Gibson was 8-17 passing with an interception. Jesse Whitmer had 36 receiving yards on three catches, and had 38 yards rushing on eight carries. The Broncos had 11 penalties for 86 yards.

With the win, Scott City improves to 5-0 all time against Russell, and have their 12th consecutive 2-0 start to district play. The Beavers have scored in 148 consecutive games, a streak that started in 2008. Russell is 0-5 for the second straight year. 

Scott City is 3-2 and 2-0 in district play, and will host Smoky Valley next Friday night for Military Appreciation Night. The Vikings defeated Goodland 21-20 in double overtime to improve to 2-3 on the year and 1-1 in district play. Russell is 0-5 overall and 0-2 in district play. They will travel to Colby next Friday night. The Eagles dropped their first regular season game since 2018, in a 32-8 loss to unbeaten Southeast of Saline, to fall to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in district play.