It was a rainy and muddy 2012 home opener for the Fort Scott Greyhounds with the 17th ranked Tyler (TX) Junior College Apaches coming to Frary Field for their season opener.
After a 12-7 first half lead, the Apaches, came out of the locker room and scored 23 unanswered points to spoil the day for the Greyhounds and beat the 'Hounds 35-7.
The 'Hounds, 1-1 overall and 1-0 conference, overcame a 6-0 deficit in the second quarter when Nashville (TN) freshman running back Stanley Hagan broke loose to race 94 yards for a game tying touchdown; the point after kick from Mark Whitrock made it a 7-6 lead for the home team.
Hagan, who rushed for 225 yards in the season opener last week against Highland, followed that performance up with a 195 yard outburst against the Apache defense. Hagan carried the ball 24 times for an average of over 8 yards per carry. After two games, Hagan is the leading rusher in the NJCAA with 420 yards.
The Apaches, 1-0 overall, took the lead into the locker room when they scored with twenty-five seconds left in the first half; a 16 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyrik Rollison to wide-out Tracy Smith. The halftime score was 12-7 after Tyler missed their second consecutive extra point.
The Apaches came out of the locker room and scored three more touchdowns in the third quarter; two by running back Leroy Dobbins and one by tailback Ryan Young, to seal the victory for the visitors. The fourth quarter was scoreless.
Fort Scott finished the game with 242 total yards while the Apaches ended up with 449 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball for the 'Hounds it was sophomore linebacker Stephan Martin who stood out for the Maroon and Gray defense. Martin finished the game with 14 total tackles, 10 solos and 4 assists, while having 4 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Martin also recorded 2 of the Greyhounds 3 sacks for the contest.
The Greyhounds will travel to El Dorado (KS) to take on conference rival Butler Community College next Saturday evening. The Grizzlies, #2 nationally ranked, are coming off an impressive victory over then #5 ranked Blinn (TX) 28-10. Butler is 2-0 for the young season.
Game time for the contest is set for 7:00pm.