Going into Saturday afternoon's Jayhawk Conference football match-up the Fort Scott Greyhounds knew they would need a great defensive performance to upset the Blue Dragons of Hutchinson Community College. For two quarters it looked like the "Dark Side Defense" was going to crumble the Dragons title hopes.
With a victory, the Blue Dragons would face the Grizzlies in a "winner-take-all" title game for the Jayhawk Conference Championship.
In one of their best performances of the year, the defensive unit of the 'Hounds held the offensive minded Dragons to season lows in points, passing yards, and total offensive yards.
Defensive coordinator Keith Jordan used a blitzing style defense to disrupt the passing prowess of conference leading passer Luke Barnes; limiting him to just 95 yards on 13 of 23 passing while sacking him 7 times. Barnes came into the game averaging 355 yards per game through the air with a 65% completion ratio.
Unfortunately for the Greyhounds, 3-4 conference and 3-5 overall, Hutchinson was able to score touchdowns with their special teams and defense. Hutch outscored the hometown team 22-7 in the final 30 minutes to take home the win with a final of 37-14.
Hutchinson, 6-1 and 7-1 overall, scored first when Blue Dragon running back Laqua Mayes scooped up a blocked punt at the Fort Scott twenty-five yard line and raced untouched for the first score of the day with 10:54 left in the first stanza putting the visitors up 7-0.
Fort Scott tied the game up with 2:45 left in the first when sophomore quarterback Owen Jordan found wide receiver Courtney Ward in the end zone from 11 yards out. Place kicker Mark Whitrock booted the PAT to tie the game 7-7.
Jordan, a Columbus (KS) product, completed 17 passes for 163 yards but had 4 interceptions. With his Saturday output, Jordan went over the 1,000 passing milestone on the season; he has 1,107 yards with 10 touchdowns on the season.
Hutchinson's next score came after a Jordan interception when running back Terrell Lane took a pitch and threw a 22 yard pass to wide-out Kody Cook to make the score 13-7 Blue Dragons. The PAT kick by Michael Mesh was blocked by 'Hound defensive end William Bland to keep it a six point game.
The Blue Dragons went into the locker room with an eight point lead when they caught Greyhound running back Stanley Hagan three yards in his own end zone for a safety, with 4:35 left, to make the score 15-7 at the half. This safety was set up by a perfectly placed "pooch" punt that was downed at the Fort Scott one yard line.
NJCAA rushing leader Lane took over the second half as he rushed 15 times for 131 yards with a touchdown. Lane finished the game with 219 yards on 29 carries.
The third quarter proved to be a good defensive battle until Lane scored from 3 yards out to make it a 15 point game. Then the Blue Dragons defense came up with a 35 yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Devondre Campbell to make it a 29-7 game with just over two minutes left in the third period.
The Greyhounds scored with 13:05 left in the game when they went with the exact same "halfback-pass" play that Hutch used earlier in the game. Running back Hagan hit Terrence Hoskin for a 36 yard touchdown play cutting it to a two score game; Whitrock hit the PAT kick to make it 29-14.
Blue Dragon quarterback Barnes hit wide-receiver Miguel Johns from 13 yards out to finish the scoring and sealing the victory for the visitors 37-14.
Hagan, coming into the game second in the conference in rushing, had a tough day on the ground gaining only 41 yards on 21 carries but caught four passes for a game high 76 yards.
St. Louis (MO) product Ward continues to shine from his receiver spot as he hauled in 7 passes for 42 yards and one touchdown. Ward is the team leader with 27 catches on the season.
Greyhound linebacker Stephan Martin had a big day. He totaled eight tackles; he leads the 'Hounds with 72 tackles on the season, while getting three of these tackles behind the line of scrimmage accounting for 22 lost yards. Martin, a Lake Alfred (FL) sophomore, also had two sacks for the Dark Side defense.
Boise State signee Justin Taimatuia, a 6-2, 285 lbs. defensive lineman, had his best game of the season harassing the Blue Dragon quarterback all afternoon and sacking Barnes twice.
Linebacker Marceice Jackson also added on a sack while also tallying eight tackles.
With the seven sacks they had on Saturday the Greyhound defensive unit now has a conference leading 29 quarterback takedowns on the season.
Bland, a 6-6, 250 lbs. freshman from Cincinnati (OH), added to his league leading sacks totals when he was credited with 1 ½ sacks on Saturday; Bland has 7 ½ sacks for the season.
Defensive back Kevin Short added an interception for the Greyhounds and broke the school record for career interceptions, held previously by Coryell Judie. Short has 8 picks in his two-year career at the Fort.
Saturday the Greyhounds will finish their 2012 football campaign when they entertain the Buffaloes from Arkansas Baptist College.
Game time is set for 1:00pm.