During last Saturday's game, FSCC linebacker Dominic Cizauskas had a career day that may not duplicated for many years to come. Cizauskas, a 6'2", 242-pound freshman from Mukwonago, Wisconsin, returned two fumbles for touchdowns and contributed 19 total tackles (11 solo and eight assists) to help bring the Greyhounds to a 34-29 victory over the Ellsworth CC Panthers. This was the first time on record that a Greyhound defensive player has scored two touchdowns in a single game.
Cizauskas came to FSCC in the spring of 2016 and has been a key part of the Dark Side defense since then. He has led the 'Hounds with four fumble recoveries, which has earned him a #2 NJCAA ranking, and also leads the team with 80 tackles.
Ellsworth led the game early in the contest (10-0), before Greyhound quarterback Nathan Rourke threw touchdown passes to Edward Aldred and Fred Daughtry on consecutive drives to give FSCC the lead (14-10) with 3:58 left in the first half. Rourke completed 19 passes on 36 attempts for 233 yards during the course of the game.
On the ensuing kick-off, Panther returner Devon Russell fumbled the ball at the 16-yard line. Cizauskas was there to scoop the up—he then raced his way to the end zone to bring the score to 21-10.
Ellsworth cut the lead to 21-17 right before halftime, when quarterback Lamont Toney found Jamarius Way for a four-yard touchdown pass with only 17 seconds left.
Toney, who completed only 16 of his 40 passes on Saturday, found Way again for the only score in the third period, this time from 9 yards out. Ellsworth regained the lead, bringing the score to 24-21. Way finished with 137 yards on eight catches and three touchdowns.
The fourth quarter started with Ellsworth driving again. With 12:17 left in the game, Panther placekicker Justin Wright booted a 37-yard field goal to give his squad a 27-21 lead.
Following the field goal, both defenses tightened up to keep the offenses in check. With just less than two minutes to play, the Greyhound special teams came up big with a blocked punt by freshman linebacker Kyle Hopkins. Hopkins came from the right side of the line to cleanly block the punt; defensive back Ethan Savoy recovered the ball at the Panther 24-yard line.
Eleven seconds later, Rourke scrambled to the left side and broke free for a 16-yard score to bring the Greyhounds up to 28-27 with 1:49 left in the game. Brody Southwell booted the PAT kick.
Ellsworth returned Southwell's kickoff to the 27-yard line. On the first play of their drive, defensive lineman Jordan Robinson came through the line to sack Toney, jarring the ball loose. Cizauskas picked it up and ran 24 yards for the final Greyhound score of the afternoon. Ellsworth blocked the PAT kick and ran it back for the two-point defensive conversion, but it was too late. FSCC prevailed, with the game ending at 34-29.
Sophomore defensive lineman Reggie Howard had his best day as a 'Hound on Saturday, contributing two-and-a-half sacks and seven tackles.
Sophomore defensive end Marcus Goree had nine tackles. Heiman produced one-and-a-half sacks and a forced fumble.
On the offensive side of the ball, wide receiver Edward Aldred caught five passes for 93 yards and Ke'Von Love had six receptions for 77 yards.
The Panthers outgained the Greyhounds 414 yards to 325, but they had four turnovers to FSCC's two.
With the victory, the Greyhounds improves to 4-4 for the season, and completes the Iowa/Kansas part of their season with a 2-1 record. The four victories match the most wins during any season in Coach Curtis Horton's six-year head coaching career at the Fort.
Fort Scott comes home looking to go over the .500 mark this Saturday when they face the Highland Community College Scotties in a Kansas Jayhawk Conference contest.
Highland comes in at 5-3 after their victory over Iowa Western (24-15) last Saturday afternoon. The Scotties are looking to stay in the upper tier of the conference, while the 'Hounds are looking to break into the upper-class of the conference for the first time in the last seven seasons.
Game time for Saturday's Homecoming contest will be 7:00 pm at Frary Field. Those who can't make it to the stadium on Saturday evening can listen to the game live on KOMB-FM 103.9 or watch the live streaming on CitylinkTV.com.