J.C. Derrick
Executive Editor
Even the untrained football eye could see that the KC Rangers were just as good as 15th-ranked Fort Scott Community College Saturday afternoon at Frary Field.
Head coach J.J. Eckert thinks his team is better.
Unfortunately for KC, that did not translate to a win as the Fort Scott C.C. Greyhounds overcame a 17-7 halftime deficit to defeat the Rangers 21-17. “We’ve got to find a way to finish,” said KC head coach J.J. Eckert. “Our players realize that we are a better football team than they were.”
KC built a 10-0 lead on a first-quarter field goal from David Bailey and a three-yard touchdown run by Dominique Wilkins. Fort Scott closed the gap to 10-7 midway through the second, but Chase Fisher scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak with 27 seconds left in
the half.
Fisher completed 19 of 25 passes for 184 yards in his first football action in three years.
“He did a good job of steering the ship,” Eckert said. KC converted six out of eight third-down situations in the first half, while also holding a 46-15 advantage in offensive snaps. But things took a turn for the worse in the second half.
KC failed to convert on six third-down opportunities and split the snaps, 28-28, with Fort Scott over the final two quarters of play.The Greyhounds moved to within 17-14 on their first drive of the second half, which was capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from Jasmin Hopkins.
While attempting to answer with a score of its own, KC was dealt a big blow due to penalty. Facing 3rd-and-seven, Fisher connected with Chase Ford for a first down and 21 yards to midfield, but the play was called back on account of a chop block in the backfield.
“That goes back to the fundamental aspect,” Eckert said. “That’s a play that gets overlooked, but it killed our momentum.” Led by Joseph Schumpert, who finished with a sack and three tackles in the backfield, the Ranger defense held strong until late in the game. With 4:21 left in the game, Malcolm Moulton grabbed a pass on a slant pattern and raced 75 yards for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.
“I thought we played hard,” Eckert said. “Obviously when the last second runs off the clock we’d like to be on the winning side and we weren’t. When it comes down to it, we had some critical mistakes late that cost us.”
KC moved deep into Greyhound territory on its last possession, but turned the ball over on downs at the Fort Scott 24 with 1:13 remaining. “We had our chances; dropped one pass in the end zone and another one on the two-yard line,” Eckert said. “Not finding a way to get it done was frustrating, but hopefully this is something we can build upon.”
KC resumes play in a non-conference matchup Sept. 10 at Tyler Junior College.