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Getting it done: Busters hold off Coffeyville in overtime

Published 10/6/2008 in None : GCCC

By MIKE KESSINGER

mkessinger@gctelegram.com

From where Darrell Young was he could tell by watching Coffeyville Community College quarterback Nick Hardesty that he was going to throw in his direction. So the only thing the Garden City safety knew was that he needed to make a play.

"Being on defense we were already kind of tired from being on the field," Young said. "I was just playing it smart, staying back in coverage and watching the quarterback's eyes. He kind of overthrew the receiver and I kind of took advantage of it."

Young's advantageous play ended up being an interception and it slammed the door on any chance Coffeyville had at a win in overtime as the Broncbusters were able to hold on for a 27-20 victory. Young returned the pick 100 yards for a score, but it didn't count as rules state the interception immediately ruled the play dead.

The interception put to rest a game that had gone back and forth from the start of regulation to the end of it. On a night both teams botched an extra point attempt, the Busters on their first touchdown in the second quarter, and the Red Ravens on their second touchdown in the third quarter, the conclusion couldn't have been any more fitting for Garden City.

"Both teams played it out there on the line," Coffeyville head coach Darian Dulan said. "They played about as good a game as you could play. I thought all week long we were pretty close matched teams, and it showed."

While Garden City relied on the arm and legs of quarterback Eugene Smith, the Red Ravens pinned their hopes of a win on Hardesty. Smith, who finished with 78 yards rushing and 123 passing had a lending hand in a big way from running back Chase Beiberle. The freshman back had his most productive game, rushing for a game-high 156 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns, one of them on a 16-yard pass from Smith. His most important score came in the overtime when he bulled his way into the end zone from five yards out on second down.

"I just knew I had score," Beiberle said of his final touchdown on his first carry of overtime. "I just had to run through the line and know where the blocks were going to happen. I just saw the hole and the linemen did a really good job of blocking and I just cut. I just had to score."

The Red Ravens, on the other hand, put their chances on Hardesty, and through most of it, Coffeyville was able to count on its signal-caller when they needed something big. Hardesty helped account for all of Coffeyville's points. He ran for two scores and passed for one. Hardesty's first touchdown was a one-yard run in the second quarter with 8:26 left before halftime as it followed Garden City's initial score, a Ryan Smith two-yard run. By the time it was over, Hardesty finished with 200 yards passing on 17-of-27 attempts. It just wasn't enough for Coffeyville.

"Nick did a great job," Dulan said. "He threw the ball well all night. He hit the right receivers, got us in the right plays. He did everything he could to put us in a situation to win the game. That's all we ever ask of him."

Garden City (4-2, 2-2) could have ended the Jayhawk Conference battle in regulation as the Busters marched 38 yards in the final 2:25 of regulation. With two straight timeouts to freeze kicker Colton McFerrin, Coffeyville (2-4, 1-3) got the break they needed when McFerrin's 20-yard attempt was blocked with five seconds left.

The Busters didn't panic in overtime. It took Garden City just four plays to score, starting from the 25-yard line. Eugene Smith connected with receiver Dan Rogers for a five-yard pass on the first play, then Smith dashed 15 yards down the five. After Smith was stuffed for no gain, Beiberle put the final touch to the drive with the touchdown.

"It was a crazy game," Beiberle said. "I've never been in an overtime game. Coach (Lucas Aslin) said he's never lost in an overtime game, so it kind of gave us motivation for that. It was an amazing atmosphere. Everyone played their heart out."

The win puts the Busters in a two-way tie for third in the conference standings with Independence. After opening conference play with two losses, Garden City has now won two straight and the team feels like its picking up the momentum they were wanting to make a push toward the Jayhawk Conference playoffs.

"A lot of people started to doubt us," Young said. "But we're a good team, we know we're a good team. We go out there and do our best, we know we can win out the rest of the season if we really try and play hard."

------------

CCC 0 7 6 7 0 -- 20

GCCC 0 6 7 7 7 -- 27

Scoring summary

Second quarter

• GCCC -- R. Smith 2 run (pass failed), 12:11.
• CCC -- Hardesty 1 run (Vail kick), 8:26.

Third quarter

• CCC -- Joseph 12 pass from Hardesty (pass failed), 8:03.
• GCCC -- Beiberle 5 run (McFerrin kick), 2:13.

Fourth quarter

• CCC -- Hardesty 4 run (Vail kick), 14:24.
• GCCC -- Beiberle 16 pass from E. Smith, 10:39.

Overtime

• GCCC -- Beiberle 5 run (McFerrin kick)

Team statistics

	CCC	GCCC
First downs	18	20
Rushing	37-155	45-263
Passing (com/att/int)	17-27-1	14-27-1
Passing yards	200	123
Total offense	54-355	72-386
Penalties	9-75	3-30
Punts	4-24.0	3-40.3
Fumbles	2-2	2-0

Individual Statistics

Rushing

CCC -- Noonan 11-63, Daniels 9-38,¬  Armstrong 7-29, Hardesty 7-16, Sanchez 1-10. GCCC -- Beiberle 23-156, E. Smith 16-78,¬  R. Smith 4-25, Jones 1-5, Allen 1-(-1).

Passing

CCC -- Hardesty 17-27-1-200. GCCC -- E. Smith 14-27-1-123.

Receiving

CCC -- Joseph 7-104, Sanchez 4-50, Noonan 3-17, Daniels 1-16, Armstrong 1-7, Love 1-6. GCCC -- Rogers 5-48, Jones 3-20, Sperber 2-15, R. Smith 2-27, Beiberle 1-16, Frasier 1-(-1).

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