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Hutchinson, Fort Scott highlight weekend games

Published 9/25/2009 in Sports

By TONY JIMENEZ

Special to The Telegram

Quick kicks from around the Jayhawk Community College Conference with the most mouth-watering set of games of the season this weekend...

When Rion Rhoades coached at Fort Scott he took the Greyhounds from the outhouse to the penthouse in extraordinary fashion, cobbling together a 7-5 record in his lone season at the school (2006). That after Fort Scott had back-to-back 0-9 seasons. It was, to be sure, one of the biggest turnarounds in conference history.

But that was then and this is now, and third-year Fort Scott Coach Jeff Sims bristles a bit when he hears about those days. He's all about looking ahead. To be sure, extra incentive will run rampant Saturday when the Greyhounds host Hutchinson - where Rhoades is now doing a nice job of making over the Blue Dragons' program (he made a big about face by taking the Blue Dragons from a 2-7 record in 2007 to 7-4 in 2008) - in a game that has major conference (the two teams are tied with Butler and Independence for first place) and NJCAA rankings implications (Hutchinson was ranked No. 4, Fort Scott No. 6 in Tuesday's poll)...That is believed to be the highest ranking the Blue Dragons have ever had in an NJCAA poll, and its best since being No. 4 after the third week of the 1996 season. Hutchinson is the first team to be ranked above Butler (tabbed No.5) in Kansas since Coffeyville ended the 2005 season ranked No. 9 and Butler No. 10.

Sims, who has done an admirable job at Fort Scott by going 9-2 last season and 9-3 in 2007, is 2-1 against Hutchinson in the past two years.

"We look forward to playing them because we want to see exactly why they are are better than us (in the rankings)," Sims said.

"We are very pleased. We are exactly where we want to be. We beat a Texas team (Kilgore), and those teams are always good; we beat our rival (Coffeyville) there; and we beat a good Garden City team (on the road)."

Sims' take on the Hutchinson-Fort Scott game: "When I look at them and us I see very similar programs. They play hard, they are well coached and they don't make turnovers. This is like playing ourselves." The teams have identical records (2-0, 3-0)...

Fort Scott's win over Garden City last weekend (45-35) runs the 'Hounds winning streak over the Broncbusters to five dating back to 2006...

After Hutchinson crushed Dodge City (61-3) it left the Conquistadors and Highland (both 0-3, 0-4) as the only winless teams left in the eight-team conference.... Against Dodge City, Hutchinson had four players with two touchdowns each: Chris Clay (7, 22 yard runs), Chris Anderson (4, 11 yard runs), Romero Cotton (2, 76 yard runs) and Matthew Pearson (22 yard pass interception, 34 yard fumble recovery). The Blue Dragons totaled 508 yards, 460 rushing - led by Romero Cotton (154 yards on 11 carries) and Clay (121 yards on 18 carries)...

While Butler (2-0, 3-1) continued to win (beating Air Force Prep, 30-17 in a non-conference game), coach Troy Morrell is finding himself in an uncomfortable position, in trying to solve his team's most significant problem: too many penalties.

"We talk about it (penalties and unforced errors) all the time," Morrell said. "It's unusual because it doesn't happen in practice. And it seems like it's a different guy every time, like a revolving door. It's been the most frustrating thing for me in my 10 years (as head coach)."

How bad has it been? Butler had 13 penalties for 136 yards (the third game in four that there have been at least 100 yards of infractions) against Prep, giving them 44 penalties for 421 yards (105.2 yard average) this season. In 12 games last season, the Grizzlies had 83 penalties for 733 yards - an average 61 yards a game.

"This has been about 90 per cent of our problems this season, Morrell said."..,

The Grizzlies, at least, fared better in Tuesday's NJCAA poll. Butler was ranked No. 4 before its game with Garden City. It won on Sept. 12 (17-0), but dropped to No. 5 in the next week's poll. Huh? And 2 + 2 = 5, right? In this week's poll, Butler stayed at No. 5...

Butler's next game, at home against Coffeyville on Saturday, will be a bit more tantalizing on several fronts.

* Second-year coach Darian Dulin is a former player at Butler (1993-94) and he was the Grizzlies' defensive coordinator under Morrell (2004).

"He is an energetic and intense coach," Morrell said of Dulin. "He is a good motivator and his kids are always schematically ready to play."

* Coffeyville, which is coming off a whopper of a win over Highland (57-23), needs a win in the worst way to turn around a one-sided series. Butler has won 16 games over Coffeyville spanning the past 11 seasons, not having lost since 1997.

"Yeah, it's been lopsided but then it's been that way for everybody against Butler," Dulin said. "I hope our guys don't need some motivation against a team like this. We just have to play our game."

* The icing on that emotional game will be the fact that Morrell will be out to gain win No. 100 at Butler (99-12 in 10 seasons).

"Butler and Coffeyville has been, and always will be, a great rivalry no matter what the records are," Morrell said. "Both teams have a rich tradition and a lot of pride in the series."...

Butler starting defensive back Darron Edwards has a unique take on the Butler-Coffeyville game. The sophomore from Baltimore said he applied at both schools to see which school would accept him first. A snooze-you-lose type scenario. Butler's letter of acceptance came two days before Coffeyville's, and so Edwards - he's tied for first in most pass interceptions with three to date - went to El Dorado.

"He just showed up out of the blue," Morrell said. "I'm just glad our admissions people were on the ball."...

Against Highland, Dulin said Coffeyville "got off to a good start, and then other good things started happening. It helps when you make explosive plays. This was a real confidence booster."...

Butler, Hutchinson and Fort Scott were tabbed as the best three teams (1-2-3, respectively) in the coaches' pre-season poll and they are living up to their billing...Under first-year coach Lamar James, Independence (picked sixth among the the eight teams), has been the biggest surprise. The Pirates are 2-1 overall with a potential season-turning game on Saturday at Garden City...

Some of the conference's statistical leaders to date: Jasmin Hopkins of Fort Scott (171.7 rushing yards per game, No. 2 in the NJCAA), Andy Summerlin of Coffeyville (252.8 yards passing per game, No. 3 in the NJCAA) and Chris Anderson of Hutchinson (54 points, No. 2 in the NJCAA). And Luke Halsey of Fort Scott has been perfect with kicked extra points (13-of-13, No. 12 in the NJCAA)...

According to Conference Commissioner Bryce Roderick, Air Force Prep is not on the verge of joining the Jayhawk Conference.

"We have an agreement for them to play every KJCCC football college," Roderick said. "We are preparing to enter into another two-year agreement."

Roderick's take on the Hutchinson at Fort Scott game this Saturday: "The posturing is over, and now we get down to business."

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SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE

Coffeyville (1-1, 2-2) at Butler (2-0, 3-1)

Hutchinson (2-0, 3-0) at Fort Scott (2-0, 3-0)

Independence (2-0, 2-1) at Garden City (0-2, 1-3)

Dodge City (0-3, 0-4), at Air Force Prep (2-2), non-conference

Highland (0-3, 0-4), bye

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