HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Both offenses struggled to move the ball for nearly 19 minutes of football Saturday.
Fort Scott then opened up the scoring in the second quarter after a defensive pass interference call on the Dragons near the goal line.
Dalton Sneed threw his first of three touchdown passes to Kyle Harrison.
Sneed finished the day with 276 yards passing on 23 completions with three TDs.
Despite falling behind late in the second quarter, Hutchinson (6-4, 3-3) put up 10 points in the final 1:38 to lead at halftime 10-7.
B.J. Emmons punched in a run from 3 yards out to finish an 8-play, 86-yard drive.
Jose Parga then nailed his first field goal attempt of the season from 43 yards out with 2 seconds before the break.
Hutchinson started the third quarter much like it did in Independence a week ago. A snap over the head of Eric Forrest forced the quarterback to fall on the ball in the end zone for a safety.
After the safety cut HutchCC’s lead to one, the Greyhounds needed just two plays to find pay dirt. Dalton Sneed threw his second TD of the day to Jaylan Jenkins. The pass-and-catch covered 44 yards. Dalton Sneed’s two-point conversion failed.
Up 15-7, Fort Scott used its defense and another Sneed touchdown pass to score the next 14 points. In all, it was a 22-point run by the Greyhounds. Raekwon Morgan picked off Eric Forrest and returned the ball for 6. It was the only one of Forrest’s three interceptions that really hurt the Dragons. The other two worked more like punts, pushing the Greyhounds back around their own 20 each time. Forrest finished the day with 218 yards on 19 completions with 2 TDs and 3 INTs.
Dalton Sneed opened up the fourth quarter with another strike, this one to Braxton Curry. The 44-yard touchdown put the Greyhounds up 29-10 with 10:34 left to play.
The Blue Dragons moved the ball down the field in 10 plays and capped the drive off with a 4-yard pass from Forrest to Jaylen Erwin.
Down 29-17, the Dragons needed two more possessions. An onside attempt looked promising, but the Blue Dragons were penalized for being offside.
Looking to seal the game, Fort Scott Head Coach Kale Pick, the former Kansas Jayhawk QB/WR in his first season, sent Brody Southwell on the field to attempt a 41-yard field goal.
The attempt was blocked by Michael Witherspoon and returned to the Greyhound 21 by Jerry Jacobs.
Eric Forrest needed just one play to find Tavian Allen for the score.
HutchCC attempted another onside kick, but it was too strong and recovered easily by the Greyhounds.
With one timeout, the Blue Dragons managed to get the ball back with one last chance to win.
The Blue Dragons stuffed the run game and held Fort Scott to 26 yards on the ground all day.
A second down completed pass that was taken out of bounds and a third down incomplete pass helped the Dragons preserve time.
On first down, WR Brendan Brenner fell down. Unfortunately, Eric Forrest was sacked at the Dragon 2 on second down. HutchCC never recovered from the poor field position as Forrest threw incomplete on third down and had a fourth down attempt sail out of bounds.
Fort Scott (4-5, 2-4) took a knee twice to run out the clock.
FINAL: Fort Scott 29 Hutchinson 24
Hutchinson’s defense held Fort Scott to 26 yards rushing, but gave up 276 through the air. Ed Aldred led all receivers with 9 catches for 93 yards.
B.J. Emmons ran for 62 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown, but also had a costly fumble.
Hutchinson is now in a three-game skid with one regular season game left.
The Blue Dragons travel to Dodge City next week to face the (4-6, 1-5) Conquistadors.
