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NFL Week 2 ICYMI: Back for now, Brown leads the way for Patriots

On the field, Antonio Brown was hard to catch. Off it — hard to find.

Brown’s debut with the New England Patriots was a success. He was Tom Brady’s favorite target Sunday, finishing with four catches for 56 yards and a 20-yard touchdown that he celebrated by vaulting over the wall behind the end zone and into the stands.

New England defeated Miami 43-0 — side note, the Dolphins are awful — but afterward, Brown was nowhere to be seen once the media was allowed into the locker room. His clothes had been removed and his nameplate taken down from his locker.

Thus marked both the end of one tumultuous week and the beginning of another for the Patriots’ wide receiver.

Last Tuesday, only three days after Brown signed his contract with New England after being released by Oakland, his former trainer accused him of rape and sexual assault in a civil lawsuit. Brown has denied the claim. His former trainer is supposed to meet with NFL officials on Monday.

In case you missed it, here are some other things people were talking about on the second Sunday of the 2019 season:

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WHAT A KICK: How crazy and improbable was the finish to the Bears’ game?

Well, to put it simply, Chicago won it on a last-second field goal.

Yes, the Bears — the team that saw its playoff run last season end with a double-doink field goal and tried out nine kickers in the offseason to replace goalpost-banger Cody Parkey — got a 53-yarder from the winner of that contest, Eddy Pineiro, to come out with a 16-14 win over Denver.

The final 31 seconds contained more action than the first 59:29.

A brief summary:

— Joe Flacco throws touchdown to Emmanuel Sanders to cap 62-yard drive and pull Denver to 13-12.

— Broncos decide to go for 2, only to get called for delay of game.

— Broncos trot out kicker Brandon McManus, who shanks kick wide right. But Bears were offside.

— With ball now on the 1, Broncos go for 2 and make it for 14-13 lead.

— One play after kickoff, Broncos Bradley Chubb called for roughing the passer to give Bears ball on their 45.

— Three incompletions later, Bears receiver Allen Robinson II catches ball on Denver 35, clock ticks to “0:00” and Broncos storm the field. But refs say Robinson was down with 1 second left and Chicago called timeout.

— Pinero bangs it through for the win — and gets to keep his job for another week.

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AGREE TO DISAGREE: Imagine the conversation Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey and coach Doug Marrone could have had AFTER the game.

Ramsey and Marrone had to be separated during an argument on the bench during the first quarter of Jacksonville’s 13-12 loss to Houston. Apparently, Ramsey was upset the coach didn’t throw a challenge flag on third-and-2 completion on a drive that led to a Texans field goal.

But Marrone’s biggest decision came at the end, after the Jaguars had scored a touchdown to pull within one with 30 seconds left. Marrone went for the win. But a handoff to Leonard Fournette up the middle came up inches short.

“I was very, very comfortable with it. It just didn’t work,” Marrone said of the play call.

Sorta drowned out the drama from before.

“There are a lot of emotions in the game,” Marrone said when asked what happened during the dust-up with Ramsey. “I don’t know. I can’t recall.”

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ANYBODY CAN DO THAT: Three touchdowns and 269 yards passing. Five carries for 69 yards.

Sure, anybody can do that — but nobody did it better than Dak Prescott on Sunday.

The Cowboys’ quarterback dominated the Redskins in a 31-21 win. No single play made a bigger statement than his 42-yard run in the second quarter, in which it appeared Prescott slowed down so he could deliver a stiff arm to the facemask of cornerback Josh Norman.

Norman, who also got beat on Prescott’s 51-yard touchdown throw to Devin Smith, earned some headlines last week while talking about how well the Dallas offensive line has been playing in front of the second-year quarterback.

“You stand back there in the pocket all day and go through your first, second and third reads and come back to your first one, OK, cool,” Norman said. “Anybody can do that.”

To be fair, Norman was paying respect to the O-line more than dissing Prescott during that interview. And to be fair, Norman stood near his locker and answered all the questions during the postgame Sunday.

But the quote became a top trender on social media while Norman was taking his share of abuse on the field.

“I’m a little bit surprised. I’d lie to you if I said I wasn’t. It’s shocking,” Norman said of Washington’s struggles on defense. “We’re much better than what we’re doing right now.”

Mahomes’ 4 TDs in 2nd quarter lead Chiefs past Raiders 28-10. (Highlight Video)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes and the dynamic Kansas City Chiefs offense got all of the production they needed in a breathtaking second quarter.

Mahomes bounced back from the first scoreless opening quarter of his career in the regular season by throwing four touchdown passes in a near-perfect second period that led the Chiefs to a 28-10 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

The Raiders (1-1) held Mahomes in check for the opening 15 minutes and kept him off the scoreboard in the second half, but it didn’t matter because he carved up an overmatched defense with big play after big play in the second quarter for the Chiefs (2-0).

“We were just hitting on the plays,” Mahomes said. “We stayed with the same game plan, called the same plays. We hit on them in the second quarter and missed them in the other parts of the game. We had a great quarter. But as an offense there was too much sloppiness. We weren’t as efficient as we usually are.”

Mahomes didn’t take long to get started in the second quarter, finding Demarcus Robinson open on a blown coverage for a 44-yard touchdown pass on the first play in the second quarter. He didn’t slow down from there.

After the Raiders opted to punt on a fourth-and-1 near midfield, Mahomes and the Chiefs marched 95 yards and scored when Mahomes found rookie Mecole Hardman on a 42-yard deep strike for his first career catch to give Kansas City a 14-10 lead.

The Chiefs didn’t stop there with Mahomes connecting on two more long TD passes in the final two minutes of the half, a 27-yarder to Travis Kelce and a 39-yarder to Robinson as the absence of injured star Tyreek Hill did little to slow Kansas City.

“That’s just what we do,” Robinson said.

Mahomes finished 30 for 44 for 443 yards. Robinson had six catches for 172 yards and two scores and Kelce had seven catches for 107 yards and a TD to give the Chiefs their ninth win in the past 10 meetings in this long-time rivalry.

The Raiders had broken out to a 10-0 lead with a field goal on the opening drive and a 4-yard TD pass to Tyrell Williams later in the first quarter. But Derek Carr also threw an interception in the end zone on a pass to Williams in the third quarter and the Raiders didn’t score over the final three periods.

“They made some plays, a barrage of plays, in about a five-minute period,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “It really turned the game around.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Mahomes’ 278 yards passing in the second quarter were the most for a player in any quarter since Drew Brees had 294 in the fourth period against Atlanta on Nov. 9, 2008. Mahomes ended the quarter with a bang, with his last five pass attempts each going for at least 27 yards, with TDs to Hardman, Kelce and Robinson. The streak extended with a 28-yarder to Robinson on the first play of the third quarter before Mahomes finally threw an incompletion.

RECORD SETTER

Carr became the Raiders’ career passing leader on a 16-yard pass to Darren Waller in the second quarter, breaking the mark of 19,078 set by Hall of Famer Ken Stabler. Carr finished the day 23 for 38 for 198 yards with one TD and two interceptions. He has 19,196 yards in his career.

GOODBYE DIRT

This is likely the final NFL game ever played with infield dirt on the field with the Raiders next home game not until after the end of the World Series and the team set to move to Las Vegas next year. The Coliseum is the last stadium that hosts both NFL and baseball games and has special meaning to Mahomes, whose father Patrick Mahomes Sr. pitched here exactly 24 years ago, two days before the younger Mahomes was born.

“It was really cool,” Mahomes said of playing on the same dirt his father did.

INJURIES

Chiefs: LT Eric Fisher left on the opening drive after reinjuring his groin that he hurt in practice on Friday. Cam Erving replaced him. … RB Damien Williams (bruised knee) and RB LeSean McCoy (ankle) also got hurt, but those injuries are not believed to be serious.

Raiders: Returner Dwayne Harris injured his left ankle covering a punt in the second quarter and didn’t return. … RT Trent Brown left in the fourth quarter with a sore knee.

UP NEXT

Chiefs: host Baltimore in home opener Sunday.

Raiders: begin a long stretch away from home at Minnesota on Sept. 22. Oakland won’t return to the Coliseum until Nov. 3, with four road games, a bye and a “home” game against Chicago in London on Oct. 6.

Bears vs. Broncos: Former Blue Dragon Cordarrelle Patterson ran faster in Week 2 than any player since 2017

Photo Credit: Patrick Gorski-Bearswire

DENVER, Colorado – Former Hutchinson Blue Dragon Cordarrelle Patterson is at it again.  This time it was the Denver Broncos who experienced CP’s speed.

In a Week 2 game that’s once again been lowlighted by anemic offense from Mitch Trubisky and most of the Chicago Bears, WR Cordarrelle Patterson gave fans a reason to get excited when he took a handoff 46 yards down the sideline in the third quarter.

He nearly outran Broncos defenders to the end zone because of his trademark speed. In fact, his 46-yard run was clocked as the fastest any player has run over the last two seasons.

Patterson’s speed shouldn’t come as much of a shock. He ran a 4.42 40-yard dash at the 2013 NFL combine and has always been known as a field-flipper on special teams. This was his first splash play as a Bear, and it was a critical moment in the Bears’ first touchdown drive of the year.

Blue Dragon fans can attest to CP’s greatness as he re-wrote the record book in his two years in Hutchinson.

 

Astros trounce Royals 12-3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Wade Miley bounced back from two disastrous starts with six strong innings and Josh Reddick’s five hits included a two-run homer Sunday as the Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 12-3, completing a three-game sweep.

Abraham Toro and Reddick each drove in three runs, Kyle Tucker banged a two-run homer and Yuli Gurriel’s solo shot was his 28th homer.

The Astros’ 98th victory tied them for tops in the majors with the New York Yankees, who lost at Toronto. Both are 98-53.

Houston rebounded after getting swept in three games at home by Oakland and got a welcome outing from Miley (14-5), who was knocked out in the first inning in each of his previous two starts. Last Tuesday, the A’s tagged him for seven runs in what became a 21-7 drubbing.

It was Jakob Junis (9-14) who left early on Sunday, allowing five runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings, his shortest outing in 77 career starts.

Gurriel homered to open the second, and the Astros later got RBI singles from Toro and Michael Brantley to make it 3-1.

Reddick pulled a two-run homer down the right-field line off reliever Eric Skoglund in the fifth inning for a 7-1 lead. Tucker went the same direction with his two-run shot off Kyle Zimmer in the eighth.

Miley didn’t make it through the first unscathed. Adalberto Mondesi got an infield hit and raced home on Jorge Soler’s first triple of the season, a gapper to right center. Soler has 44 home runs this year, but this was only his third career triple and his first since he was with the Chicago Cubs in 2015.

Miley allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks in six innings.

ADVANTAGE ASTROS?

Manager A.J. Hinch said his team should be plenty motivated to finish with the best record in the majors and earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

“We want to win as many games as we can,” Hinch said. “Of course, the home field matters but it’s not an end-all, be-all. There’s a lot that has to happen to get to the finish. It’s important. We’re trying to win every game. Our mentality in (the clubhouse) is really good. … We feel like we have the best team in baseball. That can be represented in the record, sometimes it’s not. We don’t control what the Yankees do or what the Dodgers do or what the Braves are doing. We only control what we’re doing.”

UP NEXT

The Astros, after an open date Monday, return to Houston on Tuesday night for the first of two games against Texas. The Rangers will match RHP Lance Lynn (14-10, 3.72 ERA) with Justin Verlander (18-6, 2.58). Verlander has held opponents to a .168 average, tied with teammate Gerrit Cole for the majors’ best.

The Royals travel to Oakland to open a three-game series Monday night, sending RHP Glenn Sparkman (4-11, 5.94) against RHP Tanner Roark (10-8, 4.01).

David Glass reflects on 20 years as Royals owner

BY DICK KAEGEL
Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — David Glass leaned on the Royals dugout rail, talking earnestly with third-base coach Mike Jirschele and clutching a baseball in his hand. It was mid-afternoon, 88 degrees and humid.

“But I’m here because where else would you want to be on a Saturday evening but the ballpark?” Glass said with a smile. “I’m not going to stop enjoying baseball. I went to my first game in 1946 and I’ve been a baseball junkie ever since.”

The current Kansas City franchise owner was in his element. Ahead was the impending sale of the Royals to a group headed by Kansas City businessman John Sherman, but Glass was savoring a day in the dugout and on the field.

With the front-running Houston Astros in town, Glass watched as sidelined catcher Salvador Perez tested his surgically repaired right arm by firing throws to coach Pedro Grifol.

“This is our 20th year with this team and it’s been a lot of fun the whole time,” said Glass, who has barely spoken publicly since word first filtered down that the Royals had been sold. “And making the decision to sell the team is one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made. But it’s the right thing. There’s a time for everything and it’s the right time.”

The sale is expected to become final, pending approval by league owners, during the offseason. But for now the season is still on, and the 84-year-old Glass is savoring every moment.

“I love the game, I love Kansas City, I love the Royals and I wish them well,” he said. “The new owner, John Sherman, will do a great job with this franchise. I think he’ll have this franchise back in the playoffs and ultimately in the World Series, and I’m looking forward to that.”

The Royals, after enduring many lean years, reached the World Series for the first time under Glass’s care in 2014, losing in seven riveting games to the San Francisco Giants. They bounced back the next year to win another American League pennant and beat the New York Mets in the World Series.

The championship banner joins one from 1985 as the only ones in franchise history.
So does Glass have regrets? He could come up with just one.

“The one thing I think about is we won the World Series in 2015 and when it’s over, there’s so much stress, there’s so many people you need to tend to and things that you need to do,” Glass said. “If I had it to do over again, I’d slow it down some and enjoy it more. But the next one Kansas City’s in, I’ll slow that one down and enjoy it.”

Glass leaned back on the dugout rail once more, and greeted Grifol and other coaches and players. And an hour later, when the Royals were winding up pregame practice, Glass was still in the heat, on a step attached to the batting cage and engaged in conversation with manager Ned Yost.

He still had that baseball in his hand.

Sunday Sports Headlines

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal homered to help the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2. Milwaukee moved four games behind St. Louis for the National League Central lead.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Zack Greinke finally beat his old club and Yordan Álvarez belted a pinch-hit three-run homer as the Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 6-1. Alex Bregman hit his 36th homer and rookie Kyle Tucker was 4-for-4 for the AL West-leading Astros. Greinke went six innings and handed a 2-1 lead to the bullpen. Héctor Rondón, Joe Smith, Bryan Abreu and Will Harris combined for three scoreless innings. Greinke gave up one run, six hits and no walks. He struck out seven.

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Skylar Thompson threw for 123 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to lead Kansas State 31-24 over Mississippi State. KSU (3-0) led 17-14 at halftime but trailed 24-17 in the fourth quarter.

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Jalen Hurts racked up 439 scrimmage yards, became the first Oklahoma quarterback to pass for 200 yards and rush for 100 in the first half and directed the fifth-ranked Sooners to scores on their first six drives in a 48-14 rout of UCLA. The graduate transfer from Alabama completed 15 of 20 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns and ran 14 times for 150 yards and a score.

HOUSTON (AP) — Sam Ehlinger threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns, Jake Smith caught six passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns and No. 12 Texas rebounded from its first loss of the season with a 48-13 rout of Rice.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Khalil Tate accounted for 314 yards and two touchdowns, Gary Brightwell capped a late 99-yard drive with his second touchdown run and Arizona grinded out a 28-14 win over Texas Tech. Arizona hit a few chunk plays passing, but it was the ground game that made the difference.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Chuba Hubbard rushed for a career-high 256 yards and three touchdowns, and Oklahoma State defeated Tulsa 40-21. Hubbard ripped off touchdown runs of 75 and 30 yards in the first four minutes of the game. His first score came on the first play from scrimmage, 10 seconds into the game. Oklahoma State star receiver Tylan Wallace was bottled up for much of the game but broke loose for a 90-yard touchdown reception late in the third quarter.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Austin Kendall threw three touchdown passes to lead West Virginia to a 44-27 victory over North Carolina State. Kennedy McKoy helped West Virginia’s run game break out of a slump with a pair of scores. The Mountaineers had by far their highest offensive production of the season one week after looking lethargic in a 38-7 loss at Missouri. North Carolina State was limited to 97 yards of offense in the second half.

National Headlines

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Ronald Acuña Jr. ignited a four-run rally with the go-ahead, two-run double, as the NL East leading Atlanta Braves clinched a playoff berth with a 10-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. Acuña Jr.’s double down the left-field line off of Nationals reliever Fernando Rodney added fuel to a dramatic seventh inning for the Braves, who reduced their magic number to four to clinch their 19th division title.

TORONTO (AP) _ James Paxton pitched five innings to win his ninth straight start, Brett Gardner homered twice and drove in five runs and the New York Yankees hit five homers in a 13-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit also homered for the Yankees, going back-to-back off right-hander Brock Stewart in the fifth, as the AL East leaders won for the 14th time in 19 games. The Yankees had 19 hits and extended their major league lead in homers this season to 285.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal homered to help the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2. Milwaukee moved four games behind St. Louis for the National League Central lead. The Brewers remained one game behind the Chicago Cubs for the second wild card spot.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) _ Trevor Lawrence threw for three touchdowns and ran for another and top-ranked Clemson beat nemesis Syracuse 41-6. Clemson has won 18 straight games, a school record and the longest streak in the nation. Lawrence was forced to be a spectator a year ago when a hard hit to the helmet knocked him out in the second quarter of his first college start.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for a career-high 444 yards and tied his personal best with five touchdowns as the second-ranked Crimson Tide opened SEC play with a 47-23 victory over South Carolina on Saturday. The win also wiped away some bad memories of the last time these teams played here under coach Nick Saban when the top-ranked Tide were beaten.

Saturday Scores

INTERLEAGUE
Final Boston 2 Philadelphia 1

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Minnesota at Cleveland 1:10 p.m.
Final N-Y Yankees 13 Toronto 3
Final Minnesota 2 Cleveland 0 (1st game)
Final Minnesota 9 Cleveland 5 (2nd game)
Final Detroit 8 Baltimore 4 (12 Innings)
Final Houston 6 Kansas City 1
Final Oakland 8 Texas 6
Final Tampa Bay 3 L-A Angels 1
Final Seattle 2 Chi White Sox 1 (10 Innings)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chi Cubs 14 Pittsburgh 1
Final Atlanta 10 Washington 1
Final N-Y Mets 3 L-A Dodgers 0
Final Milwaukee 5 St. Louis 2
Final Arizona 1 Cincinnati 0
Final Colorado 11 San Diego 10
Final Miami 4 San Francisco 2

TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Final Temple 20 (21)Maryland 17
Final (13)Penn St. 17 Pittsburgh 10
Final (6)Ohio St. 51 Indiana 10
Final (3)Georgia 55 Arkansas St. 0
Final (7)Notre Dame 66 New Mexico 14
Final (17)UCF 45 Stanford 27
Final BYU 30 (24)Southern Cal 27
Final (2)Alabama 47 South Carolina 23
Final (19)Iowa 18 Iowa St. 17
Final Arizona St. 10 (18)Michigan St. 7
Final (11)Utah 31 Idaho St. 0
Final (8)Auburn 55 Kent St. 16
Final (9)Florida 29 Kentucky 21
Final (16)Texas A&M 62 Lamar 3
Final (1)Clemson 41 Syracuse 6
Final (25)Virginia 31 Florida St. 24
Final (23)Washington 52 Hawaii 20
Final (4)LSU 65 Northwestern St. 14
Final (12)Texas 48 Rice 13
Final (5)Oklahoma 48 UCLA 14
Final (22)Boise St. 45 Portland St. 10
Final (15)Oregon 35 Montana 3

Rhoades gets milestone win as Dragons down ‘Hounds

Blue Dragon head coach Rion Rhoades collects his 100th career coaching victory as No. 1 Hutchinson defeated No. 17 Fort Scott 27-7 on Saturday in Fort Scott. (Bre Rogers/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

(BY STEVE CARPENTER)
(HUTCHINSON CC SPORTS INFORMATION)

FORT SCOTT, Kan.  — Hutchinson Community College head coach Rion Rhoades earned his 100th all-time coaching victory where his collegiate coaching career began and his No. 1-ranked Blue Dragons remained unbeaten in 2019.

Top-ranked Hutchinson moved to 4-0 with a 27-7 victory over No. 17 Fort Scott on Saturday night at Frary Field. The Blue Dragons pick up their second-straight victory over a nationally ranked opponent.

Rhoades became the fourth coach in Jayhawk Conference football history to reach 100 wins. He reaches the milestone victory in his 155th game. The first seven wins came as the head coach at Fort Scott in 2006. The next 93 have come with the Blue Dragons.

The Blue Dragons improve to 2-0 in the Jayhawk Conference while sending Fort Scott to its first loss of the season. The Greyhounds are 2-1 overall in the KJCCC.

Defense and special teams made a significant impact Saturday.

The Blue Dragons held Fort Scott to 99 total rushing yards and 56 of those came on one play to end the first quarter. The Blue Dragons held Fort Scott to 174 yards on 62 plays and held the Greyhounds to 0 of 14 on third-down conversions and 0 of 1 on fourth down.

The Dragons racked up eight more quarterback sacks and have 18 in their last two games. Defensive tackle Latrell Bankston had a career-high four sacks.

For the second-straight week, the Blue Dragons had a return for a touchdown. Leading 10-7 in the second quarter, punt returner Mitchell Tinsley made a tough grab of a short punt and took it back 44-yards down the left sideline for a touchdown and a 10-point Blue Dragon lead. Last week, Tiyon Evans earned KJCCC and NJCAA Special Teams of the Week honors with his 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Offensively, the Blue Dragons amassed 311 yards on 82 plays from scrimmage.

The Dragons rushed for 184 yards led by Kendall Cross, who had 78 yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Mark Wright had 50 yards on 13 rushes with a touchdown and Trey Coleman finished with 41 yards on nine carries.

Wright was 13 of 24 passing for 116 yards. Tinsley had four catches for 30 yards and Keon Clary had season highs of four receptions and 20 yards.

The Dragons marched right down the field on their opening drive and took a 7-0 lead on Erin Collins‘ 7-yard scoring run to cap off a 44-yard, seven-play scoring drive. After forcing a Fort Scott punt on the next possession, Hutch needed 11 plays to go 63 yards and get a Sebastian Garcia 21-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 6:59 remaining in the opening quarter.

With just 1 second remaining on the first quarter block, Fort Scott got its first big play of the game as Greyhound quarterback Carlos Davis ran a draw untouched for a 56-yard touchdown to cut the Blue Dragon lead to 10-7 after one quarter.

Tinsley’s punt return for touchdown at the 7:44 mark of the second quarter was set up by the downed punt of Hutchinson punter Nolan Arrington, who pinned the Greyhounds back at their own 3 and then went three-and-out.

Making his punting debut, Arrington averaged 35.1 yards per punt with three downed inside the Greyhound 20.

Hutch added a 37-yard Garcia field goal with 38 seconds left for a 20-8 lead at halftime.

The Dragons came up with the only points of the second half. Wright’s 7-yard touchdown run capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive that gave Hutchinson a 27-7 lead with 2:46 to play in the third quarter.

Hutchinson has a bye week next Saturday and then will entertain No. 2 Butler at Noon on September 28 at Gowans Stadium.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 24-29 against nationally ranked opponents under Rion Rhoades. … The Dragons are 42-33-1 all-time against Fort Scott and 21-18 at Frary Field. This was Hutch’s fifth-straight win on Fort Scott’s home field. … Mitchell Tinsley’s second-quarter punt return for a touchdown was Hutch’s first since Dante Madden last season. … In the first two games of the season, Hutchinson allowed a combined 304 rushing yards to Ellsworth and Independence. Over the last two games against Iowa Western and Fort Scott, the Dragons have allowed just 144 rushing yards.

Chiefs vs. Raiders: Game preview

By MATT McMULLEN
Chiefs Community & Digital Media Producer

It was 53 years ago that the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders met at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for the very first time.

Quarterback Len Dawson tossed three touchdown passes and tailback Mike Garrett rushed for another score in that game as Kansas City defeated the Raiders in a classic matchup of original American Football League franchises.

One of the league’s greatest rivalries developed in the years following that matchup, and more than five decades later, the two teams will meet again in Oakland on Sunday for the final time – and on the infield dirt of the multi-sport facility, no less – before the Raiders relocate to Las Vegas in 2020.

And while the Chiefs are 10-2 against Oakland since 2013 – where they’re averaging 30.5 points-per-game – the rivalry is still very real for Head Coach Andy Reid.

“I think when you step into that stadium and when you’re out there, you understand the rivalry. The guys that have been here, they get it,” Reid said. “It’s probably as close are you’re going to have to a college atmosphere, as far as rivalries go. Likewise, when the Raiders come here, I think they realize that. I think it’s a neat thing. Our fans feel it, their fans feel it and the players feel it.”

The rivalry will of course continue following the move, but the circumstances inevitably create some additional significance to an already important game between divisional opponents, and if the new-look Raiders’ performance last week against Denver was any indication, the finale could be a good one.

Oakland added several fresh faces this offseason ahead of their second campaign under Head Coach Jon Gruden, and from wide receiver Tyrell Williams’ big game to an impressive performance by veteran linebacker Vontaze Burfict, those new pieces paid dividends in a season-opening victory over the Broncos on Monday Night Football.

The Raiders raced out to a two-touchdown lead in that contest while holding Denver out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter, demonstrating a certain intensity throughout.

“Those guys are playing with a ton of energy. Those young guys they had last year have elevated their game and the guys they brought in are playing with a ton of confidence,” said Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes. “It’ll be a great test for us. They have a lot of different coverages and different blitzes, so for us, it’s going to be an early test and we’re going to need a good game plan.”

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