Tigers roll as Quinney jets for 4 touchdowns

Saturday, October 25, 2014
Fort Scott running back Brendyn Quinney gets by Labette County's Jerrod Moore (22) during a first-quarter play Friday night at Frary Field. Quinney scored four touchdowns for the Tigers in a 49-12 league and district victory over the Grizzlies. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Fort Scott High clinched a Class 4A-Division I playoff berth Friday night when the Tigers routed Labette County, 49-12, and Paola got by at Chanute in overtime, 21-20.

Paola, which also clinched, will host Fort Scott next Friday night in a game that will simply determine which one gets to play a first-round home game and which one will have to go on the road to begin its State championship quest.

The Tigers (2-0 in District 4, 5-1 in the SEK and 7-1 overall) scored on their first four possessions, the first three capped by runs by Brendyn Quinney. He went on to score a fourth touchdown, the most for a Fort Scott player in a single game since Jake Durossette scored five time in the 2013 season opener against Parsons.

Labette County (0-2, 1-3, 2-6) got within 28-12 in the third quarter but Quinney's fourth score and a 90-yard run by Isaac Thurston in the fourth put the game out of reach.

"It was a great all-around win," Fort Scott head coach Bob Campbell said he told the players after the game. "Offense, defense and special teams all contributed."

Fort Scott's first score came after a short kickoff gave the Tigers the ball at their own 39-yard line. A third-and-9 pass from quarterback Mason Knopp to Marcus Stepps to the LC 20 helped keep things going and set up Quinney, escorted into the end zone by almost the entire offensive line, and his 5-yard run with 6:35 on the clock.

As LCHS was hesitant to kick the ball deep, Fort Scott's Brody Southwell forced bad field position for the Grizzlies by booming four kickoffs into the end zone and a couple of others inside the five-yard line.

Labette County came out switching up defensive looks on nearly every play but the Tigers weren't stumped by the changes very often.

A short punt saw the Tigers take over at their own 38 they marched downfield in much the same way. Knopp connected with Stepps for 18 yards to the LCHS 26. Then Quinney lowered the boom on a Grizzly defender while getting 21 yards to the five. He scored from there on the next play with 2:38 on the clock, making it 14-0.

"We were able to attack some things (LC) was giving us over there," Campbell said. "Brendyn ran very physical, very tough. He kind of refused to go down. A lot of our guys carried the ball very well."

Fort Scott rushed for 298 yards as a team and finished with 407 yards in total offense. Since the beginning of the 1996 season, the Tigers are 38-0 when they gain at least 400 total yards.

They were far from done. A well-executed slip screen pass from Knopp to Alex Fink went for 38 yards to the LCHS 39 on a third-and-25 play. Five plays later, Quinney went left, dodged a tackle and went in for an 8-yard score with 7:34 left in the half.

Quinton Parsons scored for the first time this season when the senior tight end caught a pass from Knopp on a crossing pattern and went into the end zone from 16 yards out with 2:38 left in the half.

Labette County capitalized on one of Fort Scott's rare miscues late in the half. Zach Stewart recovered a bad pitch at the Fort Scott 11-yard line. Three plays after that, quarterback Drew Dwyer found Dominic Johnson along the right side of the end zone just 27 seconds before the half. The Tigers got through to block Missy Dantic's extra point kick, so the score remained 28-6.

LCHS received the kickoff to open the second half and scored on the ensuing drive. Relying mostly on the run, the Grizzlies went 80 yards in 14 plays over five minutes for an option pass from Bryce Thomas to Eli Tallman from 16 yards out.

The Tigers kept the ball on the ground for all but one play as they answered with Quinney's fourth score with 2:05 on the clock to make it 35-12.

Fort Scott took over at its own 10 after the defense held Thomas on a Wildcat formation rushing play on fourth down. On the next play, Thurston broke his 90-yard scoring run down the right sideline, breaking Alex Smith's tackle at the LCHS 15.

It's the longest scoring play from scrimmage that any Tiger has recorded since the beginning of the 1996 season, exceeding by 5 yards a pass from Matt Karleskint to Quindale Floyd against Parsons on Oct. 31, 1996.

"That was a tremendous run and credit to the guys blocking," Campbell said. "I don't know how far he ran, but Carter Young made a great block downfield."

There are just six scoring plays as long or longer in the books since 1996, five of which are kickoff returns and the other a fumble recovery return.

Adam Deloney scored the final Tiger touchdown on a 6-yard run with 5:20 remaining in the contest.

Thurston touched the ball only twice but led Tiger rushers with 99 yards. Quinney finished with 78 yards on 9 carries.

Knopp completed 6 of 11 passes for 109 yards, his third 100-yard game of the season. Stepps caught three of those passes for 45 yards.

LCHS was held to 197 yards of total offense, rushing for 125 of those on 36 carries. Parker Grant gained 55 yards on 16 carries, 41 of them on the Grizzlies' third-quarter scoring drive.


LABETTE COUNTY...... 0 6 6 0 -- 12

FORT SCOTT.............. 14 14 7 14 -- 49

Team statsLCHSFort Scott
First downs1016
Rushes-yards36-12541-298
Passing yards72109
Total offense197407
Passing (c-a-i)3-11-16-11-0
Sacked-yards lost1-70-0
Punt returns0-04-39
Kickoff returns4-502-56
Interception returns0-01-18
Punts-avg.5-39.20-0
Fumbles-lost0-01-1
Penalties-yards6-369-80

Scoring plays

First quarter

FS -- Quinney 5 run (Southwell kick), 6:35 [11, 61, 5:17]

FS -- Quinney 5 run (Southwell kick), 2:38 [6, 62, 1:24]

Second quarter

FS -- Quinney 8 run (Southwell kick), 7:34 [9, 62, 4:26]

FS -- Parsons 16 pass from Knopp (Southwell kick), 2:38 [5, 39, 1:22]

LC -- Johnson 11 pass from Dwyer (kick blocked), :27 [3, 11, :15]

Third quarter

LC -- Tallman 16 pass from Thomas (run failed), 5:00 [14, 80, 7:00]

FS -- Quinney 9 run (Southwell kick), 2:05 [8, 38, 2:45]

Fourth quarter

FS -- Thurston 90 run (Southwell kick), 10:03 [1, 90, :17]

FS --Deloney 6 run (Southwell kick), 5:20 [7, 51, 3:34]

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Labette County -- Grant 16-55, Dwyer 6-31, Johnson 7-24, Tallman 4-10, March 1-3, Thomas 2-2. Fort Scott -- Thurston 2-99, Quinney 9-78, Brown 12-33, Tome 2-31, Young 2-24, Deloney 4-15, Armstrong 1-12, Knopp 6-9, Doherty 2-7, Stoughton 1-0.

PASSING: Labette County -- Dwyer 3-9-1-72, Thomas 0-2-0-0, Fort Scott -- Knopp 6-11-0-109.

RECEIVING: Labette County -- Grant 1-45, Tallman 1-16, Johnson 1-11. Fort Scott -- Stepps 3-45, Fink 1-38, Parsons 1-16, Quinney 1-10.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.