Scott City visits Clay Center in first round playoff battle
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–It’s week 9 of high school football, which means it’s the opening round of the Class 3A Playoffs for the Scott City Beavers, as they hit the road to face the Clay Center Tigers.
Scott City picked up a 48-16 home win over Colby to close the regular season last Friday night in Darner Field to improve to 5-2 on the season. After the Beavers or an oppenent scored in the first quarter at home all season, Scott City changed that quickly with two touchdowns in a little over two minutes of game time, while Colby added a score to make it 14-8 after the opening frame. The Beavers added two scores to make it 28-8 at the break, and scored 20 fourth quarter points to cement the win. It was a game where the Beavers outgained the Eagles 369-181, as Colby finished with 55 yards passing, whereas Scott City had 369 yards of offense and 209 passing yards. This year, Drew Metzger has passed for over 900 yards and Cayden Couchman and Matthew Wheeler have under 500 rushing yards. The offense is averaging 32 points and over 350 yards of offense, while giving up 16 points and over 225 yards of offense.
Clay Center is 5-3 on the year following their 33-7 road win at Marysville last Friday night. The Tigers built a 25-0 halftime lead en route to the win, as they had 372 yards of offense, all on the ground. They held the Bulldogs to just 140 yards of offense. Clay Center has attempted only 29 passes this year, and average just 25 passing yards per game with 272 on the ground, while scoring 29 points a contest. Eisaac Girton has rushed for over 1,100 yards and 17 touchdowns, to lead the offense. Drew Hoffman has rushed for four touchdowns and has their lone touchdown pass of the year. Defensively, the Tigers allow an average of 22 points and over 300 yards defensively, with around 175 through the air. Their losses have come to Southeast of Saline, Rock Creek and Wamego.
This will be the first road playoff game for Scott City since 2020, when they played at nearby Riley County and lost 43-14. They will be looking to snap a three-game road playoff losing streak. The Beavers enter the playoffs for the 30th time in school history and are 57-25 all time. This will be their first Week 9/Bi-District road game since 2008.
Scott City and Clay Center will be meeting for the fifth time, with the Beavers holding a 3-1 edge in the series. Clay Center won in their last meeting 28-0 in 2021, when both teams played the Week 9 game and weren’t in the playoffs. Scott City’s last win against the Tigers came in 2017 on the road in a 21-13 win in the Sectional round of the Class 4A, Division II Playoffs.
Kickoff is at 6 pm from Clay Center High School, where they are in their third season of playing their games there. Pregame coverage on Mix 94.5 and online at weseternkansasnews.com will begin at 5:30. You can also watch online on the Beaver Brodadcasting Network’s YouTube channel.