Dominant first half propels Ulysses past Scott City
Ulysses, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Scott City entered Friday’s game in Ulysses with a 10-game win streak against the Tigers, with five of those games won in Ulysses. Friday’s game at Maxwell Field would turn out to be the opposite of the recent run by the Beavers, as Ulysses scored on five of their six first half possessions en route to a 37-0 win. The game would be suspended at the end of the third quarter, and mutually agreed by school officials to end the game following a weather delay.
Ulysses dominated the snap count all night, and it started on their opening drive. A 14-play was capped off by a nine yard touchdown run by Caden Ledesma with 8:28 left in the opening period to give the Tigers an early 7-0 lead after the Mateo Cruz PAT. Following a Scott City three-and-out, Ulysses used a 12-play drive to go up 14-0, thanks to an eight-yard strike from Ledesma to Stryker Berglund in the back right corner of the end zone with 2:13 left in the period. The Beavers would bobble the ensuing kickoff and the Tigers took over at the Scott City 31. Three plays later, it was an 11-yard pass from Ledesma to Jaxon Curl to extend the lead to 22-0 with 1: 24 left in the opening frame. The score was capped off with a Tyce Perez to Malikah Garcia two-point conversion.
The Tigers added two more scores in the second period. Their first game on a swing pass of 39 yards to Berglund from Ledesma, where Berglund broke several tackles on his way to the end zone. The Cruz PAT extended their lead to 29-0. And late in the second quarter, Ledesma would run the quarterback keeper in from two yards out, and he would complete the two-point conversion pass to Julian Garcia to make it 37-0 with 37.7 seconds left before intermission.
Both teams would trade possessions in the third quarter.
During the break between the third and fourth quarters, play would be suspended due to inclement weather in the area. After a few minutes, school officials and both coaches met with the game officials and called the game.
Caden Ledesma went 17-25 passing for 257 yards and three touchdowns, and aded two rushing scores. Three receivers would go over 50 yards, as Stryker Berglund had four catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 56 yards rushing on 13 carries. Jaxon Curl had four receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown. Ulysses finished wiht 332 yards, as they added 75 yards on the ground.
Scott City finish with a season-low 140 yards of offense, with 102 coming through the air. Drew Metzger went 10-14 passing, and added 15 yards on nine carries. Cooper Irvin had three receptions for 50 yards.
The win by Ulysses was their largest win over Scott City since their 43-0 win in 1978. It was their first win over the Beavers since 2013, when they won 25-14 at Maxwell field, snapping a 10-game skid overall and five-game losing streak to Scott City at home. Scott City leads the all-time series 45-31-1. Ulysses is 3-1 overall for the first time since 2015, while Scott City is 1-3 for the first time since 2000.
Up next for the Tigers is a road trip to Goodland to face the 3-1 Cowboys. Goodland fell 26-20 at Holcomb on Friday for their first defeat of the season. Scott City will host Hugoton for homecoming. The Eagles are 1-3 after they held off Colby 21-16 at home on Friday.
Box Score
Scott City 0 0 0 X–0
Ulysses 22 15 0 X–37
Scoring Summary
1st QTR
UL 8:28 Caden Ledesma 9 Yard Run (Mateo Cruz Kick) 14-80, 3:32
UL 2:13 Stryker Berglund 8 Yard Pass from Ledesma (Cruz Kick) 12-71, 4:07
UL 1:24 Jaxon Curl 11 Yard Pass from Ledesma (Malikah Garcia Pass from Tyce Perez) 3-31, :46
2nd QTR
UL 9:41 Berglund 39 Yard Pass from Ledesma (Cruz Kick) 5-56, 1:04
UL 37.7 Ledesma 1 Yard Run (Julian Garcia Pass from Ledesma) 11-57, 4:46
Scott City
Rushing
Metzger 9-15; Weston 4-10; Garcia 5-9; Louden 3-3; Irvin 1-1; Total: 38
Passing
Metzber 10-14 102 0-0
Receiving
Irvin 3-50; Gossman 3-29; Tarango 3-21; Garcia 1-2
Total Yards: 140
Ulysses
Rushing
Berglund 13-56; Ledesma 16-13; Lopez 2-6; Total: 75
Passing
Ledesma 17-25 257 3-0
Receiving
Berglund 4-83; Curl 4-74; Perez 5-51; Pedroza 1-11
Total Yards: 332