SALINA, Kan. - Three punts were returned for touchdowns on the day as the No. 19-ranked Dodge City Community College football team jumped out to a 42-6 halftime lead en route to a 48-12 victory over the Kansas Wesleyan University JV team at the Graves Family Sports Complex in Salina on Sunday, September 11th.

DC3 is now 2-1 on the season and has won two straight games after a season-opening loss. 

DC3 opened the game by forcing a Coyote three-and-out before driving down the field on a 12 play, 92-yard drive caped by an AJ Walker two-yard rush to make the game 7-0 Conquistadors early on. KWU responded with a six play, 75-yard drive of their own for a touchdown but would have the extra point blocked to make the score 7-6 with 3:52 left in the opener quarter. 

Dodge City would then score 41 unanswered points started by a Tyler Minor 85 yard punt return. Following a stalled drive by the Conqs and a missed 21-yard field goal by Sebastian Mejia off the left upright, Kansas Wesleyan would try a quick kick on third down that would be caught and returned by Quandreko Statham for 17 yards and a touchdown to make the score 21-6. Another KWU three-and-out led to the Conqs third return for touchdown on the day when Rodney Murphy found paydirt on a 59 yard return for touchdown. The DC3 defense forced a -13 yard drive by the Coyotes which allowed for the Conqs quarterback Caden Walters to throw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Braxton Haley to go up 35-6. Walker would score his second touchdown of the game to close out the half for Dodge City with the game in full control. 

The second half saw a running clock implemented, which allowed for only one touchdown by each team. With the second-team offense in, Minor would score on a 19-yard touchdown rush to make the score 48-6. Kansas Wesleyan would end up scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 1:58 remaining in the third quarter before a scoreless fourth quarter ended the game with a 36-point win for the Conqs. 

Walters only played the first half, going 11-15 for 100 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 12 yards on two carries. Murphy led the rushing effort with 110 yards while walker had 67 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns. On the receving side of things, Douglass Butts had four receptions for 39 yards while Haley pulled in two catches for 28 yards and one score. 

Defensively, Braxton Larmond had five total tackles to lead the team while Marquise Blair had four total tackles and one sack. 

The Conquistadors will play in front of their home crowd next week when they host Ellsworth Community College in a non-conference clash at 1 p.m. from Memorial Stadium.