Dodge City football team wrapped up the season with a battle in the KJCCC taking on Independence and going to the wire as the Conquistadors just came up short falling 21-14.
The Conqs had a pair of opportunities late but ultimately came up just short against the Pirates of Independence and capped their season with a 3-7 record in Head Coach,
Terry Karg's first season.
Early in the contest and throughout it would be the defense for each team that would leave its mark on the contest. It wasn't until the first turnover of the game that the first points were scored as the Conqs lost a fumble on their 18-yard line and the Pirates recovered and would score on a touchdown pass on the next play to make it 7-0 with the extra point with 5:32 left in the first quarter. The Conqs answered on the next drive covering 87 yards on 15-plays scoring early in the second quarter as
Grant Ciccarone connected with
Javon Campbell on a three-yard touchdown pass and with the PAT tied the game at 7-7. The Conqs would end the final drive by the Pirates in the first half with a
Tavarious Easley-Jones interception and the game was tied at 7-7 at intermission.
Independence opened the second half by mounting an 11-play drive covering 65-yards that resulted in a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7 Independence shortly into the second half. After the Conqs would stop Independence and recovered a fumble in the endzone for a touchback it was a three-and-out for the Conqs which resulted in a short field for the Pirates leading to their third touchdown of the day making it 21-7 with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. Conqs would again gain the ball on a turnover as
Bobby Arnold III grabbed an interception and then put together a five-play drive covering 65-yards capped with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Ciccarone to Campbell making it 21-14. Conqs primed to tie the game would ultimately turn the ball over on downs on the Pirates' 23-yard line with 5:28 remaining. Conqs would get it back inside the redzone but would be unable to score turning the ball over on downs again only to recover a fumble late and get one last crack at the endzone but would fall short as the Pirates held on for the 21-14 win.
Conqs were outgained 327 to 214 total yards in the contest, while the defense forced four turnovers. Offensively, Ciccarone finished with 181 yards passing and two touchdowns, as
Kam'Ryn Thomas caught five passes for 50 yards and Campbell finished with four catches for 47 yards and two scores.
Dav'Juan Dezeme and
Jakerrias Scott each finished with 11 tackles on the day, while
Jonethan Wiltshire added seven tackles and a forced fumble.
The Conqs finished year one under coach Karg with a 3-7 record as they capped the season with a tough 21-14 loss to Independence.
