A strong defensive showing and the aerial attack on offense propelled Dodge City football to their first win of the season, taking down Highland 35-6.
The victory moves the Conquistadors to 1-3 on the season and 1-1 in KJCCC action, while making it six-straight wins in the series with Highland. The win is also the largest margin of victory under Head Coach
Ryan Lusby.
After a three-and-out forced by the Conqs' defense to open the contest, the Conqs would mount a 12-play drive looking to start strong, but a turnover in the redzone kept the Conqs off the scoreboard. However, the Conqs were ultimately the first to strike on the scoreboard with an eight-play drive covering 45 yards, capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from
Braxton Clark to
Mahki Whitney, giving the Conqs a 7-0 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The next three drives saw a Highland punt and both teams turning the ball over on downs after being unable to convert a fourth down. Conqs would venture into the endzone again with 5:02 left in the first half as
Edwin Merriweather III connected with
Santana Fleming for a 27-yard touchdown as Fleming tight-rope walked the back of the endzone to get his foot in. The drive was six plays covering 75 yards and saw Merriweather connect with
David Ramos for a big 34-yard pass on the drive. Conqs carried a 14-0 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Conqs would be hurt by a missed field goal and a fumble, leading to Highland pushing through the uprights, 34 and 27-yard field goals to tighten the game up at 14-6. The fourth quarter would belong to the Conqs as
Carson Spoonts caught a dump pass from Merriweather and rumbled down the field for 61 yards and a touchdown. After an interception by
Stephen Stephen on the Conqs' defense, the Conqs would go 52 yards over 10 plays, and Ian Andalon-Silva pushed in the endzone for a one-yard touchdown after a big 28-yard completion from Clark to Fleming two plays before to set up the score.
After a penalty on the kickoff, the Conqs would re-kick and set up the onside kick, which they would recover and then go on to score again as Clark ran the ball in from four yards out to make it 35-6 with 1:31 remaining in the contest, and the Conqs would wrap up their first win.
Defensively, the Conqs would give up just six points and held Highland to 180 total yards of offense, the lowest output by a KJCCC opponent since September 25th, 2016, when the Conqs beat Butler 7-3 and held them to 163 total yards.
Lovell Vereen led the defense with eight tackles, a fumble recovery, and two pass breakups, while
Tavarez Edwards had seven tackles and a forced fumble.
Nate Gunderson recorded five tackles with three tackles for loss and two sacks.
Jamari Mosley and Stephen each had an interception.
On offense, the Conqs finished with 427 total yards with 383 coming through the passing attack, which marks the most passing yards in a game for the Conqs since October 2nd, 2021 (416 passing yards versus Fort Scott). Merriweather and Clark were both strong at the quarterback spot as Merriweather was 11-15 for 229 yards and two touchdowns, while Clark was 14-22 for 137 yards and a touchdown. Clark added a rushing touchdown. Four different receivers had 60+ yards each on the day, led by Ramos, who caught seven passes for 119 yards, while Fleming snagged seven passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Spoonts caught a pair of passes for 63 yards and a score, and Whitney had five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Up next, the Conqs are back on the road as they make the long trek to Fort Dodge, Iowa, to take on #10 Iowa Central on Saturday, October 4th, with a noon kickoff.
