Hayti comes from behind to beat Scott City football team

HAYTI, Mo. -- The Scott City Rams had their hands on a two-touchdown lead against Hayti and at least a share of the SEMO Southern Division title was within their grasp Friday night.

But Hayti quarterback Karnard Humes was more elusive.

Even getting a hand on the speedy junior was a challenge for the Rams at times.

Karnard ran for four touchdowns and 111 yards to help Hayti clinch the SEMO Southern Division with a 42-35 home victory.

"We came in knowing we had to stop him, and we didn't do a good enough job of that," Scott City coach Jim May said. "I'm disappointed with our effort there because our No. 1 goal was to try to keep him contained and make somebody else beat us, and we didn't do that. We let him beat us. He's a good player."

Scott City (4-2, 3-2 conference) stopped Hayti's first two possessions on downs and responded with a pair of touchdown passes from junior quarterback Jonathan McFall for a 14-0 lead.

The hot start put the taste of a title in the Rams' mouths, and three fourth-quarter touchdowns by Scott City did little to relieve May's hunger after Humes and the game had gotten away earlier in the second half.

"I feel like we had a shot to win a title and we kind of let it slip through our grasp," May said. "We had them down. We had them on the ropes, and we let them off the ropes, and then we fought back."

Humes ignited the Hayti (5-1, 4-0) comeback with a 37-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw up the middle that left the Scott City defense flat-footed.

"I think that's the fastest kid we've seen all year," Scott City defensive back Jacob Underwood said.

Dylan Riddick ran in the conversion to close the gap to six points. Scott City extended its lead to 17-8 with a 22-yard field goal by McFall with 1 minute, 2 seconds left in the first half.

But the 62 seconds was plenty of time for Humes and the Indians to strike and shift the game's momentum.

In fact, Humes had 9 seconds to spare when he capped a five-play, 57-yard drive by scoring from 7 yards out. He ran in the conversion to draw Hayti to within 17-16 at halftime.

Scott City still had the lead, but the swagger from its first two nine-play scoring drives no longer was evident.

The first drive covered 66 yards after Hayti's game-opening possession ended on downs at the Scott City 34. The second started at the Rams' 13 after Hayti's second possession stalled.

Zach Cotner gave Scott City a 7-0 lead when he beat two Hayti defenders in the back corner of the end zone on the right side on a go route, while Ryan Brock pulled in a 6-yard touchdown pass over the middle. The touchdown catches were part of a perfect start for McFall, who completed his first six passes of the first half for 118 yards. Scott City added 103 yards rushing in the half and had 221 yards overall.

"Coach said they were going to be running the dive all day," Humes said. "I guess we forgot about it because they were running it down our throats for a little bit, but we stopped it."

Underwood had 67 of his team-high 101 yards rushing in the first half.

"We were just going to run the ball down their throats and pound the ball at them, and it was working early," Underwood said. "We came out the second half and they were stopping us."

Hayti forced the game's only punt on Scott City's opening possession of the second half, and Humes quickly picked up where he left off.

Humes again dashed in from 7 yards out with 8:44 left in the third quarter, giving Hayti a 22-17 lead. The Indians never trailed again.

Hayti tacked on touchdowns on its next two possessions. A 24-yard touchdown run by Riddick and a 15-yard scoring run by Humes on the first play of the fourth quarter opened a 35-17 lead.

Scott City was stopped on downs on its two other third-quarter possessions. Hayti held a lopsided edge in total yards in the quarter, outgaining Scott City 130 to 42.

"We had a lull, and a lull gets you beat," May said. "They got so many points it was hard for us to get back.

"But we had a shot to tie the game at the end with the ball in our hands. I'd take those chances."

May was referring to another strong fourth quarter by his squad. Scott City had scored touchdowns on its final two possessions a week earlier to defeat Portageville 31-30, and the Rams rallied again against Hayti.

Scott City's Gordy Bradley and Hayti's Marion Newill traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the latter still left the Indians with a 19-point lead, 42-23, with 6:04 remaining.

It was time enough for McFall to hit junior Brett Dirnberger with a pair of touchdown passes. The first went for 43 yards with 4:03 left, and after Scott City recovered the onside kick, the second came from 6 yards with 2:38 left to cut the gap to 42-35.

A blitzing Cotner then nearly intercepted Humes when he blocked a pass and had the ball carom a second time off his fingers around the 30.

"I wish I would of caught that tip," Cotner said. "It probably would have been a game-changer."

Scott City did stop Hayti on downs at midfield with 1:34 left. Bradley ran for 8 yards on first down to move the ball to the Hayti 42. Scott City committed the game's only turnover two plays later when Hayti's Jermel Covington intercepted a pass intended for Cotner at the 12-yard line.

Scott City finished with 438 yards to Hayti's 379. The Rams finished with 184 yards rushing, while McFall completed 15 of 32 passes for 238 yards. Senior Austin Atchley led the Rams with six catches for 127 yards.

"I'm real proud of our team for not giving up," Underwood said. "We could of got beat by a whole lot more. We came back and made it a ballgame."

Humes completed 9 of 15 passes for 116 yards.

"This is a good challenge for us," Cotner said. "We needed this. No. 5 [Humes] is the fastest guy we've seen all year and probably the fastest we will see.

"We had to have this because our district will not be as near this tough."

Scott City begins Class 2 District 2 play at home against Herculaneum.

Scoring Summary

Scott City 7 10 0 18 -- 35

Hayti 0 16 14 12 -- 42

First Quarter

SC -- Zach Cotner 9 pass from Jonathan McFall (McFall kick), 3:07

Second Quarter

SC -- Ryan Brock 6 pass from McFall (McFall kick), 8:19

H -- Karnard Humes 37 run (Dylan Riddick run), 7:09

SC -- McFall 22 FG, 1:02

H -- Humes 7 run (Humes run), :09

Third Quarter

H -- Humes 7 run (pass failed), 8:44

H -- Riddick 24 run (Demetrius Luster run), 3:28

Fourth Quarter

H -- Humes 15 run (pass failed), 11:56

SC -- Gordy Bradley 1 run (run failed), 8:13

H -- Maurion Newill 20 pass from Hume (run failed), 6:04

SC -- Brett Dirnberger 43 pass from McFall (pass failed), 4:03

SC -- Dirnberger 6 pass from McFall (kick failed), 2:38

Team Statistics

First downs (Scott City-Hayti) 25 19

Rushes-yards 44-184 34-263

Passing yards 254 116

Passes 16-33-1 9-15-0

Punts 0-0 1-16

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 5-35 6-49

Individual Statistics

RUSHING -- Scott City, Logan Farmer 1-3, Jacob Underwood 29-101, Bradley 12-85, McFall 1-(-1), Austin Atchley 1-(-4). Hayti, Riddick 13-111, Humes 14-111, Luster 1-6, Robert Clay 3-30, Newbill 1-2, Jeremy Jones 2-3.

PASSING -- Scott City, McFall 15-32-1‹238, Zach Carlyle 1-1-0-16. Hayti, Humes 9-15-0-116.

RECEIVING -- Scott City, Atchley 6-127, Cotner 6-66, Brock 1-6, Underwood 1-6, Dirnberger 2-49. Hayti, Tony Johnson 2-27, Newbill 4-56, Luster 1-9, Clay 1-17, Riddick 1-7.