Pair of bus trips take toll on Scott City

FREDERICKTOWN — The Scott City Rams weren't too keen on making a second trip to Fredericktown in less than 24 hours to make up the football game that was postponed Friday night.

"It was rough on us," senior Josh Trapp said. "We were motivated and ready to play last night."

Fredericktown, which had its homecoming festivities wiped out by the thunderstorm that moved through Friday, also had some problems focusing, but the state-ranked Blackcats remained undefeated with a 35-16 victory against the Rams on Saturday afternoon.

"We came out and scored in three plays, and then we decided we weren't going to be focused for an entire quarter," Fredericktown coach Shannon Henson said.

Blackcats senior running back Joey Lewandowski had his fourth consecutive games of 140 or more yards, finishing with 191 yards on 16 carries. He scored four touchdowns.

Sophomore quarterback A.P. Lewandowski rushed for 55 yards and passed for 53 for Fredericktown (4-0), which was No. 10 in last week's Class 3 state poll.

Scott City (2-2), a Class 2 school, used the contest to get a look at more of its running backs.

"They're a good football team, no doubt about that," Scott City coach Ronnie Jones said of the Blackcats. "They don't make mistakes, they're very physical and they've got a lot of depth.

"Our seniors played as good as they physically could."

Trapp spent his most extensive time this season in the backfield, rushing nine times for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Senior running back Jake Campbell scored Scott City's other TD, in the fourth period, and senior Caleb Gray had 56 yards on 15 carries.

"I've been wanting to run the ball all year," said Trapp, who said he had one carry in last week's loss at East Prairie. "But we have Caleb and Jake, so we have good running backs, too.

"I thought our line did a good job blocking for me."

Jones said getting his four senior backs — Matt Bradley was in the backfield with Trapp — time in the offense this weekend will help his team in the future.

"I thought when Josh Trapp came in and ran the ball with Bradley blocking for him, it was like a light bulb went on and the kids picked up the tempo," Jones said. "Then we went back to our original backs, and they ran hard.

"With this bunch, we practice as a group and we're going to use every kid we can, not just for now. I've got to look beyond my nose and get us playing to our potential when we come into district play."

Scott City got off to a slow start Saturday, falling behind 15-0 by halftime.

"I was really pleased with our defense," Henson said. "I think we held them to two first downs in the first half, and we subbed in a lot of kids throughout the game."

Jones said he saw positives in the way his team battled back from the sluggish start.

"When they came out and stuffed us, our kids kept talking to each other, saying that this game is four quarters," Jones said. "They never did quit.

"We want to just get better each week, regardless of the outcome."

The Rams, however, will remember the outcome of this week's game, the homecoming contest against rival Chaffee. Scott City lost 21-19 last season, ending a 21-year winning streak in the series.

"The monkey is on my back," Jones said, "because I'm the coach who let Chaffee beat us after 20-something years."

"It's our rival, always has been," Trapp said. "Our streak was broken last year and we'll try to start a new one."