Scott City record falls to 2-5 with 32-0 loss to Hayti

HAYTI, Mo. -- The Scott City football team was hoping to continue its momentum in its final predistrict game.

An extremely muddy field and Hayti's big plays made sure the Rams failed in their quest.

Hayti scored four touchdowns on plays covering at least 18 yards to bury the visiting Rams 32-0 on Friday night.

The Indians improved to 4-3 and dropped the Rams to 2-5 as Scott City had a two-game winning streak snapped.

"We played a little bit tonight," Hayti coach David Gilmore said. "Scott City had been playing good. We knew they would be a powerful, physical team."

Steady rain that fell much of Thursday and Friday turned Hayti's field into a quagmire.

Although little if any rain fell during the game, that did nothing to improve the field conditions.

"Slipping and sliding everywhere doesn't help any," Scott City junior Alex Eichhorn said.

Said Scott City coach Jim May: "It was sloppy. We knew coming down here we had to take care of the ball and we had to tackle."

Both teams fumbled eight times, most of those coming on quarterback-center exchanges.

Slippery football

Scott City lost four fumbles, but only one led to a Hayti touchdown. The Indians lost three of their fumbles.

"The ball was real wet," Scott City junior quarterback Jamie Scholz said. "They [officials] tried keeping it as dry as they could."

The Rams actually began the contest strong, holding the ball virtually all of the first quarter as they ran 19 offensive plays to just three for Hayti.

But the Rams failed to capitalize as two solid drives -- the first reached Hayti's 30-yard line and the second advanced to the Indians' 10 -- both ended on downs.

"We started out well, but it hurt" not capitalizing, May said.

After Scott City's strong first quarter, it was pretty much all Hayti as the Indians broke open things by scoring 20 points in a span of less than four minutes during the second period.

An 83-yard, 11-play drive ended when sophomore quarterback Dardan Balazi hit junior Byron Norris on a 9-yard touchdown pass with 6 minutes, 57 seconds remaining before halftime.

A 2-point conversion pass from Balazi to senior Doriyon West made it 8-0.

Scott City miscues then helped Hayti build a commanding lead.

A punt under heavy pressure went almost sideways and skidded out of bounds after netting zero yards, setting up Hayti at the Scott City 18.

Two plays later, senior Cortez Borders broke off an 18-yard touchdown run with 4:25 left to make it 14-0.

On Scott City's first play following the kickoff, Scholz mishandled a snap and Hayti recovered at the Rams' 34.

Four plays later, Norris scored from 22 yards out with 3:04 remaining for a 20-0 advantage, which is where things stood at the break.

"We got some turnovers, got set up in some good field position," Gilmore said.

Hayti returned the favor to Scott City in the third quarter as the Rams recovered fumbles inside the Indians' 40-yard line on consecutive Hayti drives.

But Scott City, with a chance to get back in the game, could not take advantage.

Then came the play that ended all comeback hopes.

Hayti, facing third-and-16 from its 30 late in the third period, scored on a 70-yard screen pass from Balazi to Norris for a 26-0 lead.

The Indians capped the scoring with another big play as senior Keenan Williams broke loose on an 84-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

"You can't give up the big play, especially on a night like this," May said. "We were where we needed to be. We just didn't make the tackles."

Scott City finished with 109 yards of offense, 71 of that coming in the first quarter.

Hayti had 308 yards after netting just four in the opening period. Williams wound up with 167 yards on 14 carries, the bulk coming on runs of 84 and 44 yards.

"They had some fast guys, but we missed too many tackles," Eichhorn said.

Senior Brandon Deprow led Scott City with 63 yards on 11 carries, but just three of those yards came after halftime.

Junior Garett Schaefer, who entered with a string of five straight 100-yard games, was held to 15 yards on nine attempts.

"I was really proud of the way our defense played," Gilmore said.

While May thought field conditions hampered his team, he gave plenty of credit to Hayti.

"They played in the same conditions we did," May said. "They played good."

Scott City 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Hayti 0 20 6 6 -- 32

Second Quarter

H -- Byron Norris 9 pass from Dardan Balazi (Doriyon West pass from Balazi), 6:57

H -- Cortez Borders 18 run (run failed), 4:25

H -- Norris 22 run (run failed), 3:04

Third Quarter

H -- Norris 70 pass from Balazi (run failed), 1:06

Fourth Quarter

H -- Keenan Williams 84 run (run failed), 6:22

SC H

First downs 7 1o

Rushes-yards 46-84 37-216

Passing yards 25 92

Passes 1-7-0 4-7-1

Punts 2-21 1-33

Fumbles-Lost 8-4 8-3

Penalties-Yards 2-18 8-58

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Scott City, Brandon Deprow 11-63, Alex Eichhorn 12-29, Garett Schaefer 9-15, Hunter Griffith 2-4, Jamie Scholz 11-minus 23, team 1-minus 4. Hayti, Williams 14-167, Norris 5-25, Borders 5-25, Kanard Humes 3-23, Tyrell Polk 4-12, Balazi 6-minus 36.

PASSING -- Scott City, Scholz 1-7-0-25. Hayti, Balazi 4-7-1-92.

RECEIVING -- Scott City, Corey Rogers 1-25. Hayti, Norris 3-87, Borders 1-5.