Garden City knocks out Indy for third straight win

Garden City, KS-A win is a win, no matter how frustrating things look at times. 

Ty Perry threw for 120 yards and two touchdowns, special teams recovered two game-changing fumbles, and Garden City won its third in a row with a 17-7 victory over Independence Saturday night at Broncbuster Stadium. Tom Minnick's team improved to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play. 

"We came out kind of slow," defensive coordinator, Chenelle Jones said afterwards. "They had us on our heels. But I told our guys very early that our goal was to be the more dominate defense."

With the exception of the Pirates' opening drive, the Broncbuster defense slammed the door shut. They held Independence to just one score in five trips inside the Garden City 20 limiting the Pirates to just 2-of-14 on fourth down. 

Meantime Garden City's offense sputtered at the start. Thanks to seven and eight-man boxes, the Broncbuster run game was mostly ineffective in the first half. That put the onus on Perry, who had little time to operate. On the Broncbusters second possession of the game, Dajhon Smith buried the sophomore quarterback with a blindside blitz. 

"They were coming from every gap," Jones added. "We had to adjust to that."

While Garden City was slow to react, the Pirates marched 54 yards in just three plays on their first drive. Isaiah Jacobs found a crease and raced 20 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 advantage. 

"We knew we would eventually figure things out," Jones said. 

It took the home team nearly a full quarter to pick up its first first down of the game. That happened when James Jones powered through Will Whitson for a yard. But that drive was quickly derailed thanks to a false start, a Tyrik McDaniel sack, and a Perry fumble that forced the Broncbusters to punt. 

"It really was all about wearing down their defense," Jones stated.

The reality is this: Independence Coach Jason Martin has to be kicking himself, especially considering the field position his team was afforded in the first half. Two out of their first four possessions started in Garden City territory with the first ending after Wilson Yee missed a 37-yard field goal. The other was a three-and-out, which was anchored by Albert Nunes and Zach Blackwood, who sacked Greg Jones on third-and-10 from the Broncbuster 45. 

"This was a game of adjustments, and we played physical up front," Jones said. 

The Pirates missed another scoring chance when Perry was intercepted by Smith early in the second period. The Pirates then drove 62 yards in nine plays, but a Bryce Butler sack crushed the momentum. Yee then missed a 42-yard field goal with 4:25 remaining. 

That's when Garden City's offense finally came to life, resulting in a 15-play, 75-yard drive. Perry converted a third-and-3 with a six-yard scamper; then connected with Devion Hodges for a three-yard gain on fourth-and-2. With time winding down, the Arizona native scrambled right before floating a perfect pass to Jones on a wheel route in the back-right corner of the end zone. Levi Flores, who was just activated this week following the suspension of Angel Islas, split the uprights on the extra point, and the game was knotted at 7 at the break. 

"We had an extra practice this week knowing that we had a new guy on special teams," Jones said. "We just kept telling him to do the things that he used to do in Liberal."

In the second half, the Broncbuster defense took over. With the Pirates driving early in the fourth, Jason Martin kept his offense on the field on fourth-and-1 from the Garden City 10. The play call: halfback dive with Jacobs, who had no chance once Blackwood and Raymond Cutts filled the hole. 

Then some good fortune. 

Reggie Akles muffed Flores' 34-yard punt. Holcomb native Cooper Henson recovered, and two plays later, Perry zipped a pass to Torey Morrison, who weaved 22 yards to the end zone to give the Broncbusters the lead. Later in the fourth, it was Antonio Barber dropping a fair catch that Mykel Campbell scooped up at the Independence 14. That eventually led to Flores' 22-yard field goal that made it 17-7. 

Perry was 17-of-30 for 120 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Garden City, which won the game despite being held under 100 total yards in the first half. Travis Dixon, who has been dealing with a shoulder injury, totaled 76 yards on 14 carries while Morrison had eight catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. Marcellus Wilkerson posted a game-high nine tackles, and Ohio transfer Jett Elad tallied three pass breakups. 

Jones finished 22-of-38 for 191 yards and was sacked four times for Independence, which dropped to 1-4 overall. Jacobs carried the ball 17 times for 61 yards and a touchdown, and Barber had eight catches for 63.