BY CHARLES CHANEY

TOWANDA, Kan. — Creed Clayton bounced off a defender to score in overtime for Fort Scott and it was Jax Armstrong, stepping in front of a receiver to seal the deal.

The comeback was complete as Fort Scott rallied for the 20-13 overtime win over Circle on Friday night, scoring 20 unanswered in the fourth quarter and overtime.

The loss drops the Thunderbirds to an inexplicable 1-6 heading into the regular season finale against Augusta.

It’s a game where Coach Logan Clothier felt his team left multiple points on the board.

“Our kids battled our butts off and I have to be better as a head coach,” he said. “We had 3-4 opportunities inside their 20 and we got to capitalize. Because I think we left probably 21-28 points on the board. There’s a lot of red zone trips, and we got nothing out of it. So, we got to be better in the red zone. I got to be better preparing our kids.”

Circle led for almost the entire regulation. Cole Wilbur hooked up with fellow sophomore Jason Smith on a 60-yard screen pass that was housed for the early lead. They did it again on the next drive, this time going 74 yards and it felt as if the Thunderbirds were going to run away with it.

Except they didn’t. They wouldn’t score again and Fort Scott wore them down.

“They wore us down,” Clothier admitted. “We don’t have as much depth at times, but our kids battled, and they played so hard on senior night. It’s just, when you have those opportunities, you can’t, you can’t leave them, you got to finish.”

Much like the season, they couldn’t get out of their own way, with penalties and extra-circulars adding up. The Thunderbirds tallied nine penalties for 110 yards, with five of those either being personal fouls or unsportsmanlike calls. Two came on one play after Dominic Sawyer intercepted Fort Scott’s Dredyn Marlow near the end of the half and returned it into Fort Scott territory, a player caught a blind side block and then the same player was given an unsportsmanlike penalty for the taunting after the game. A 30-yard mistake.

Circle ended up having to kneel it out and go into halftime up but another opportunity wasted.

The same player was later ejected for defending his QB after he was hit after the whistle and was the only one assessed a penalty after Wilbur was hit after the play.

It’s a tough balance on having your players defend their quarterback or remaining in the game.

“It’s a tough situation,” Clothier said. “I asked the official, I said, you know, if your family members in a pile, you know it’s you want to go over there and help them out. I haven’t seen the film of it, but that’s something, when you go over and you get there, the officials, all they see is you rushing over there.

“I don’t think there’s any, there’s any malice or anything going over there to hurt another player. You need to get Cole out of the situation, a sophomore that just gotten tackled by three guys. So, it’s getting your teammate out of the situation. It’s how to go about doing that. So I think we need to practice that, and that, once again, falls on me.”

For most of the game, Circle’s defense was electric. They made big plays and tackled well. They forced two turnovers, both interceptions from Sawyer. He even had a 40-yard kick off return that had the stadium roaring.

“He’s been an unbelievable player for us and done a great job,” Clothier said of Sawyer. “He’s been a great leader on the field and just showing kids how to work on your craft. Slot receivers coach [Simon] McKee does a great job of getting plays for Dom and the other wide outs are doing a great job of helping run the routes to get him open.”

Saywer had an interception in the final seconds of regulation that set up a hail mary that eventually fell short but it was still an opportunity.

Circle’s opportunities came early as they missed a 23-yard field goal on their opening drive. Then, they had two big touchdown passes on the next two drives to take the 13-0 lead.

Even with Sawyer had a massive punt return that put Circle at the 11-yard line, they would eventually turn it over on downs at the Fort Scott 5-yard line.

Circle took a 13-0 lead into the break.

Even in the fourth when Fort Scott scored, bring it within 13-6 with just over nine minutes to go, Circle blocked the extra point and it felt as if the game was their for the taking.

Circle marched down to the Tiger 17 yard line but a bad snap saw the ball sail high and Wilbur was unable to corral it and Fort Scott’s Aiden Ogran was able to wrestle it away and give Fort Scott life.

Clayton then went to work. He ripped off a 50 yard run to put Fort Scott near the goal line. He was chased down by Smith, but Clayton was able to punch it in for the tie with 2:29 to go in regulation.

Neither team was able to do anything at the end of regulation but it was Clayton going to work in overtime. They only needed two plays to score and eventually win the game.

“I have to do a better job at getting our team ready and prepared,” Clothier said.

Wilbur finished 15 of 34 passing for 282 yards and two touchdowns. Sawyer had six receptions for 97 yards, including a big 33-yard reception on the game’s opening drive. He had nearly 200 yards all-purpose yards for Circle.

Smith had 208 yards of offense (143 receiving, 65 rushing) and the only two touchdowns on the night for the Thunderbirds.

Circle now gets a chance to spoil Augusta’s senior night. The Thunderbirds and Augusta have played some barnburners the last few years and after how the game ended, expect Circle to be ready for a tough game.

“That’s how tough our league is,” Clothier saying about Augusta beating McPherson. It’s a stacked deck and we’ve had our chances.”

“Our kids see how close we are. We just have to be better. I have to ultimately be better.”

Fort Scott 20, Circle 13 OT

Fort Scott 0 0 0 13 7 —20
Circle 7 6 0 0 0—13

C – Jason Smith 60 pass from Cole Wilbur (Jackson Strecker kick)
C – Smith 74 pass from Wilbur (kick no good)
FS – Dreyden Marlow 1 run (kick blocked)
FS – Creed Clayton 3 run (Caleb Hall kick)
FS – Clayton 2 run (Hall kick)

RUSHING: Fort Scott – Clayton 31-168-2; Marlow 8-13; Allen 16-70; Cannon 1-1. Totals: 56-252. Circle – Smith 10-65; Wilbur 6-(-23); Ekue 2-9; Oliver 1-5. Team 2-(-3). Totals: 21-53.

PASSING (C-A-YD-TD-INT): Fort Scott – Marlow 3-12-20-0-2. Circle – Wilbur 15-34-282-2-1.

RECEIVING: Fort Scott – Ogran 2-17; Allen 1-3. Circle – Sawyer 6-97; Cosby 1-10; Smith 5-143-2; Ekue 2-25; Bonewitz 1-7.