Broncbusters force five turnovers; smother No. 15 Dodge City

Dodge City, KS-When first-year Head Coach, Kiyoshi Harris returned from a summer trip back home in California, he brought with him a special souvenir: a wooden bronco that a friend had made for him. It was designated as 'the turnover horse.' 

On Saturday night, that horse was on the sideline, a firm reminder from Harris to his players what the expectation was in week two.  

Message received.  

"Bo Bo" McKinnon had two picks, Garden City forced five turnovers, and the Broncbusters bounced back from an opening-week loss to Navarro with a 38-9 beatdown of No. 15 Dodge City at Memorial Stadium.  

The Broncbusters, which improved to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play, overwhelmed the Conquistadors, limiting the home team to just 151 total yards. And while the final score may not have been indicative of just how lopsided this game really was, Steve McCollum's defense absolutely smothered Dodge City into submission, holding the home team to a lifeless 2-of-14 on third down while producing a season-best five sacks.  

Tyler Nelson threw for 106 yards and two scores for Garden City, which improved to 59-27 all-time vs. Dodge City. The freshman added 92 yards on the ground, and Dejuan Lacy tallied a pair of rushing touchdowns as the Broncbusters finished the night with 240 rushing yards.  

"It feels really good to get that sour taste out of our mouth," Nelson said after the game. "Our message all week was to be ourselves and fix our problems. We still have to work to be better, especially with penalties." 

If there was an area of concern for Garden City in this game, it was definitely the flags. They were penalized 13 times for 120 yards. 

"We may lead the nation in penalties, and that's not a good thing," Harris said after the game. "We have to be better. But, as I told our guys, it's a different feeling this week when you win. It feels a lot better to clean things up after a win." 

It also helped that the defense, which surrendered nearly 400 yards of total offense to Navarro in week one, was locked in from the start. On the first play from scrimmage, Terrance Butler punched the ball out of running back Stone Wilson's arm, and University of Washington transfer, Habib Bello recovered it at the Dodge City 27. Four plays later, Lacy found a crease and raced 19 yards to the end zone for a touchdown to put Garden City ahead, 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.  

It was curtains from there.  

On Dodge City's second offensive play of the night, quarterback Bryce Conover's pass was deflected by Louisville bounce back, Jeremiah Caldwell and intercepted by JayT Jackson at the Broncbuster 49.  

Two defensive snaps and two takeaways, meaning the turnover horse was getting plenty of action shots.   

"We just needed to take care of business," Harris added.  

Garden City extended the lead later in the first when Nelson hit Elijah Griffin in stride for a 36-yard touchdown. That was followed by a 46-yard dime to Demetris McKelvey early in the second period that made it 21-0.

"Our receivers make my job so much easier," Nelson explained. 

Lacy added a 25-yard rushing touchdown, and Garden City had a 28-0 halftime lead.  

"We are here to stay, and we want people to know that," Nelson said. "Coach Harris came here to win, and that's our goal moving forward."

Tanner Rinker drilled a 51-yard field goal late in the third quarter, and Jackson strip sacked Gavynn Parker, which eventually setup Julius Tikoisuv's four-yard rushing score to give the Broncbusters a commanding 38-0 edge. Parker transferred to Dodge City from Garden City and before that was a walk-on at Oklahoma State.  

McPherson High School product, Teegan Haines recorded seven tackles, two for loss, one sack and a forced fumble. University of Miami transfer, Tyler Lassiter and Michael Thomas each had seven tackles as well.  

Parker, who relieved starter Bryce Conover in the second half, finished 7-of-17 for 90 yards and two interceptions for Dodge City, which dropped to 1-1 overall and 1-1 in league play.