Strong second half powers Garden City to blowout win over Ellsworth

Iowa Falls, IA-Talk about a tale of two halves. 

Travis Dixon ran for a career-high 206 yards and two touchdowns, the defense forced three turnovers, and Garden City flipped an eight-point halftime deficit into a 69-35 route of Ellsworth Saturday afternoon at Cadet Field. The Broncbusters improved to 4-5 overall heading into their regular-season finale vs. Coffeyville on Nov. 12. 

"We let this team hang around way too long," Head Coach, Tom Minnick said after the game. "And, we made way too many mistakes."

Those miscues had Garden City staring up at a 22-7 first-quarter deficit. After Ty Perry put the Broncbusters in front with a beautiful 75-yard touchdown pass to Martiel Singleton on Garden City's opening possession, the Panthers answered with 22 straight points. Joshua Bauer hit Aghogho Eyafe for a 53-yard touchdown before Perry telegraphed a pass on an out route that was intercepted by Jeremiah Gill and returned 67 yards for a score. On the Broncbusters' ensuing possession, Nashon Johnson punched the ball out of Dawson Otto's hands, and Dan Knudsen recovered for the Panthers near midfield. 

"We beat ourselves in the first half," Minnick added. "We've done that all season long."

Trailing by 15, the Broncbusters worked their way back into the game in the second. Perry, who was eventually benched for a third straight contest, polished off a seven-play, 64-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown strike to Otto. Then, moments later, Chenelle Jones' defense made a play when Nasir Clerk picked off Bauer and sprinted 25 yards to the end zone to pull Garden City to within one, 21-20 with 7:04 remaining in the half. But the mistakes kept coming. Perry was intercepted by Knudsen the next time Garden City had it, and backup Gabe Friend was picked by Kmari Watson in the final minute of the second. That turnover eventually setup Bauer's nine-yard scoring toss to Malcolm Gillie, giving the Panthers a 28-20 advantage at the half. Three giveaways in 30 minutes for Ryan Felker's offense. 

"We didn't take care of the ball again," Minnick explained. "We were giving them points."

The second half however was a completely different story. 

After the defense forced an Ellsworth three-and-out, Devion Hodges punched it in from five yards out. Later in the period, Dixon, who notched his fourth career 100-yard rushing game, blasted his way 49 yards down the left sideline to the Ellsworth 20. Once the drive stalled, Angel Islas drilled a 30-yard field goal. However, the Panthers were flagged for roughing the kicker. On the very next play, Perry zipped a six-yard touchdown pass to Otto that gave the Broncbusters a 34-28 lead. 

"It wasn't perfect, but we played much better in the second half," Minnick said. "It was much cleaner."

Hodges added a 22-yard touchdown run later in the period, and Raymond Cutts sacked Bauer on the final play of the third. That was followed up by Albert Nunes' 28-yard interception return on the first play of the final quarter that led to Perry's nine-yard touchdown pass to Tyejuan Taylor. Dixon then galloped 51 yards for a score on the Broncbusters' next possession, and Friend turned a Darshun Williams' interception into a 38-yard touchdown to Quin Bright that made it 62-28. Dixon punctuated the scoring with a 59-yard sprint to pay dirt, putting the finishing touches on a second half in which Garden City outscored the Panthers 49-7. 

Perry finished 19-of-25 for 204 yards, four touchdowns and two picks for Garden City, which fell just a touchdown shy of tying the school single-game scoring record set against Fort Scott in 2021. Singleton caught two balls for 92 yards and a touchdown, and Garden City native Terrell Elliott tallied a team-best eight tackles and one sack. 

Bauer was 15-of-39 for 220 yards, two touchdowns and three picks for Ellsworth, which lost he game despite forcing five turnovers. Ernesto Rios ran the ball 21 times for 27 yards, and Eyafe had five catches for 82 and a touchdown.