Davis rushes for three scores as Garden City blanks Ellsworth

Garden City, KS-Freezing temperatures aside, there was nothing aesthetically pleasing about this one. But a win is a win, even if it didn't pass the eye test. 

Fred Davis ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns, the defense forced three turnovers, and Garden City shutout Ellsworth, 25-0 Saturday afternoon at Broncbuster Stadium. 

"We did what we had to do to win the game," Head Coach, Tom Minnick said. "That's all that matters." 

The most impressive stat line came from the defense, which limited the offensively inept Panthers to just four first downs and nine total yards. On the ground, Ellsworth rushed 25 times for an astounding minus-37 yards. 

"Our gameplan was to shut them down and not make any mistakes," Minnick added. 

On the coldest day of the fall, Garden City's offense took some time to warmup. They were held scoreless in the first quarter; then watched as Braxton Frey's 44-yards field goal fell 12 yards short of the crossbar early in the second. On their ensuing possession, after Pierre Kemeni intercepted Brycen Davis, (Fred) Davis inexplicably fumbled the ball near the goal line, and Ellsworth recovered.  

"It's a challenge week to week to see which team shows up," Minnick said. 

Ellsworth's offense though was a disaster, and two plays after robbing Garden City of a potential score, Davis was picked off again by BJ Blake. That eventually led to the first touchdown of the game when (Fred) Davis rumbled 24 yards to the end zone to put the Broncbusters up, 6-0 (Frey missed the extra point) with 7:28 left in the half. 

"Our offensive line has played pretty well the last couple of weeks," Minnick said. 

When the Panthers got the ball back, Davis lobbed a prayer down the sideline that was easily intercepted by Vanderbilt transfer, Daniel Martin. 14 plays later, (Fred) Davis found the end zone again, plunging in from one yard out to give Garden City a 12-0 advantage at the break.  

"We knew they (Ellsworth) were struggling coming in," Minnick said. "We still had to take care of our business."

After a scoreless third, Garden City put the game away early in the final period when Kody Kirk, who started for the injured Jalen Daniels, drove the Broncbusters 40 yards in six plays. On first-and-10 from the Ellsworth 15, Khamran Laborn strolled in for a 15-yard touchdown to make it 19-0. Davis then added a six-yard touchdown run later in the period, giving Garden City its sixth straight win over Ellsworth.  

"We got through this one, and now we get ready for Snow," Minnick stated. 

The Broncbuster defense held the Panthers, the worst offensive team in the country, to a single first down over the final 30 minutes, handing Ellsworth their 40^th straight loss to an NJCAA opponent. 

Davis finished 6-of-13 for 46 yards and three picks for the Panthers, and Adrian Palos recorded 21 tackles and a sack. 

Kirk was 25-of-36 for 195 yards for Garden City, which improved to 4-5 overall. Clemson transfer, Ajou Ajou caught six balls for 69 yards, and the defense tallied six sacks.