Defense shines again in shutout victory over Coffeyville

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Garden City, KS-Jerry Dominguez's defense is for real. If there are still any doubters out there, Saturday's suffocation of Coffeyville should serve as a brilliant case study.

The Broncbusters limited the Red Ravens to just 177 total yards and harassed Nick Arvay and Kolbe Langhi all night, Devion Hodges posted his second 100-yard rushing game of the season with 16 carries for 160, and fifth-ranked Garden City blanked Coffeyville 20-0 at Broncbuster Stadium. It was the first time in 80 all-time meetings that the brown and gold shutout the Red Ravens.

"Our depth has been a question mark all season," Head Coach Tom Minnick said afterwards. "But our backups played well in this game, and I'm really proud of them for that."

A slew of second teamers were pushed into action thanks to multiple suspensions stemming from the Dodge City game two weeks ago. And still, Garden City didn't miss a beat-holding Coffeyville to just 55 total yards through the first three quarters.

"Our defense has been playing lights out all year," Minnick added. "I say it every week: Jerry has done a great job with that side of the ball."

But just like the last three contests, the Broncbuster offense was stuck in neutral to start. They went three-and-out on their first two possessions and fumbled on a punt return early in the second quarter. Yet, they did manage to sandwich a scoring drive in between all of that, marching 74 yards in just four plays highlighted by Hodges' 21-yard rushing touchdown on the third play of the second period to put Garden City up 7-0.

"We ran the ball well against Dodge City, and it continued tonight," Minnick explained. "Our offensive line played well."

After the Red Ravens went nowhere on their ensuing possession, Garden City drove 55 yards in 10 plays the next time they had the ball. Jordan Ford, who was knocked out of the game in the second half, scampered for 16 yards to the Broncbuster 41. A few plays later, Mike Irwin, who was making his third straight start for the injured Devin Larsen, zipped a spiral to Khamran Laborn for 12 yards to the Coffeyville 29. And once the drive stalled at the Red Raven 25, Joe Carol drilled a season-long 42-yard field goal to make it 10-0 with 6:30 left in the half.

"Our kids played pretty well altogether," Minnick stated. "It's nice to have a couple of backs who can changed it up with their speed."

Carol added a chip-shot field goal in the final two minutes of the second quarter, giving the Broncbusters a 13-0 halftime advantage. More impressively, the brown and gold outgained Coffeyville 170-44 over the first two quarters.

"There were some things that we missed in this game," Minnick said. "But besides the turnover in the first half, we didn't beat ourselves."

The second half was dominated again by Dominguez's unit, spearheaded by Elijah Deravil, who ended one Coffeyville drive in the third when he picked off Langhi inside the Broncbuster 10. Then, on the final play of the game, the freshman corner intercepted Arvay's desperation heave near the end zone, capping off another brilliant defensive performance.

Meantime, Hodges put the game on ice late in the final period, racing 40 yards to the end zone to put the Broncbusters up 20-0. On the play, the freshman back broke three tackles at the line of scrimmage before squirting free. It put the finishing touches on another 200-yard rushing night for the Broncbusters, who tallied 277 on 42 carries.

"Now we get a chance to redeem ourselves from last year next week," Minnick said. "We didn't play well in that last game vs. Butler, and we owe them one."

Irwin finished 8-of-16 for 53 yards for Garden City, which beat Coffeyville for the fifth straight time. Ford sprinkled in 94 yards on 20 carries, Laborn had four catches for 18, and Arvell Ferguson recorded five tackles, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup.

Langhi was 4-of-15 for 26 yards for Coffeyville, which hasn't won in Garden City since 2015. Dorian Lewis had three carries for 25, and Bryce Childress caught three balls for 36.

Next up: Garden City at Butler-Saturday, May 22-7 p.m. CDT