Dodge City 40, Garden City 14 – 87th Annual Hatchet Game
The Dodge City High School football team delivered an impressive performance on Friday night, defeating Garden City 40-14 in front of a large partisan crowd at Memorial Stadium. The win extended the Demons lead in Hatchets to 20; 53-33-1, over the past 87 seasons.
From the opening kickoff, Dodge City set the tone, with Cade Barnett scoring the first touchdown of the game on an 11-yard carry, followed by another 13-yard TD run later in the quarter to put the Demons up 14-0 at the end of first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Red Demons capitalized on their momentum. Ryan Gonzales found the end zone twice, first with a 20-yard dash and then from 10 yards out, pushing the score to 28-0 by halftime. The Red Demon defense held Garden City to -5 total yards in the first half. The Buffs only ran three plays past midfield – the result of a Dodge City fumble. However, the drive was quickly put to a halt with a Bryson Unzueta interception. For the game, the Demon defense held Garden City to 35 yards rushing and 132 yards passing, 82 of those yards on two plays.
In the third quarter, the home team added to their lead with a short plunge from Alan Flores, extending the score to 34-0. Garden City finally broke through with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Moquett to Avalon, but the Red Demons responded quickly with an unbelievable 59-yard touchdown run by Cooper Speer, putting an explanation point on the game at 40-7.
Garden City (2-5) managed one final touchdown in the last minutes of the game to bring the final score to 40-14. The Red Demon rushing attack amassed 294 yards spearheaded by Gonzales, who rushed for an impressive 103 yards, while Barnett (73 yards) and Speer (67 yards) each contributed significantly to the ground game. The defense was led by standout performances from Cade Barnett and Bryson Unzueta who kept Garden City’s offense in check all night.
Dodge City (4-3) now moves on to what will feel like the playoffs in Week 8. The Red Demons will travel to Wichita to take on the 5-2 Wichita East Blue Aces. With a win, the Red Demons would be almost guaranteed a Week 9 home playoff game. Dodge City could still secure a home game with a loss, but it would take several tie-breaking scenarios for that to happen.
