It will be a game for all the marbles.
And, it is just the first year of the game’s actual existence.
At 1 p.m., Dec. 6, the top-ranked Fort Scott Community College football team will square off with No. 2 Blinn at Pittsburg State’s Carnie Smith Stadium in the inaugural Citizens Bank Bowl.
“It’s a huge opportunity for our kids and, as a coach, you work for this,” said Fort Scott head coach Jeff Sims.
The game will also mark the return home of Blinn head coach and Pittsburg native Brad Franchione, who is in his fifth season at the helm of the Buccaneers.
“I am very glad and glad to be playing for all the marbles,” Franchione said. “I’m excited that the bowl committee invited us and relieved that the process is over with.
“I think, when you do it this way, it only reinforces the bowl system.”
The Greyhounds go into the national championship with the nation’s longest winning streak at 12 games, dating back to 2008. It is also the first time that Fort Scott has been No. 1 in the nation since the early 1970s.
“They are a good football team and they have had a tremendous season,” Franchione said. “They are very deserving of the ranking and I look forward to playing them again.”
Blinn will enter the game with the nation’s No. 1-ranked offense, averaging 492 yards per game. The Greyhounds have the fifth-best rushing defense (266 ypg.) and the 15th-best total defense (404 ypg.) and No. 1 in total offensive plays with 811.
“I really think that the bowl committee got the two best programs in the country,” Sims said. “Our programs can match with any other in the nation. Butler has won it twice and Blinn won it as well and, for us to be a national champion, we should have to play the teams that have won it before.”
Blinn won national championship three years ago after beating then-No. 2 Pearl River and Butler has won it the last two. The Greyhounds beat Butler twice this season, including a 13-12 win last Sunday in the Region VI championship game.
“I think a committee looks at all the possibilities,” Sims said. “Just me looking at the polls, it could only have been Blinn.”
Tickets are available at Citizens Bank locations in Pittsburg, Fort Scott, Iola, Mound City, Kincaid, Lenexa and Overland Park, as well as at the Pittsburg State University ticket office.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students K-12 in general admission seating.
Reserved club seating on the west side of the stadium is available for $15 per ticket.
|
|
|
It will be a game for all the marbles.
And, it is just the first year of the game’s actual existence.
At 1 p.m., Dec. 6, the top-ranked Fort Scott Community College football team will square off with No. 2 Blinn at Pittsburg State’s Carnie Smith Stadium in the inaugural Citizens Bank Bowl.
“It’s a huge opportunity for our kids and, as a coach, you work for this,” said Fort Scott head coach Jeff Sims.
The game will also mark the return home of Blinn head coach and Pittsburg native Brad Franchione, who is in his fifth season at the helm of the Buccaneers.
“I am very glad and glad to be playing for all the marbles,” Franchione said. “I’m excited that the bowl committee invited us and relieved that the process is over with.
“I think, when you do it this way, it only reinforces the bowl system.”
The Greyhounds go into the national championship with the nation’s longest winning streak at 12 games, dating back to 2008. It is also the first time that Fort Scott has been No. 1 in the nation since the early 1970s.
“They are a good football team and they have had a tremendous season,” Franchione said. “They are very deserving of the ranking and I look forward to playing them again.”
Blinn will enter the game with the nation’s No. 1-ranked offense, averaging 492 yards per game. The Greyhounds have the fifth-best rushing defense (266 ypg.) and the 15th-best total defense (404 ypg.) and No. 1 in total offensive plays with 811.
“I really think that the bowl committee got the two best programs in the country,” Sims said. “Our programs can match with any other in the nation. Butler has won it twice and Blinn won it as well and, for us to be a national champion, we should have to play the teams that have won it before.”
Blinn won national championship three years ago after beating then-No. 2 Pearl River and Butler has won it the last two. The Greyhounds beat Butler twice this season, including a 13-12 win last Sunday in the Region VI championship game.
“I think a committee looks at all the possibilities,” Sims said. “Just me looking at the polls, it could only have been Blinn.”
Tickets are available at Citizens Bank locations in Pittsburg, Fort Scott, Iola, Mound City, Kincaid, Lenexa and Overland Park, as well as at the Pittsburg State University ticket office.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students K-12 in general admission seating.
Reserved club seating on the west side of the stadium is available for $15 per ticket.
