FORT SCOTT — Fort Scott Community College’s once proud football program collapsed amid poor on-field performances, high personnel turnover and a player’s death. The team’s downfall went from the top-ranked program to nonexistent in 12 years. Secrecy and unanswered questions surround the decision, which was made after a closed-door meeting of school officials in the southeast Kansas town. President Alysia Johnston and the FSCC Board of Trustees announced the program’s end Tuesday night. They primarily blamed limited resources, without elaborating on what resources they were referring to. Cutting the program comes after a season marred by the death of Tirrell Williams, who reportedly suffered a heat stroke during a practice. The school has yet to release communications related to Williams’ death requested by The Capital-Journal in September under the Kansas Open Records Act. Likewise, local emergency services declined a verbal request for dispatch records of 911 calls connected to the practice where he collapsed. From No. 1 to nothing Fort Scott was ranked No. 1 before losing the 2009 NJCAA Football Championship Game in Pittsburg to quarterback Cam Newton’s Blinn College. The team won one game in the 2021 season before the program ended with a 63-2 loss on Nov. 7 to Independence, the former home of brash and disgraced head coach Jason Brown, who gained fame from Netflix’s “Last Chance U.” It was the second of two tumultuous seasons with head coach Carson Hunter leading the program. “We would especially like to thank the current football players and coaching staff who have represented FSCC with honor, pride, and dignity this season in very trying competitive circumstances,” school officials said in a news release. Hunter’s school biography says he aims “to rebuild the program’s foundation and eventually further Fort Scott’s storied history.” In time, the bio says, following the coach’s expectations “will result in a program the entire Fort Scott community can be proud of and a team that can consistently play great football.” The fall 2020 season was moved to spring 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. After three straight losses to open the spring season, Fort Scott in April canceled all remaining games. Officials cited “low active roster numbers” due to “injury and attrition” that made it “too severe for the Greyhounds to safely compete.” The team was outscored 190 to 23 over those three games.
FORT SCOTT — Fort Scott Community College’s once proud football program collapsed amid poor on-field performances, high personnel turnover and a player’s death.
