The Butler Grizzlies returned to their winning ways on Saturday at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex, scoring three special teams touchdowns on their way to a 63-7 victory over Fort Scott.
No. 15 Butler put up 21 points in each of the first, third and fourth quarters on their way to the lopsided victory. Included were four rushing touchdowns, the three special teams touchdowns and a pair of passing touchdowns by quarterback Joel Blumenthal.
Butler had to punt on its first possession of the game, but after that scored three straight touchdowns in the first quarter. The first was an 11-yard screen pass from Blumenthal to Chris Carson that went for a touchdown.
Butler's next drive went 79 yards in just four plays, caped by a 23-yard run up the middle by Ja'Mon Cotton, who spun off a defender and went untouched the rest of the way.
The Grizzlies then surprised Fort Scott with an onside kick that was recovered by Butler's Zach Nachbar. Six plays later, Dalton Buehler ran in from 16 yards out and Butler led 21-0 with 4:11 left in the first quarter.
Butler failed to score in the second quarter. Fort Scott started the third quarter with a long drive that got deep into Butler territory. But on 4th down at the Butler 5-yard line, running back Jerry Jones was tackled by Butler's Zach Befort for a 3-yard loss. Butler then went 92 yards in nine plays, capped by a 2-yard plunge up the middle by Kobe McCrary that made it 28-0 with 7:08 left in the third quarter.
Later in the quarter, Butler got the first of its two blocked punts. Kobe McCrary blocked the kick and and Van Powell would return the ball 15 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-0.
Butler's final score came on a beautiful 27-yard pass from Joel Blumenthal to Anthony Johnson with 10:26 left to play.
Blumenthal was 19-31 passing for 232 yards and two touchdowns in the game. Chris Carson ran the ball 11 times for 130 yards, an average of 11.8 yards per carry. He also caught one pass for 11 yards and a touchdown. Butler had 12 players catch at least one pass in the game, led by Anthony Johnson with two receptions for 65 yards.
Travis Steenson, who leads the nation in tackles, again had a big day defensively, leading Butler with 10 tackles, including a tackle for loss. Bakari Triggs had seven tackles for Butler. Zach Befort had five tackles, including a sack and three tackles for loss.
