The No. 5-ranked Butler football team found itself in a scoreless tie with an unheralded Dodge City team at halftime of the season opener at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex, but eventually wore down the Conquistadors in the second half on its way to a 41-6 win.

Butler missed on three field goal attempts in the first half, and went into intermission scoreless before exploding in the second half for 17 points in the third quarter and added 24 more in the fourth quarter in front of 5,224 fans.

Robert Rawlings started Butler's scoring just three minutes into the third quarter with a 29-yard field goal to make it 3-0. Four minutes later, Butler used a jump pass from running back Ty Suggs to tight end Steven Walker from two yards out to make it 10

The Grizzlies appeared to have the momentum in the game, but Dodge City answered immediately with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Deondre Ford to William French. The extra point attempt hit the crossbar, but Butler still led 10-6.

Two minutes later, running back Chris Carson scored on a 3-tard run, making Butler's lead 17-6 and the Grizzlies would not look back.

Butler would get another Rawlings field goal, plus one-yard runs from quarterback Hunter Vaughn and fullback Miles Thomas to make the score 34-6 in the fourth quarter.

Individually, Hunter Vaughn was 12-19 passing for 183 yards. Butler got 81 yards rushing on 14 carries from Lawrence Mattison, while Chris Carson had 15 carries for 55 yards. Trey Hallman was Butler's leading receiver with four catches for 51 yards.

Phillip Williamson had six tackles including a sack and two tackles for loss. Tyler Hayes was the leading tackler for Butler with eight, seven of which were solo stops.

Butler is now 1-0 on the season and also 1-0 in Jayhawk Conference play. The Grizzlies will now hit the road for a non-conference game at Blinn College next Saturday in Brenham, Texas.