The spring Butler football season came to a close Saturday night at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex as the Grizzlies fell in a high scoring affair to the No. 5-ranked Garden City Broncbusters 52-40.
The Grizzlies came off a two-week layover not playing a game due to Fort Scott cancelling their season and Arkansas Baptist having to cancel due to health and safety concerns.
It was a heavily weighted offensive game as the teams traded blows much of the game as over 1,000 yards of total offense was recorded between the two teams and 92-points scored.
Garden City scored first on their opening drive taking a 7-0 lead and wouldn't give it up the rest of the game. Garden City was fueled by their ground game that manufactured 480 yards on the ground and six scores from the ground game. Jordan Ford led the charge with 222 yards and two scores. Devin Hodges rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns in the contest.
Butler was able to produce their best offensive numbers of the season as well but wasn't able to get the stops they needed to flip the script.
Butler totaled 478 yards of offense; 283 on the ground and another 195 through the air. Kevontae McDonald carried the ball just six times and rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns for an average of 18.8 yards per carry. Tevin Petrie had seven carries for 97-yards and two touchdowns with a long of 42-yards.
Nick Davenport was 8-20 on the night passing throwing for 195-yards and two touchdowns. Eddie Lewis had his third 100+ yard game receiving finishing right at 100-yards receiving with a touchdown.
Malik Berry and Shareal Taylor led the defense with eight tackles each. Berry had a sack and two tackles for loss. Shareal had seven solo tackles in the game with a tackle for loss. Mason Thrash, Norman Massey and Marquise Cooper all finished with a quarterback sack.
Butler finishes the season playing just six total game of their eight allowed this COVID spring season. The went 2-4 overall with wins over Dodge City and Highland. They lost to Independence, Hutchinson, Coffeyville and Garden City this season and had games against Fort Scott and Arkansas Baptist canceled. This is the first losing season for the Grizzlies since the 1995 season when the Grizzlies finished 1-8 on the year.
With the 'official' 2021 season getting underway in the first week of September, the Grizzlies won't have long to think about this spring as they will quickly turn their focus to this coming fall when the Grizzlies will get back to their normal 10-game schedule. Butler will open up the season at home against Independence on Saturday, September 4th. They will also host Dodge City, Coffeyville and Fort Scott at home this fall. They will travel to Hutchinson, Highland, and Garden City. They will pick up another two-three games of non-conference opponents but have yet to confirm those matchups.
NOTES: The Butler and Garden City all-time series is now evened up at 41-41-3... Butler is now 21-19-3 all-time vs. Garden City in games played in El Dorado... 52 points allowed is the most given up in a game since the 1995 season when the Grizzlies lost to Garden City 58-7... 478 yards is the most total offensive yards since the 2017 season when the Grizzlies totaled 512 yards of offense in a 48-19 win at Ellsworth.
