BRICE VIGNERY PREGAME INTERVIEW

The Teams: No. 12 Butler Grizzlies (3-2, 2-2 KJCCC) at No. 3 Iowa Central Tritons (5-1)
Where: Fort Dodge, IA
Stadium: Dodger Stadium (5,000)
Time: 11 a.m. CT
Streaming Platform: YouTube: 'Triton Nation' YouTube channel (youtube.com/@TritonNation)
Radio: 97.5 FM and 1240 KFH (www.audacy.com/stations/kfh) (Dennis Higgins, Matt Jacobs on the call.) Pregame show begins at 10:30 a.m.

The 12th-ranked Butler Grizzlies hit the road for the third time this season as they are set to take on the third-ranked Iowa Central Tritons on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 11 a.m. CT from Dodger Stadium in Fort Dodge, IA.

HOW TO WATCH AND LISTEN

The game will be streamed on YouTube via Iowa Central's 'Triton Nation' channel. You can navigate to it at the following link, youtube.com/@TritonNation. The Butler radio broadcast will air on 97.5 and 1240 KFH (www.audacy.com/stations/kfh) with Dennis Higgins and Matt Jacobs on the call. The pregame show begins at 10:30 a.m.

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday marks the ninth all time meeting between Butler and Iowa Central. The Grizzlies lead the all-time series, 6-2. The first ever meeting came in 1989 in the R.C. Cola Bowl in Cedar Falls, IA with the Grizzlies winning 24-0. The last meeting was a season ago in 2022 as Butler won 41-24 at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex on Oct. 15 (week seven). The last game at  Dodger Stadium between Butler and Iowa Central went the Tritons way. Iowa Central defeated Butler in week one of the 2018 season in Fort Dodge, 26-16. The Grizzlies are 2-2 all-time on the road at Iowa Central and 3-1 at home in El Dorado.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

OCTOBER 15, 2022 – EL DORADO, KS – Butler 41, Iowa Central 24

The Butler Grizzlies earned a top-10 victory against Iowa Central under the lights at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex, winning 41-24 on Saturday night. The Grizzlies forced a fumble on the opening drive, and turnovers ended up being the theme of the game. The Tritons came into the game with only one lost fumble and three interceptions. Butler forced five turnovers on the night - four INT's and a fumble recovery. Caleb Brown picked off the quarterback twice, while Norman Massey earned a pick six on an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter. The Grizzlies improved to 2-1 at home with the victory. Butler won the game on homecoming weekend, with Butler legend and Hall of Famer Troy Morrell in attendance as well as Roger Bernhardt, the first Grizzly to make the National Football League. Bernhardt also served as the honorary captain for the game Saturday night. Jake Wolff finished with three touchdowns and 231 yards, going 18-of-27 through the air. AJ King had five receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown. King also had two kickoff returns for 114 yards. Azhaun Dingle led the team on the ground, with 110 yards on just 16 carries, finding the end zone on a two-yard run to open the game. Mason Thrash led the defense with nine tackles in the contest, half a sack and a tackle for loss. Malik Berry and Jonathan Forson each finished with seven tackles on the night. Caleb Brown had two interceptions and six tackles while also breaking up two more passes. Norman Massey finished with four tackles and the 85-yard pick six. Devaca Parks also had an interception to go along with his five tackles. Jalen Moore ripped the ball out of a Triton runners' hand, stripping it clean as he forced and recovered a fumble to go along with four total tackles.

LAST TIME OUT FOR BUTLER

Butler's week six home matchup set for Saturday, Oct. 7, was canceled as Jireh Prep experienced travel issues getting to El Dorado. The Grizzlies had an off week in preparation for Iowa Central. Prior to the Jireh Prep cancellation, Butler hosted No. 1 Hutchinson on Saturday, Sept. 30, and fell, 43-16, to the top-ranked Blue Dragons. An excerpt from the Hutchinson game recap on ButlerGrizzlies.com can be found below.

Butler scored first but were unable to get much else going as they fell 43-16 to the number one ranked Hutchinson Blue Dragons in the 100th all-time meeting between the two schools on Saturday night at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex. The loss was the sixth straight loss to Hutchinson (5-0, 2-0 KJCCC) for Butler (3-2, 2-2 KJCCC). The Blue Dragons now lead the all-time series 51-48-1. The 16 points the Grizzlies scored was the most an opponent has scored on Hutchinson this season as they had not yet allowed double digits.

LAST TIME OUT FOR IOWA CENTRAL

The Tritons went out and earned a hard-fought win over Coffeyville, 26-20, at Dodger Stadium in Fort Dodge on Oct. 7. Coffeyville is 1-5 this season but has lost by a combined 24 points to Highland, Dodge City, Independence and Iowa Central. Iowa Central was outgained in total yardage by the Red Ravens, 347-336, but their defense helped lead them to the win. In the fourth quarter they held Coffeyville scoreless and had a pick-six to help them secure the victory. Coffeyville led 20-13 at halftime but a 13-0 fourth quarter advantage for the Tritons led them to the win. Triton quarterback Justin Silverstein was 22-of-34 for 192 passing yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. The Tritons used three rushing touchdowns and a pick-six from defensive back Jamal Spiyee to get the win. Wide receiver Mario Sanders paced the Triton pass catchers with seven receptions for 75 yards.

PREVIEW

This weekend's game at third-ranked Iowa Central continues on with a brutal stretch of the schedule for Butler football. In consecutive games they will have played two straight top-three ranked opponents in No. 1 Hutchinson (L, 43-16) and at No. 3 Iowa Central (Oct. 14) with week eight having currently second ranked Iowa Western traveling to town.

The Grizzlies, sitting at 3-2 on the season, could use a big road win over the No. 3 team in the nation to propel themselves through the rest of this season and to put them where they want to be which is fighting for a shot at the KJCCC championship.

They have had time to reflect on the loss to No. 1 Hutchinson a few weeks ago and are ready to put that behind them and take on another challenging squad. "These last weeks since we played Hutch has allowed us to rally together and understand that the team that played against Hutch wasn't really the team that we know that we are," said head coach Brice Vignery. "Correcting those things and understanding we need to put together four quarters of impressive football is important for us to understand going into this week."

The Tritons bring unique challenges to the table and Vignery knows the Grizzlies will have to bring their A-game to Fort Dodge. "Coach Montalto always does a good job offensively," said Vignery. "They do a lot of formations, he likes to throw the ball and he's got a returning starter at quarterback from last year. They are dynamic and explosive so we will have to be sound in our technique."

One of the strengths of this years Grizzly squad has been the defensive front as they have amassed 42 tackles for loss and 15 sacks through five games. "They're going to be in a lot of 10-personnel and empty sets so our guys will have to use their pass rush abilities as well as stay in their lanes to be successful," said Vignery. "Our ability to create some turnovers and create pressure will be a big factor in the game."

The game plan is in, the travel plans are set, all that the Grizzlies are looking forward to now is coming home with a road victory over the third-ranked Tritons.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE RANKINGS?

Following a week in which they had their game canceled, Butler football saw itself jump up in the NJCAA rankings.

The Grizzlies (3-2, 2-2 KJCCC) moved up to No. 12 in the week seven NJCAA D1 Football Poll. They jumped two spots after coming in at No. 14 last week following the 43-16 loss to top ranked Hutchinson. Butler did not play this weekend as its contest scheduled for Saturday with Jireh Prep was canceled due to travel issues with Jireh Prep.

Hutchinson (6-0, 3-0 KJCCC) remains the top ranked team in the nation. The Blue Dragons and Grizzlies are the only KJCCC teams ranked this week as Dodge City fell out of the poll after losing 46-10 at Hutchinson. The Conquistadors are receiving votes in this week's poll after being ranked the last two weeks for the first time since 2015.

Butler takes on the No. 3 team in the nation, the Iowa Central Tritons (5-1), this Saturday, Oct. 14 at 11 a.m. CT in Fort Dodge, IA. The following Saturday, Butler hosts the second-ranked Iowa Western Reivers (7-0) at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex at 7 p.m.

Butler has been ranked 12th three separate times this season. First in the preseason poll, then in weeks two and three.

2023 NJCAA DI Football Poll | Week Seven - 10-9-23

Receiving Votes: Georgia Military, Navarro, Copiah-Lincoln, Dodge City

KJCCC STANDINGS