Grizzlies need extra time to beat 'Hounds

Five-time defending Jayhawk Conference champion Butler, the nation's No. 1-ranked team, needed overtime to beat Fort Scott Communty College, 26-20, at Frary Field Saturday night.

The Grizzlies needed a 91-yard bomb for a touchdown from a quarterback who had sat on the bench for the prior two series because he was having trouble generating offense to get to overtime, where Beau Johnson's 19-yard run on the third play of Butler's first possession ended the game.

"It's a sickening feeling to be in the hunt and come up short," Fort Scott head coach Rion Rhoades said. " You only get so many chances to, first, to just play a game, and then, second, have a chance to knock off the top team in the country.

"I'm unbelievably proud of our kids. Unbelievably proud of our coaches. Everybody involved with our program is just to be congratulated for the effort that was put out tonight."

It was the second consecutive week the Grizzlies, 5-0 in the Jayhawk Conference and 7-0 overall, needed a fourth-quarter rally to win. The week before at Cad to come back from a 14-3 rally with just under 13 minutes left in order to beat the Red Ravens, 22-14.

The loss also broke Fort Scott's four-game winning streak, which was its longest in at least 13 seasons. The Greyhounds, 3-2, 4-3, are in fourth place in the KJCCC and can clinch one of the four berths in the Region VI Playoffs with a win at Highland next week. FSCC would then have a tie-breaker over each of the bottom four teams in the conference.

With the score tied at 20-20 going into OT, Butler won the coin toss and chose to go on defense first. Fort Scott came out and lost five yards before the first play began as 12 men went into the huddle.

Jovani Franklin, the conference's leading rusher, gained two on the first play to get the ball to the 28-yard line but Butler lineman Chris Lyle broke through the line to tackle Greyhound quarterback Greg Cross for a four-yard loss.

Cross threw an interception to David McDowell on third down, ending Fort Scott's possession.

Butler took over at the 25 and got two, then four yards on runs by Brandon Barnett before putting starter Johnson back in the lineup for his game-winning run.

Fort Scott lost despite out-gaining Butler 407 total yards to 325 and holding the second- and third-ranked running backs in the conference to a combined total of 108 yards.

Butler's seevnth-ranked pass defense allowed Cross to complete 12 of 20 passes for 212 yards. Butler's pass offense gained only 195 yards on 11 of 27 passing.

Cross tied the game with 12:26 remaining when he scored on a four-yard keeper. Jared Oshel's extra-point kick gave Fort Scott it's first lead on Butler, 14-13, since the first quarter of a 2000 playoff game (the 'Hounds led 3-0 but went on to lose 24-3). Cross' 30-yard completion to Avery Kelly on third-and-13 from tbe Butler 39 set up the score.

After forcing a punt, Franklin broke the first play of the next drive 45 yards to the Butler 14. On third-and-eight from the 12, Cross found tight end Semde Ndebo in the end zone with 8:45 remaining.

And then, a shocker as Oshel's extra point went wide right, even from the center of the field and the breeze behind him. The 'Hounds led 20-13 but the lead could have been eight instead of seven.

The kickoff, however, appeared to be some redemption for the special teams. The ball hit near the west sideline at the 20 but kept going down the field and had to be picked by by Butler's Dee Williams when it became evident that it was going to go neither out of bounds nor into the end zone. He was lucky to geven get it back to the nine.

Eck returned to the game on this drive after spending two drives watching Columbus High graduate Clint Ellis play even more ineffectively, completing only one of four passes for three yards. Eck, as he went back in, was only eight of 20 himself for 98 yards when he was benched.

But after Barnett was held to no gain on first down, Eck hit Wallace Franklin in stride at the 50 and the Beaumont, Texas, sophomore ran the rest of the way to the end zone. Joe Paletta's kick tied the score at 20-20 with 7:24 to go.

Fort Scott started its next drive at its own 26 with 7:13 to go. Franklin gained 12 to the 45 on second-and-three. After a procedure penalty pushed the 'Hounds back five, Cross hit Ryan Westmoreland for 21 yards to the Butler 39.

The Greyhounds moved the ball down to the Butler 18 with 1:15 to go, facing fourth-and-one.

Oshel's miss and some special team problems the week before weighed on Rhoades' mind. He also saw a confident group who wanted a chance to put the Grizzlies away.

"I felt like our offense was moving the ball well as it had all night," Rhoades said. " I had a lot of confidence in them. I got in the huddle and looked in those kids' eyes and asked our offensive coordinator, Josh Gooch, and they were very confident as they should have been."

The Greyhounds sent Franklin up the middle. He was stopped at the 18, one yard shy of the first down.

"I think everybody (who's reading) will know I'm a liar if I said I wasn't re-thinking it," Rhoades said. "But there's no question, looking back on it, it would have been nice to have a shot to kick the field goal. Some of the things that go through your mind on that is there's reason we're in this position because we missed (an extra point) from even closer and in the middle of the field. That part of our team had been doing such a good job but it's struggled the last two weeks missing a few extra points and having a lot of issues with our protection.

"There were a lot of things that go into your thoughts with just a few moments to decide just what you want to do. l'll tell you what...I'll replay that one in my mind for a long time. I just trust that the good Lord has brought us to this point for a reason and it's hard to second guess all the positive things that are happening. That one's rough on me."

Butler's first score of the game was set up by Maurice Gray's interception return that gave the Grizzlies the ball at Fort Scott's 43. Two big runs by Johnson set up fullback Darrin Seiwert's one-yard plunge with 7:36 on the clock. Paletta's PAT kick was successful.

The Greyhounds tried to answer on the next drive as a 59-yard bomb from Cross to Kelly put the ball on Butler's 11. But Franklin fumbled on the next play and the Grizzlies recovered.

Butler was putting together another drive but Scooter Rogers, one of the conference's top players in passes defense, picked off Eck on a diving interception at the Greyhound 41.

Controversy came on the next play as Cross found Ndebo for what should have been a five-yard gain. However, the official nearest the play ruled Ndebo's knee was not down when he fumbled and Butler recovered.

The first nit-pick: It didn't appear Ndebo's knee was down. The second: It didn't appear as if Butler had recovered inbounds.

The 'Hound defense, however, responded and forced Butler to punt.

The effort of the conference's top-ranked defense was amazing enough when you consider the hype and pressure of taking on the nation's No. 1 team and the top KJCCC team in total offense. What made the effort more spectacular was that the 'Hounds were missing a number of starters. Backup defensive backs were batting balls down or smothering receivers. And the starters on the defensive line almost never got to rest.

"We're banged up on defense," Rhoades said. "We're missing several starters. We're proud of those kids. We had several defensive linemen who never came off the field. And at that position in particular, that's pretty remarkable. Again, it shows the type of character those kids have. The intestinal fortitude that they demonstrate and good coaching. Coach (Chad) Adams and (Chris) McAlister have done a great job preparing those kids. I'm proud of the effort that put forth tonight."

Butler got a 35-yard field goal from Paletta early in the second quarter to go up 10-0. But Kelly brought the ensuing kickoff back 42 yards to Butler's 45 and Franklin found 13 yards up the middle on the first play of the drive.

Those efforts set up a fourth-down, two-yard touchdown run by Franklin with Oshel's PAT kick brining the 'Hounds within 10-7 with 3:39 to go.

Paletta created the halftime margin, 13-7, when he hit a 42-yard field goal, his longest of the season, with 57 seconds left in the half.

There was no scoring in the third quarter, thanks in part to a big he Greyhounds made on a fourth-and-eight at their own 38 with 6:12 to go in the period. It was after that drive that Eck was benched.

Franklin matched his season high, achieved last week at Air Force Prep, with 170 yards on 32 carries. Kelly caught five passes for 136 yards and Ndebo caught for for 38.

Johnson led Butler with 81 yards on 11 carries, a little bit over his season average. But Barnett was held well below his average as he gained only 37 yards on 12 carries.

Eck finished the night 10 of 23 for 192 yards. Franklin caught for passes for 113 yards.

Thatcher Staerling had a sack for the 'Hounds and Kwame Jordan batted down a pass in the third quarter that kept Butler from coverting a third down.

"Again, I want to emphasise the fact that we were in that position because of a bunch of kids who were willing to pour their hearts out on that field tonight, "Rhoades said. "We're thankful for the fans who came out to watch us. There's a lot of people that make a football program go and I apprciate each person who's been involved in that from the people who support us as sponsors and contributors to the program financially and the people that come and watch the games, to the coaches and the players and the coaches' wives. My family makes some sacrifices as the family of a coach and I appreciate that and so just even those things are things you think of at a time like this. You're really proud of what's going on but you're struggling at the same time."

The 'Hounds will be at Highland's Kessinger Field for a 1p.m. kickoff. The Scotties started the season 2-0 but have lost six straight, including a 35-13 decision at Dodge City Saturday night.

"Highland's a much-improved team also this year," Rhoades said. "They've got a really good quarterback and they've got a real good defense from what I'm told. I haven't watched them a lot on film. They're a good team and I've been told they play well at home. They had Garden City down at halftime.

"I told the kids tonight in the locker room that how we respond to this game tonight will define our program. If we're able to bounce back and build on some of the things we were successful with tonight, I think we have a promising future the rest of the season."

NOTES -- The last time the Greyounds rushed for over 100 yards on Butler was in 1997 when they gained 143 yards. in a 30-17 loss. Jason Graham led the 'Hounds with 71 yards that day....

This was only the fourth time Fort Scott has only scored 20 points on Butler in the last 14 meetings...