The Butler football team allowed an early touchdown and a very late touchdown on Saturday against Fort Scott, but controlled the rest of the contest as the Grizzlies beat the Greyhounds 43-12 at Galen Blackmore Stadium.
The beginning of the game was delayed for 30 minutes as a lightning storm passed over El Dorado. When the game started, Fort Scott moved quickly, forcing a Butler punt and then scoring on a 47-yard run by Luke Lundy.
Butler would answer with two touchdowns runs by Jasper Sanders, the first was a two-yard run with 4:51 to play in the first quarter and the second was a 16-yard run with 1:27 left in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Grizzlies struck quickly on a 73-yard pass from from quarterback Chandler Whitmer to receiver Javess Blue. Butler would get one quick strike when Dreamius Smith scored on a 53-yard run with 3:17 left in the second quarter, allowing the Grizzlies to take a 28-6 lead into halftime
Butler scored two more touchdowns in the second half, the first on a two-yard run by fullback Scott Lester and the second on an eight-yard pass from Whitmer to tight end Heath Train.
Fort Scott would score its second touchdown on a 10-yard run by Martese Jackson with one second left on the clock.
"It was a strange beginning for me and everybody; I've never been involved in a delay," Butler coach Troy Morrell said. "I don't think we were really ready to play. It's easy to lose focus when you have a young team and something like that happens.
"But I'm proud of the way the guys responded," Morrell said. "I thought we played well in all three phases and really took a step forward. We needed to be better that we were last week and I think we did that."
Whitmer finished the game by completing 16 of 28 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns. Kendall Wrenn caught five passes for 87 yards, the second straight game he has had more than 80 yards in receptions. Javess Blue led Butler in receiving yards with 116 on two catches. Dreamius Smith was Butler's top rusher with 73 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
Tommy Sanders led the Butler defense with seven tackles, while Bruce Campbell had a pair of sacks and Zach Miller had an interception.
Butler is now 1-1 on the season and 1-0 in Jayhawk Conference play. The Grizzlies will go on the road for the second time this season when they travel to Highland on Saturday, Sept. 10 for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the Scotties.
