Butler crushes Coffeyville for 23rd straight win over Ravens

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. – The Butler football team, ranked 12th nationally, scored touchdowns on three of its first four possessions on the way to a 53-6 victory over the Red Ravens on Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

With the win, Butler improves to 6-0 against Coffeyville in the stadium since it opened in 2001. The Grizzlies also run their winning streak against the Red Ravens to 23 consecutive games, dating back to 1997.

"They did play well; I'm really proud of them," coach Troy Morrell said of his team. "I wasn't sure how they would react coming out the bye week. We made a few mistakes, but overall it was a great performance."

Butler forced Coffeyville to punt on the first drive of the game, then went 65 yards in six plays to score the game's first touchdown with a 3-yard run by Ty Suggs.

Later in the first quarter, Butler was forced to punt and Ty Suggs delivered a beauty, booming a 66-yard kick that was downed inside Coffeyville's 1-yard line. On the very next play Jamone Boyd tackled Coffeyville's ballcarrier in the end zone for a safety, putting Butler up 9-0 with 4:39 left in the first quarter.

Butler added one more touchdown in the first quarter as Hunter Vaughn threw a laser-like pass to Dawson Elliott in the back corner of the end zone to make it a 16-0 Butler lead.

The Grizzlies scored their third touchdown with a bit of a trick play, as Chris Carson threw a halfback pass to receiver Michael Glatczak for a 32-yard touchdown. At that point, Butler was up 23-0 with an offense that showed no signs of slowing down.

"That was huge, just for momentum and confidence," Morrell said of the quick start offensively. "A lot of credit goes to the lineman up front. The guys were catching the ball and running the ball, it was all working."

Even when something went right for Coffeyville, it went well for Butler also. Coffeyville would score a touchdown late in the second half on a 6-yard pass from Dakota Collins to JJ Noremore, but the extra point was blocked and returned for a two-point conversion to make the score 25-6.

Butler would add a one last touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Hunter Vaughn to Trey Hallman with 27 seconds left in the period to make the score 32-6 at the half.

In the second half, Butler got touchdowns on 2-yard run by Hunter Vaughn, a 15-yard pass from Vaughn to Callen Hightower and a 21-yard checkdown from Vaughn to Aaron Plump in the fourth quarter.

Butler put up 540 yards of total offense, second only to the 579 yards put up against Independence in a 79-0 win. This game marks the second-highest point total of the season and the fifth time in seven games the Grizzlies have scored more than 40 points.

Individually, Vaughn was 22-34 passing for 297 yards and four touchdowns through the air. That is just one yard shy of his season high of 298 yards against Fort Scott. Vaughn also rushed for 45 yards on 10 carries. Chris Carson ran eight times for 80 yards while Ty Suggs had 10 carries for 54 yards.

Michael Glatczak had five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. Brady Moore had two catches for 85 yards. There were 13 different Grizzlies with at least one reception in the game. 

Defensively, Butler held Coffeyville to just 188 yards of total offense. Antwon Hadley and Darron Reddick each had interceptions while John Knight was the leading tackler with seven total, five of which were solo.

"This team can be as good as they want to be," Morrell said. "There is a lot of talent there, it's just a matter of putting it together every play, every game. It's about getting a little better every and every week. We're young and we'll make mistakes, but they play hard, with intensity and they have fun."