Defense Carries No. 11 Butler to Home Win Over Iowa Central

EL DORADO, Kan. – The 11th ranked Butler Grizzlies used smothering defense and a touchdown in the final seconds to secure a 7-3 win over the Iowa Central Tritons on Saturday afternoon at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex.

Butler (7-3) snagged the win over the Tritons (5-6) in the Grizzlies final non-conference contest of the regular season. Next up for Butler in its regular season finale, the Red Ravens. Coffeyville travels to El Dorado this coming Saturday for an 11 a.m. kick to make up the postponed game from Sept. 21st that was pushed back due to inclement weather. With a Butler win, they are outright conference champions.

Iowa Central scored the game's first points with 1:56 remaining in the fourth quarter as Nolan Gustafson connected on a 40-yard field goal, capping a nine-play, 57-yard drive to make it 3-0.

Click here to view the postgame press conference with head coach Brice Vignery and student-athletes Landon Boss and Jayson Zardavets.

The Grizzlies took over on their own 25-yard line. Freshman quarterback Jayson Zardavets was leading the offense, having taken over for an injured Mason McHugh on the Grizzlies second drive of the game in the first quarter.

Zardavets put together a string of clutch plays on Butler's final drive. The first was a 15-yard field flipping scramble on third and six. As he slid, a Triton linebacker hit him head-to-head and was ejected for targeting, giving Butler an extra 15 yards to the Iowa Central 30. The next came on a fourth and six from the ICCC 26 as Zardavets found receiver Daveon Walker across the middle of the field for a 17-yard pickup. Following that, ICCC was called for a pass interference in the end zone on first and goal giving the Grizzlies the ball on the 2 with 11 seconds left. The next play, Zardavets kept the ball on a read option and went into the end zone untouched, giving Butler a 7-3 lead following Aidan Battle's extra point with five seconds to play.

TOUCHDOWN GRIZZLIES‼️‼️

The Grizzlies first points of the game are a go ahead QB keeper from @zardavets to take a 7-3 lead with 5 seconds to play#RoarGrizz�� pic.twitter.com/xO17RiNH1D

— Butler Grizzlies (@ButlerGrizzlies) November 16, 2024

Iowa Central's hook and ladder on the final play was unsuccessful as the Grizzlies escaped with the win. It was the Triton's fifth loss by one score or less this season.

Zardavets finished 17-of-30 through the air for 193 yards. His main target was Walker who led Butler with five catches for 89 yards including two on the final drive.

It was a game of missed opportunities for Butler. The Grizzlies were 1-5 in the red zone, missing three field goals and having another blocked. Butler was just 4-17 (24%) on third down while Iowa Central was 3-12 (25%). Wind played a part in the game the whole way with gusts reaching as high as 25 mph.

Butler rushed for just 32 yards on 31 carries as Iowa Central rushed for 152 yards on 34 attempts. Markellus Bass finished with 45 yards on 18 carries for the Grizzlies and Cyncir Bowers led ICCC with 91 yards on 18 carries.

Defensively, Gabe Welch led Butler in tackles for a fourth straight game with nine. Fellow linebacker Landon Boss added eight of his own. Defensive tackle Kainen White finished with three tackles for loss while Demetrie Morgan had a tackle for loss and two quarterback hurries.

On the first possession of the second half, Grizzly safety Gerard Reed III intercepted Iowa Central's Ty Purdy, giving the ball to Butler on the 17-yard line. On Iowa Central's second drive, Craig Royal snagged the ball away from running back Cyncir Bowers as he was going out of bounds, forcing the fumble and setting Butler back up in business on the Triton 27. Both possessions saw Butler come up empty with a missed 29-yard field goal and another blocked from 28-yards out.

Another turnover forced by the Grizzly D!@CraigRoyalJr snags the ball away from the Triton ball carrier before he falls out of bounds ��#RoarGrizz�� pic.twitter.com/evtd6JQUvs

— Butler Grizzlies (@ButlerGrizzlies) November 16, 2024

The Grizzly defense forced two turnovers and held Iowa Central to its fewest points all season, not allowing a touchdown. It marked the fourth time this season the Butler defense allowed 10 points or less as they also held the Tritons to just 86 passing yards, their fewest since 2019.

Iowa Central quarterback Ty Purdy was 9-of-18 for 75 yards and the one interception. Defensively for the Tritons, Howard Brown had three tackles for a loss and a sack. The Tritons had 10 tackles for loss in the game compared to Butler's seven.

Notes:

• The win tied Butler's lowest scoring output of the season as they also scored seven in a 48-7 loss at Iowa Western.
• The seven points scored was the lowest for Butler in a home game since Nov. 11th, 2017 in a 7-0 loss to Iowa Central in the final game of the season.
• The 7-3 win was the lowest scoring win for Butler dating back to 2017 in a 6-2 win over Highland.
• It also marked the lowest scoring home win for Butler dating back to 1984 when they defeated Hutchinson 7-0 on Sept. 15th.
• Head coach Brice Vignery reached career win number 20 with Butler. He becomes the eighth Grizzly coach all-time to reach the 20-win mark and is one win behind Brian McNeely (1982-84).