Dodge City rallies by Butler 7-3 in final minute

All afternoon Sunday, No. 12 Butler Community College’s defense kept Dodge City out of the end zone and carried a slim 3-0 lead into the final minute.

But a freak pass play gave the 18th-ranked Conquistadors the ball at the Butler 1, and freshman running back Tyler Minor scored with 25 seconds left for a 7-3 victory.

The Conquistadors (4-1, 1-1) began at their 40 with 3:24 to play. On second-and-1 from the Butler 22, quarterback Caden Walters fired a pass toward the goal line. It bounced off wide receiver Braxton Haley, but Austin Watkins gathered it in before it hit the ground and fell at the Grizzlies’ 2.

“It was unbelievable,” Grizzlies coach Tim Schaffner said of the play. “If you’re going to win, you’ve going to need to make plays, and (Dodge) did that.”

Minor carried twice, gaining 1 yard on each carry, ending up with the score.

Dodge City went the 60 yards in 12 plays, running 2:59 off the clock. It finished with 235 offensive yards.

“I don’t want our defense to hang their head, because they are playing pretty well,” Schaffner said. “We’ve just got to find a way to finish. We’ve been able to do it the first two games, and this week we just weren’t able.”

The Grizzlies’ offense struggled all day, still looking for answers after a 49-7 loss last Saturday at Iowa Western. Butler (2-2, 2-1 Jayhawk Conference) had 163 total yards Sunday and has now gone eight consecutive quarters without an offensive touchdown. Still, it held a 3-0 lead on Chris Diddle’s 37-yard field goal in the second quarter.

“I tell our coaches all the time, we’re more like a high school team than a college football team,” Schaffner said. “We’ve got more guys that are 18 years old than the 20-, 21-year-olds that are on a typical college football team.”

Butler will have to shed the growing pains quickly, traveling to No. 5 Garden City next Saturday.

“The schedule doesn’t get any easier,” Schaffner said. “We need them to get better, we need them to mature and finish and make plays at the end of the game.”

The Grizzlies seemingly had added to their lead when C.J. Sims returned the second-half kickoff 95 yards, but a personal-foul penalty negated the score, putting the ball at the Dodge 42.

This story was originally published September 25, 2016 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Dodge City rallies by Butler 7-3 in final minute."