EL DORADO, Kan. – The Butler football team laid claim to a spot in the NJCAA national championship game by shutting out No. 5 Hutchinson 48-0 in the Region VI championship game on Sunday at Galen Blackmore Stadium.
With the win, Butler will most likely be offered an invitation to the Citizen’s Bank Bowl, which will be held Sunday, Dec. 5 in Pittsburg, Kan. The opponent is yet to be determined, but will likely either be No. 2 Navarro (Texas), No. 3 Grand Rapids (Mich.) or No. 4 Arizona Western.
Butler faced little challenge on Sunday in the Region VI championship game, earning its fifth win this season over a team ranked in the top five of the NJCAA poll. The Grizzlies rolled to a 34-0 halftime lead over Hutch and the defense held late in the game on Hutchinson’s only trip inside the red zone to preserve the shutout.
“It was a dominating win in all three phases,” Butler coach Troy Morrell said. “I am really proud of these guys for stepping up and delivering in such a dominating fashion. This was a great win.”
Butler’s offense was in control from the very beginning. The Grizzlies took the opening kickoff and marched 63 yards in eight plays, capping the scoring drive with a 30-yard pass from quarterback Zach Mettenberger to receiver Marcus Kennard.
Later in the first quarter, Butler’s offense went to work again, driving deep into Hutchinson territory. Facing fourth down, Morrell elected to go for it instead of trying a field goal. On the play, Mettenberger threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Brett Soft. The Grizzlies, who went for two following each touchdown, got a successful conversion on a run by Jasper Sanders to make the score 14-0.
Butler would score three touchdowns in the second quarter. Mettenberger threw touchdown passes to tight end Conner Combes and running back Ben Axon and then Mettenberger called his own number, scoring on a 10-yard touchdown run with just 23 seconds left in the half.
Butler scored just twice in the second half – one on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Mettenberger to Soft on the first possession of the third quarter and the other on a 12-yard Mettenberger pass to Craig Rosenstangle in the fourth quarter.
Hutchinson threatened just once, putting together an eight-minute drive that took the Blue Dragons to Butler’s 1-yard line with just over three minutes to play. The Grizzlies held, forcing an incomplete pass in the end zone on fourth down.
That was part of a dominating Butler defensive effort that shut out Hutchinson for the second time this season and has not allowed a touchdown in the past 12 quarters. The Grizzlies held Hutchinson to just 165 yards of total offense. That included a meager 12 yards of total rushing on 33 carries.
Meanwhile, Mettenberger had a banner day for the offense. He completed 24 of 31 passes for 382 yards and six touchdowns. The completions, yards passing and touchdowns were all season bests for the 6-5 quarterback from Georgia.
Receiver Marcus Kennard also had his best day as a collegiate receiver, with 11 receptions for 204 yards and a touchdown. He was one of seven Butler receivers with a catch in the game.
Butler will now await its bowl bid. A press conference has been slated for 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday on the Butler campus. The public is invited. More details will follow.
“Now we’ve put ourselves in position to compete for a national championship and we’re excited for the opportunity,” Morrell said. “Whoever we play, we’ll give it our all.”
