Snow amasses 511 offensive yards in see-saw victory over No. 8 Butler Community College
EL DORADO, Kansas—The Snow College football team earned a 50-49 win in overtime, amassing 511 yards of total offense, to defeat Butler Community College last Saturday in a game that will be remembered as a classic.
Following a tough loss to No. 1 New Mexico Military Institute a week prior, the No. 10 Badgers were faced with their second top- 10 matchup in as many weeks as they traveled to El Dorado, Kans., to take on the No. 8 Grizzlies.
Snow quarterback Daisean Cash completed 18 of 29 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Running back Rahsul Faison led all rushers with 75 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
All-purpose player Carsen Manookin added 177 all-purpose yards—65 rushing, 112 receiving—and two touchdowns, while receiver Dallin Bentley caught two touchdown passes totaling 37 yards.
Butler entered the matchup with a 2-0 record after claiming wins over Garden City Community College and Highland Community College (both in Kansas) in its first two weeks of action.
The Grizzlies boasted one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in freshman Jake Wolff, who, entering the matchup, led the nation in passing yards and was second in the country in yards per game.
That didn’t stop the Badgers from coming out of the gates flying. The Badgers forced a three-and-out on the Grizzlies’ opening possession. Then on fourth down, Maclaran Bird blocked the Grizzlies’ punt and recovered at the 1-yard line. Manookin quickly punched in the short rush to give the Badgers the early lead.
After forcing a punt on the Grizzlies subsequent drive, Snow put together an eight-play, 76- yard drive, highlighted by a 19- yard quarterback keeper from Cash for a touchdown. With PAT, the Badgers took the lead, 14-0.
The Badger defense continued to play well in the first quarter and converted another Butler punt into points on the next series. This drive was aided by a 30-yard completion from Cash to Elijah Ervin to set up the Badgers in Butler territory. Cash capped off the drive by finding a wide-open Bentley for a pass. Bentley waltzed untouched into the end zone to give Snow College a 21-0 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
The Badgers flexed their defensive muscles on the Grizzlies next drive. Butler drove down the fieldandtosetupafirstand10 from the 11-yard line. An incom- plete pass, a sack and a completed pass left the Grizzlies with fourth- and-2 from the 3-yard line.
But Snow College stuffed the attempted run play and took over on downs from inside the 2-yard line. The Badgers then marched 98 yards down the field and scored their fourth touchdown of the game. It was Cash again who completed back-to-back passes to Manookin. The second of the passes led to a 23-yard touch- down reception that Manookin took to the end zone, weaving between Grizzly defenders, to give Snow College a 28-0 lead.
Butler finally punched back and scored on the next drive. The Grizzlies moved quickly down the field and scored in just under 2 minutes to bring the score to 28-7. They then forced a three-and-out, but the punt was influenced by a strong wind and set the Grizzlies up at the Snow College 30. Three plays later and the Grizzlies had cut the Badger lead in half. The score stayed 28- 14 going into halftime.
The Grizzlies received the second-half kickoff and used a good return to their advantage. They capitalized on the short field and scored within five plays to bring the score to 28-21 just minutes into the third quarter. Then, midway through the period, Butler tied up the score with a 33-yard passing touchdown from Wolff to Quavez Humphreys.
Snow College responded immediately. On the next drive, the Badgers went nine plays and 75 yards to find the end zone. It was Faison who carried the ball across the goal line on a 15-yard rush to give the Badgers a 35-28 lead.
The Badgers punted to open the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies returned the punt 82 yards for a touchdown by A.J. King. After a successful PAT, the score was again level at 35-35.
The fourth quarter was score- less until late in the period when Faison capped off an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 10-yard rush and his second touchdown of the game, giving Snow College a 42-35 lead.
After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, Butler needed to go the full length of the field. Butler moved the ball well, aided by defensive pass interference calls on back-to-back plays. Eventually the Grizzlies found themselves set up first and goal from the 2-yard line.
Wolff called his own number on the goal-line play, but fumbled the football, which was recovered by Snow College at their own 1-yard line with 15 seconds to play. The Badgers elected to call a quarterback sneak to try and get some breathing room from their own end zone.
However, Cash fumbled the snap. The ball was recovered by the Grizzlies in the end zone for a touchdown, which brought the game to 42-41 with the PAT pending.
Butler originally lined up to go for two and the win, but a procedural penalty moved them back five yards. At that point, the Grizzlies elected to kick the extra point, which tied the game and sent it into overtime.
Butler got the ball first in overtime beginning at the Snow College 25-yard line. Facing a third and 8, Wolff again found Humphreys in the end zone and with a successful PAT, the Grizzlies took a 49-42 lead—their first lead of the game.
Snow College’s chance from the 25-yard line took only a single play of supreme trickery. Manookin took the handoff from Cash to the left and then pitched it to Marquise Montgomery on the reverse. Montgomery shoveled the ball back to Cash who found a wide-open Bentley in the end zone to bring the Badgers within one.
Instead of attempting the PAT to force a second overtime, Snow College elected to go for two. Cash handed the ball to Faison who took it across the goal line untouched to give the Badgers the 50-49 overtime victory.
The Badgers will return home to take on the Hawks from Gila River Junior College Saturday inside Terry Foote Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers. com.
