Dunn throws two TDs, Bass rushes for two more as Butler ties 2005 record with 58 first-half points.
BY CHARLES CHANEY
EL DORADO, Kan.—Saturday night felt like someone hit rewind on Butler football.
For three hours, the Grizzlies were the team everyone in junior college football used to fear. Those fast, physical, ruthless, and relentless Butler teams that laid the hurt on so many teams and on Sautrday night, Ellsworth was just the unfortunate foil.
The result was an 86-0 demolition that looked like a scoreboard error but wasn’t.
The 86 points were the second-most in school history, trailing only the 89 Butler put on Highland back on Sept. 10, 2011. The Grizzlies also tied a nearly two-decade-old school record for points in a half, matching the 58 they dropped on Hutchinson in 2005. And for good measure, Butler’s four blocked punts… yes, four… has to be an NJCAA record.
Head coach Kyle Woodall wasn’t doing cartwheels over the numbers.
“Whether you win by one or 86, the standard stays the same,” he said. “I was really proud of our mindset tonight. When you get up that big, guys can start doing their own thing, but we stayed locked in. Every snap was a chance to get better.”
They didn’t just get better, they got downright mean. Butler needed all of six plays and 59 seconds to open the scoring, with Dylan Dunn hitting Nolan Chambers for 30 yards on the game’s first snap and Markellus Bass punching in an 11-yard touchdown three plays later.
Ellsworth actually gave the illusion of a football game on its first drive, hitting a 35-yard pass to reach the Butler 30. Then they missed a 39-yard field goal and from there the night went off the rails.
Butler’s next defensive series lasted three plays and ended with a punt attempt that didn’t even make it to the return man because Levi Wittenberg blew it up. The hometown kid from El Dorado not only blocked the kick but fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown.
He admitted there was some personal history in play.
“I got harped on last year for not scooping and scoring against NEO,” Wittenberg said. “This time I just thought, ‘Man, I gotta pick it up. I gotta, gotta pick it up.’ I knew I had to get it done.”
For coach Woodall he says Wittenberg is BUCO.
“He’s Butler,” Woodall said. “He wants to come out and play. He’s what you want at Butler. Obviously, being a home town kid, he understands that but he’s awesome. I love that kid.”
For Wittenberg, the night was especially satisfying.
“I’ve been going to camps here since I was in fifth grade,” he said. “Butler means a lot to me, especially the injury last year and how the coaches supported me through it. Great group of guys here, great group of coaches. I love this place.”
“Special teams are part of our culture,” Woodall said. “When you block a punt on a return call, that’s just effort and want-to. Levi has built his career on that.”
From there, Butler essentially started running a clinic. Dunn hit Nakai Poole for a 14-yard touchdown. Bass went full track-meet mode with a 57-yard sprint to set up Dunn’s 8-yard keeper. And with 42 seconds left in the first quarter, Dunn uncorked a perfect 40-yard strike to Leashaun Atchison. Scoreboard: Butler 34, Ellsworth 0.
And the Grizzlies weren’t done yet.
The second quarter was more of the same, only meaner. Running back Kaden Moorman pounded the ball inside and scored from five yards out. Bass, because apparently 57 yards wasn’t enough cardio, ripped off a 20-yard touchdown. Hunter Rioux added a 29-yard field goal just to prove Butler could settle for three.
Then, just before halftime, Caden Lappe got a piece of another punt, Isaac Martin scooped it and Butler had a 58-0 lead heading to the locker room.
That was the moment it became clear this was more than a blowout, it was a statement. The last time Butler had this much fun in a half, gas was under $2 a gallon and Troy Morrell was still patrolling the sideline.
Ellsworth, meanwhile, looked like it was stuck in a loop of football nightmares.
The Panthers cycled through four quarterbacks, converted just 3-of-17 third downs, and finished with and this is not a typo only one rushing yard. Their longest play of the night was that opening 35-yard completion. The rest of the evening? Punt, punt, punt, blocked punt, punt again.
“Our guys don’t blink,” Woodall said. “We train for adversity. If you put the ball on the 1-yard line, we’re still going to give you our best shot. They don’t flinch.”
The third quarter was basically a live scrimmage, but even the backups wanted a piece of the fun. Backup QB Davion Wilson capped a four-play drive with a 16-yard touchdown run, stretching the lead to 65-0. Ellsworth tried a fake punt late in the game, which backfired so badly it lost 28 yards and gave Butler the ball at the 4-yard line. Lucas Dickman scored on the next snap.
Joseph Vick finished off the scoring with a one-yard keeper midway through the fourth quarter, and Butler mercifully ran out the clock on its next possession.
Woodall said the decision to go for it late wasn’t about padding stats but it was about reps.
“I didn’t even know what the school record was,” he said. “We weren’t thinking about numbers. We were thinking about opportunities to get better. There’s going to be a time this season where we need two yards to win a game. You can’t mimic that in practice.”
Ellsworth, on the other hand, hasn’t beaten a Jayhawk Conference team on the field since Sept. 14, 2019, when it edged Dodge City 15-8, back when Patrick Mahomes had just finished his first season as an NFL starter and COVID wasn’t even a headline.
By the end, every snap felt like a chance for something wild to happen, whether it was another punt block, another broken run, another piece of Butler history being rewritten.
“Coach said before the game we were going to make the scoreboard look like a slot machine,” Wittenberg said “And that’s what we did.”
The Grizzlies now turn to Indy next Saturday at 1 p.m. The Pirates are 2-1 this season but the Grizzlies have won three in a row and five of the last seven.
“Indy is always a battle,” Woodall said. “We’ve got to get a lot better, clean up some penalties, and get healthy. But I think our guys are excited to welcome that challenge.”
No. 15 Butler 86, Ellsworth 0
Ellsworth 0 0 0 0 — 0
Butler CC 34 24 7 21 — 86
B – Bass 11 run (kick blocked)
B – Wittenberg 6 punt block return (Rioux kick)
B – Poole 14 pass from Dunn (Rioux kick)
B – Dunn 8 run (Rioux kick)
B – Atchison 40 pass from Dunn (Rioux kick)
B – Moorman 5 run (Rioux kick)
B – Bass 20 run (Rioux kick)
B – Rioux 29 FG
B – Martin 20 punt block return (Rioux kick)
B – Wilson 16 run (Iskandran kick)
B – Mucker 3 run (Iskandran kick)
B – Dickman 4 run (Iskandran kick)
B – Vick 1 run (Iskandran kick)
RUSHING: Ellsworth- Deandre Rutherford 19-37; Tyvon Cade 6-9; Armoud Seals 5-1; Devin Holman 3–4; Landen Mickelson 2–14; Justin Anderson 1–28. Butler – Markellus Bass 7-140; Kaden Moorman 11-55; Joseph Vick 7-44; Lucas Dickman 6-33; Jeremiah Singleton 3-32; Davion Wilson 3-27; Damon Mesa 4-22; Daimont Mucker 5-19; Dylan Dunn 2-17.
PASSING: Ellsworth- Drew Paulakovich 13-4-0-69; Armoud Seals 4-1-1-40; Devin Holman 6-2-0-9; Landen Mickelson 4-2-0-8. Butler – Dylan Dunn 12-6-1-109; Davion Wilson 3-2-0-26; Joseph Vick 1-1-0-22.
RECEIVING: Ellsworth- Deandre Rutherford 3-51; Donte Ferrell 1-35; Kaleb Ngwendson 1-21; Jesse Abruscati 1-12; Shane Helmick 1-7; Elijah Berg 1-4; Tyvon Cade 1–4. Butler – Leashaun Atchison 2-51; Nolan Chambers 2-33; Trey Noonan 1-22; Jeremiah Singleton 1-17; Kaden Moorman 1-15; Nakai Poole 1-14; Darius Felton 1-5.
