No. 9 Garden City outlasts 12th-ranked Butler in season opener

Garden City, KS-It wasn't hard to tell that it was week one on Thursday night. 

Despite racking up 129 yards in penalties, Garden City found a way. James Jones ran for two touchdowns and hit the century mark on the ground, Mercer transfer, Fred Davis chipped in 64 yards rushing and a score, and the ninth-ranked Broncbusters escaped with a 27-22 victory over No. 12 Butler.  

"It's the first game, so we told the guys do whatever you have to do to get a win," second-year defensive coordinator, Chenelle Jones said afterwards. "We came up with some big stops in certain situations." 

The biggest of them all came in the waning seconds after Butler recovered an onside kick. From there, the Grizzlies drove to the Garden City 26. But on fourth-and-nine, Tanner Murray, a University of Texas-San Antonio transfer, was picked off by Cameron Upshaw, who returned it 22 yards up the right sideline before sliding down safely. 

"I know we made a lot of mistakes, but I loved the effort," Jones added. "But a lot of this came down to preparation."

For the most part, the defense was solid, yielding just 257 total yards. They limited the Grizzlies to 62 on the ground after surrendering 226 in last year's matchup. 

"We watched a lot of film on them," Jones explained. "We knew how many yards we gave up to them last year. We've been preaching that to these guys all summer."

Garden City did not give up a first down in the opening quarter. In fact, the Broncbusters held the ball for 12 of the game's first 15 minutes.  And after stalling on a 10-play drive early in the period, the Broncbusters finally took advantage of the what the defense had served up, mainly thanks to Dakota Doyle-Robinson, who sacked Murray twice in a span of three plays, which forced Butler to punt from their own 35. 

On Garden City's ensuing possession, the Broncbusters drove 76 yards in 12 plays. On third-and-7 from the Grizzlies 18, Jones danced off left guard for a touchdown and a 7-0 advantage. 

"We had other teams watching us on film saying man you guys looked good," Head Coach, Tom Minnick said. "But most times, we just had way too many mistakes." 

Butler though eventually tied the game before the half on Seth McGowan's 30-yard rushing touchdown with 3:37 remaining in the quarter.  

"It's nice to get a win, but we still have to clean things up," Minnick said. "Everybody has to be on the same page." 

The game remained tied until late in the third quarter when Jones polished off a 10-play, 87-yard march with a 14-yard touchdown run to put the Broncbusters up by six. But Braxton Frey's extra point was blocked by Ashton Levells and returned 90 yards for a two-point conversion.  

"It's those little things that hurt you so bad," Minnick said. 

Leading by four entering the fourth, the Broncbusters added a little cushion when Davis, an FCS All-American at Mercer in 2021, plowed in from two yards out. But Jalen Daniels misfired on a pass to Demond Demas on the two-point conversion, and Garden City was up 19-9 with 12:03 remaining.  

The Grizzlies didn't blink.  

Brice Vignery's team drove 65 yards in just seven plays. On third-and-10 from their own 39, Murray hit Justin Stephens for 26 yards. Three plays later, Murray found Dominick Foster wide open for a 23-yard touchdown to make it 19-16. 

"The good thing about our guys is they responded all night," Minnick said. "As frustrating as it was, we found a way to get it done." 

Garden City extended their lead the next time they had the ball. Jones 31-yard sprint to the end zone coupled with Khamran Laborn's two-point conversion gave Minnick's bunch what appeared to be a comfortable cushion.  

But in Junior College football, things aren't quite that simple.   

Murray engineered a 13-play, 72-yard drive that was punctuated by Dante Daniels, who beat Vanderbilt transfer, Daniel Martin on a slant for a three-yard touchdown to pull the Grizzlies to within five. Moments later Isaac Saye's onside kick deflected off Geovanni Ribalta and into the arms of Butler's Seth LeClaire at the Grizzlies 46.  

"We should have definitely had that," Minnick said. "We are pretty fortunate that it didn't come back to bite us."

Daniels finished 14-of-21 for 142 yards for Garden City, which avenged last year's seven-point loss in El Dorado. He added 29 yards on the ground. Doyle-Robinson had three sacks. 

Murray was 14-of-32 for 195 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. McGowan carried the ball 10 times for 45 and a score, and Stephens had three catches for 54 yards.