EL DORADO, Kan. - Waiting an 18 hours to kickoff did not hold up the No. 18 Dodge City Community College Football team as the Conquistadors pulled off a 7-3 upset win over No. 12 Butler Community College at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex on Sunday, September 25th. 

With their first win over a ranked team this year, DC3 improves to 4-1 and 1-1 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Grizzlies lost for the second straight game to fall to 2-2 with a 2-1 conference record. The 10 total points is the second-lowest scoring game in the 86-game history between Dodge City and Butler.

On their second play of the game, Conquistador wideout Douglas Butts would fumble on an option play allowing for Butler to recover at the Dodge City 31-yard line and have the short field. Butler would lose the field position on a bad snap over the quarterback's head followed by a sack to push the Grizzlies out of field goal range and forced to punt. Defenses would shine for both squads in the rest of the half with neither team able to offensively produce much as Jordan Scarlett would miss a 42 yard field goal with 4:49 left to go in the first quarter. On the ensuing possesion for the Grizzlies, a massive hit by Marquise Blair jarred the ball lose before recovering and settling for a 37-yard field goal to make the game 3-0. The rest of the half saw DC3 stall on offense while Butler would miss a 27-yard chip shot field goal, leaving the score 3-0 at intermission. 

On the opening kickoff of the second half, CJ Sims would run what what would appear to be a return for touchdown that would be brought back for a personal fould 20 yards behind the play. Butler would recover and benefit from a few timely penalties by DC3 before Quandreko Statham would come up with the big play and strip the ball one yard from the goal line. Alex Becker would flip the field position for the Conquistadors with the wind at his back in the rest of the third quarter to keep the Butler offense in check. 

Heading into the fourth quarter, Caden Walters would recover from a huge hit by two Grizzly players and injury to convert on fourth and five to keep the drive alive head deep into Butler territory. With the ball at the Grizzly five-yard line, AJ Walker would fumble the ball and recover to thwart what would seemingly be Dodge City's best chance of the game. After trading the next five posessions, DC3 would get the ball at their own 40-yard line with 3:24 remaining. Walters would complete a fourth down and four yard play to give the Conqs a first down and goj 7-10 passing to get the Conqs down to the Butler 3-yard line capped off with a 20-yard reception by Austin Watkins after the ball deflected off Braxton Haley. With 27 seconds remaining, Tyler Minor would punch in the go-ahead score with a Sebastian Mejia extra-point putting the Conqs up 7-3. 

Butler's final chance at a game-winning score intercepted on the final play of the game by Jordan Semanat, giving DC3 their first win over Butler since 2005. 

Dodge City held a 265-163 total yards advantage and had the game's only interception of the day. DC3 was penalized 13 times for 128 yards while Butler was flagged six times for 50 yards. The Dodge City defense held Grizzly running back Kevon Abrams, who was averaging an NJCAA-leading 158.7 yards per game, to only 26 total yards on 11 rushes. 

Walters would complete 18-of-31 passes for 140 yards including 58 yards passing on the final drive of the game. "He's Gumby and durable" said head coach Gary Thomas in a post-game interview on 1550 AM the Sports Hound. "He made big-time throws when he had to. With ice water in his veins, he does everything you want him to do and managed the game well."

Minor led the Conquistadors rushing with 39 yards on the ground while Austin Watkins hauled in six catches for 53 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, a complete team effort was led by Semanat with 10 tackles while Statham had eight tackles. Ovenson Cledanord had six total tackles while Jermane Conyers filled gaps on the defensive line all game and finished with five tackles. 

Another road trip awaits the Conquistadors next Saturday, when they will head to Independence for a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday, October 1st. The Pirates were 27-24 come-from-behind winners over Iowa Central on Saturday and are 1-2 on the year with an 0-2 record in the KJCCC.