The lights shined bright on Dodge City on Saturday as the #9 Conquistadors were featured on ESPN+ and took on Butler in a KJCCC clash and continued to rewrite the story of Dodge City football behind a 31-10 win marking the first home win over Butler since 1995.
The victory marks the third straight for the Conqs this season moving them to 6-3 on the year and 4-1 in KJCCC play. The win earns the Conqs a second-place finish in the KJCCC after being picked to finish sixth in the conference and the three-game win streak is the longest since the 2017 season.
After gearing up for the game with a helicopter delivering the game ball the Conqs couldn't be outdone on the field as they had an electrifying start to the game with Edward Wilson busting off a 97-yard kickoff return to give the Conqs a 7-0 lead. After three-and-outs the next four drives, two by each team it was the Grizzlies of Butler that got the offense moving first getting a short field and taking advantage on a six-play 45-yard drive scoring a touchdown to tie the contest at 7-7 with 6:30 left in the first quarter. Grizzlies would score again on their next drive hitting a 43-yard field goal to give Butler the 10-7 lead. The Conqs would trail until in the second quarter when they put together a seven-play drive to cover 56 yards and cap it with a one-yard Stone Wilson touchdown run making it 14-10.
The Conqs would force a punt by Butler to open the second half and then mount another scoring drive as Bryce Conover connected with Javon Campbell for a spectacular one-handed grab on a 32-yard touchdown catch and the Conqs lead grew to 21-10. Conqs would add a 27-yard field goal by Angel Dominguez in the final minute of the third quarter to carry a 24-10 advantage into the fourth quarter. In the fourth the Conqs defense continued to stymie Butler and the offense found the endzone once more covering 48 yards on five plays with a 12-yard touchdown run by Wilson making it 31-10 and the Conqs would go on to earn the victory by that margin.
Defensively the Conqs held their sixth opponent to 17 points or less this season and their sixth opponent to 270 total yards or less in a contest, while holding their fifth opponent to under 100 total yards rushing, as the Grizzlies had just 10 points, 268 total yards, and 74 yards rushing. Moses Sarweh and Tyrence Crutcher each tallied six tackles, while Dwight Nunoo and Bobby Arnold III each had five sacks. Alexandre Dedieu and Kavion Majors each recorded a sack for the Conqs.
On offense, the Conqs only had 287 total yards but were 6-13 on third down and ran the ball efficiently in the contest. Conover stepped in at quarterback and was 9-15 for 111 yards with a touchdown, with his touchdown connection going to Campbell who caught four passes for 80 yards and score. Wilson ran for 77 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns.
The Conqs will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, November 11th when they travel to Independence to take on the Pirates with a 1:00 pm kick.
