ElDo Bulldogs blank Butler Bears 32-0

The El Dorado Springs Bulldogs pitched their second shutout in five games as they defeated the Butler Bears 32-0 on Friday night. Sept. 21, to improve to 4-0 in the Ozark Mountain Conference and 4-1 on the season.

The Bears began the night on offense but neither team’s offense managed to do much with the ball on their first two possessions. On the third Bulldog possession, ElDo began their drive at their own 24-yard line. Ten plays later, Haiden Overton made his way into the endzone from 21-yards out to put the Bulldogs up 6-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Brayden Housh executed an excellent onside kick that was recovered by Derek Hayes giving ElDo the ball once again. The Bulldogs failed to take advantage of the extra possession and turned the ball over on downs at the Butler 38-yard line. The Bears went 3-and-out and was forced to punt allowing ElDo to take over at their own 24-yard line as the first quarter came to a close.

Trey Babcock opened the ensuing drive with a 20-yard run but a few costly penalties killed the drive and forced ElDo into a punting situation.

After two plays of the Butler drive, Keilan Jaques managed to force the ball free from the Bear ballcarrier and Dylan Gallette recovered the loose ball. The Bulldogs managed to drive the ball down to the 3-yard line, thanks in large part to a 21-yard pass from Babcock to Gaven Morgan, but ElDo would be held out of the endzone.

On the first play of the Butler drive, a fumbled snap was recovered by Gallette in the endzone for another Bulldog touchdown, putting ElDo up 12-0 with 2:32 left in the half.

On the next Bear drive, the Bulldog defense again stood strong and forced a turnover on downs at the Butler 44-yard line. With less than a minute remaining, Babcock connected on two quick passes to Hayes, before tucking the ball on the third play and running for a 13-yard gain. Two plays later, Babcock connected with Shelby McKinney for an 18-yard touchdown to take the 18-0 lead as the first half came to a close.

In the second half, the Bulldog defense continued to stuff the Butler Bears offense. Gallette added an interception to his two fumble recoveries on the night and Butler finished with less than 100 yards of total offense.

ElDo would add two more scores in the second half, the first was a 12-play drive that was finished off with a Tanner Witt 26-yard touchdown run and the second was a 7-play drive that ended with Babcock connecting with Witt on a 19-yard touchdown pass.

Head Football Coach Derek Scroggins said, “Our defense played lights out again tonight and that’s a testament to how well our defensive staff prepared for Butler. Dylan Gallette had a great game, jumping on two fumbles, scoring a touchdown and getting a pick while leading our team in tackles with 13. Offensively, I thought we played pretty well outside of the three holding penalties and the block in the back. We came in knowing that Butler would bring a lot of pressure from the blitz, which opened them up to some long touchdown runs by Tanner Witt and Haiden Overton. I also thought that Trey Babcock did a good job stepping up as a passer in this game.”

“Special teams wise, it was great to see Brayden Housh execute that onside kick to Derek Hayes. That is something that Coach Pflug has worked with the kickoff team a lot and those guys did it to perfection. We took a step forward as a team today and we need to keeping getting better.”

The Bulldogs (4-1) next travel to Stockton on Friday night to take on the Tigers in the Cedar County Bowl.

BEAR HUG – Bulldog Senior Linebacker Bryson Rader makes an open field tackle on a Butler Bear during the Bulldogs 32-0 romp Friday night in Butler. Photo courtesy of the News Express.