No. 6 Garden City Falls Short in Overtime Battle vs. No. 13 Butler, 26–23

Photo by: Adam Shrimplin/Garden City Athletics

Garden City, KS - No. 6 Garden City and No. 13 Butler gave Broncbuster Stadium a four-quarter fistfight Saturday night, and in the end it slipped away from Garden City, 26–23, in overtime-style alternating possessions. It was the kind of game Garden will feel like it lost more than Butler won: penalties in key moments, a wiped-out touchdown on a block-in-the-back in the first quarter, and a handful of missed chances inside the red zone. 

Both teams threw early punches. Garden City struck first, grinding out a 15-play, 50-yard march on its opening drive of the night. The Busters converted three fourth downs on the possession and came away with a 25-yard field goal from Lucca Alcaraz Valens for a 3–0 lead with 7:28 left in the first. 

Minutes later, it looked like Garden City's defense had delivered the game's first huge swing. Mike McDonald knifed through and blocked a Butler punt, and Greg Johnson scooped it and took it to the house — only for it all to come back on a blind-side block during the return. That flag erased six points and a momentum play that could've cracked the game open. Instead of going up two scores, Garden had to start over near midfield, and that sequence set the tone for a night where every Broncbuster breakthrough seemed to come with a whistle.

Butler answered early in the second quarter. After a blocked punt gave the Grizzlies short field, Markellus Bass scored on a 15-yard run, and Butler jumped ahead 7–3 with 11:21 remaining in the half. 

Garden City settled back in. Quarterback Jaydyn Sisk, who battled all game with his legs, capped a 15-play response drive of his own in the second quarter. Sisk punched in a 9-yard keeper with 2:59 left before halftime, and Alcaraz Valens' extra point put Garden up 10–7. That scoring march looked like classic Broncbuster football: physical run game, quarterback toughness, and just enough playmaking from guys like Tylik Burton and Bryce Dixon to keep the chains alive. 

After halftime, Garden City came out with a jolt. Fresh legs at quarterback paid off as DaeOnte' Mitchell ripped off a 33-yard touchdown run with 11:55 left in the third quarter to make it 17–7 Busters. At that point, Garden had all the momentum. The Busters were controlling the ground game, leaning into a rushing attack that would finish with 271 yards on 62 attempts — 95 from Mitchell, 72 from Ahmir Smith, and 66 gritty yards from Sisk, plus key touches from Burton and others. 

But Butler wouldn't go away.

The Grizzlies immediately answered after a Broncbuster miscue in the return game gave them the ball at the Garden 28. One snap later, Tate McNew hit DeColdest Crawford for a 28-yard strike to bring Butler back within 17–14. Then, after Garden was forced to punt, Butler drove late in the third and converted again: McNew found Nolan Chambers for a 10-yard touchdown with 13 seconds left in the quarter. The PAT, though, hooked wide — a huge moment. Instead of taking the lead at 21–20, Butler had to live with a 20–20 tie going into the fourth. That miss loomed large the rest of the way. 

The fourth quarter was pure tension.

Garden City leaned on its defense to get stops and leaned on Alcaraz Valens to cash in drives that stalled. The Broncbusters tied the game at 20–20 on a 25-yard field goal, then nudged back in front 23–20 on a 29-yarder. Butler answered with a 29-yard kick of its own to even the game again at 23–23, and then hit from 36 yards to make it 26–23. Both teams were trading short fields and red-zone trips under pressure, and every yard felt like a fistfight in a phone booth. 

Garden still had a chance in tight late-game situations — and that's where the self-inflicted stuff hurt most. The Busters were flagged 10 times for 96 yards, including multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that wiped out chunk plays and pushed them backward in plus territory. On one third-quarter series, a long Tylik Burton run that would've put Garden inside the Butler 10 was erased by an unsportsmanlike call behind the play. Later, in the first quarter, that block-in-the-back call wiped out what should've been a defensive/special teams touchdown. Those aren't just penalties. Those are points erased. 

And yet, even with all that, Garden City was right there.

The defense bowed up in key spots, forcing Butler into field goals instead of touchdowns in the closing sequence. Greg Johnson came up with an interception. Asher Horn was active again, flying downhill and finishing with 7 tackles to help limit Butler to just 212 total yards. Garden actually ran 22 more plays than Butler (77 to 55) and outgained them on the ground by 156 yards, pounding their way to 20 first downs. 

Burton continued to show his value as a do-everything weapon — running it in tight space, catching in traffic, and moving the sticks. Smith and Mitchell were steady between the tackles. Sisk absorbed contact all night and found ways to extend drives with his legs. And Alcaraz Valens was huge. He hit from 25, 25 again, and 29 in pressure spots, keeping the Busters in it and briefly putting them ahead late. 

But in the end, discipline (or the lack of it) decided the game. Garden City had the plays to beat a top-15 Butler team. Garden City had the run game to close it out. Garden City had the lead multiple times. But Garden City also kept giving those edges back — on flags after the whistle, on special teams miscues, and on drives that got to the doorstep and settled for three instead of seven. Another game where the Broncbusters will feel like they beat themselves. 

Final: Butler 26, No. 6 Garden City 23. The Busters drop to 5–2 overall, 2-2 in the Jayhawk.

Next up, Garden City hits the road to Council Bluffs, Iowa, for a showdown with Iowa Western.