Butler will play for sole possession of the Pioneer Football League title on Saturday in Des Moines.

The title, which Butler already owns a share of is the Bulldogs’ first since 2009, marking a big turnaround over the past two seasons.

Redshirt junior quarterback Matt Lancaster’s outstretched arms were the difference-maker Saturday as Butler completed a 19-16 come-from-behind win over Jacksonville.

The victory, Butler’s first ever against Jacksonville, kept the Bulldogs (8-2, 7-0) undefeated in PFL play and secured them at least a share of the conference title.

“All three phases had their points in the game where they made key stops or stands or plays to get us to that point with the touchdown late,” Butler coach Jeff Voris said.

“It was a great team win and one that we need all hands on deck and a full 60 minutes to get it done.”

Lancaster’s final score capped a 95-yard drive and kept the Bulldogs’ perfect league season alive.

“It was wild,” Lancaster said. “We’ve had that the last couple games, and it just shows how much heart that we have as an offense and as a team.”

Lancaster finished with two touchdowns and 260 yards through the air.

The game marked the last home game for seven seniors, including co-captain and linebacker Jordan Ridley.

“Every senior wants to win on Senior Day, and the fact that we’d never beaten that team is an added bonus,” Ridley said.

The victory is Butler’s seventh straight and second-consecutive comeback win at home.

“This team never quits,”  Ridley said. “They always fight.That’s led to us pulling out a lot of victories that a lot of people wouldn’t think we’d be able to pull out.”

The Butler football team used running back Trae Heeter’s career high 231 rushing yards and two touchdowns to beat Davidson 31-20 on Saturday and remain undefeated in Pioneer League play.

“The win was good, because they’ve always given us trouble,” Butler head coach Jeff Voris said. “They play hard, and especially at their place, they’re really good.

The Bulldogs (7-2, 6-0) won their sixth straight game, while Davidson fell to 1-7 (1-4) on the year.

Butler was tied at 5-0 for the PFL going into the weekend, but Drake didn’t play Saturday and they took sole possession of first place. They now control their own destiny for the PFL championship.

Senior captain linebacker Jordan Ridley said they have tried to go 1-0 each week, and nothing was different against Davidson.

“We always take it one week at a time and treat each game like a championship,” Ridley said.

Heeter’s first touchdown came early in the second quarter to put the Bulldogs in the lead for good.

The PFL’s rushing leader scored his second touchdown on a 78-yard run late in the second half to give the Bulldogs momentum going into the locker room. At the time the Wildcats were making a push in momentum. Heeter said they needed the big play to get the momentum back in their favor.

“The offensive line made a big hole and I raced 78 yards to the end zone,” Heeter said.

Quarterback Matt Lancaster threw for two touchdowns and 277 yards and no interceptions. Lancaster has thrown just two picks all season, leading all PFL quarterbacks.

Davidson cut Butler’s early lead to 24-20 in the fourth quarter, but Lancaster’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Marque Martin-Hayes put the game out of reach for the Wildcats.

The Bulldogs host Jacksonville (6-2, 4-1) on Saturday, who was tied for the lead most of the season until losing to San Diego two weeks ago. The game is the Bulldog’s final home game.

The following week Butler travels to Drake for what could be a potential PFL championship game.

Ridley and co-captain Matt Storrey, an offensive lineman, were both a part of the 2009 PFL championship team.

Ridley said Saturday’s game against Jacksonville will be an emotional one.

“We’re lucky to be in the position that the last two games will mean something,” Ridley said.

Ridley said it would mean a lot to come in with a ring and go out with a ring.

“It would be amazing to do that,” Storrey said.

Storrey said it makes it a lot more exciting to end his career in the Butler Bowl being in the position they are in.

Butler junior running back Trae Heeter had a career-high 204 rushing yards to lead the Bulldogs to a 35-14 victory against Campbell in their Pioneer League opener.

Butler (2-2, 1-0) avenged last season’s 38-23 loss against the Camels (1-3, 0-1).

“Campbell got to us last year, and they beat us pretty bad,” Heeter said. “So we just talked about going out there and getting revenge on them and making it a redemption game.”

Heeter said his effort wasn’t done by him alone.

“The O-line did a great job opening holes all day, the receivers blocked well on the outside and there were running lanes everywhere,” he said.

Redshirt junior quarterback Matt Lancaster went 15 for 21 through the air for 168 yards and a touchdown. He added 61 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Butler coach Jeff Voris said the team played well for all 60 minutes and played more complementary football than it did in last week’s loss at Dartmouth.

“The offense and defense had to work better off of each other,” Voris said. “It was a great win against a really good football team.

Senior linebacker Jordan Ridley finished the game with nine tackles.

“We were definitely inspired the whole game just to come out and prove that we’re going to be a tough team to beat in this league,” Ridley said.

Butler stays home this weekend to take on PFL opponent Dayton, which the Bulldogs beat on the road last season with the help of a last-minute field goal.

“This week is as important as any because it’s the next one on the schedule,” Voris said. “And it just so happens to be Dayton, and you know they’ll be ready to play us.”

Annual meetings with Dayton have turned into a competitive rivalry since Voris began coaching Butler six years ago.

The Flyers (1-3, 0-1) lost their PFL opener against Jacksonville 21-17 last Saturday.

The Butler Football team got off to a slow start and couldn’t recover Saturday night, losing to Ivy League school Dartmouth 35-7.

The Bulldogs’ (1-2) lone touchdown came on a 5-yard pass from quarterback Matt Lancaster to Derek O’Connor with under 7:00 in the first half.

The Mean Green answered with 19 seconds remaining to extend their lead to 21-7 at the half.

Dartmouth added another touchdown in the third quarter and led 28-7.

The Bulldogs threatened to score late in the game, but fell short on a fourth and goal, before the Mean Green went on to score their final touchdown.

Lancaster went 25-for-35 passing and 267 yards. O’Connor led the Bulldogs with 164 receiving yards, including a 57-yard strike from Lancaster.

Running back Trae Heeter accounted for 61 yards on the ground on seven carries.

Jeremy Stephens and Jay Brummel led the Bulldogs defense with eight tackles apiece. Senior captain Jordan Ridley had seven.

The game was the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Mean Green, and Butler’s first contest against an Ivy League team.

Three different Butler quarterbacks hit the turf in front of a crowd of more than 4,000 at the Butler Bowl Saturday, but their combined efforts were no match for Marist senior quarterback Tommy Reilly.

Reilly’s 283 passing yards and two touchdowns led the Red Foxes (3-5, 2-3) to a 28-10 win over the Bulldogs (4-4, 2-3).

“We knew they were a good team coming in,” Butler coach Jeff Voris said. “Our guys played with great effort, but Marist played better.”

Despite the final score, it was Butler who came out with a strong start.

Just three plays into the first half, senior defensive back Jack McKenna nabbed an interception at the Red Foxes’ 26-yard line.

The Bulldogs could not come up with a touchdown off the drive, but senior kicker David Lang put Butler on the scoreboard with a 28-yard field goal.

It marked the last time Butler would score in the first half.

“We came out really hyped up, but they outplayed us, and we just didn’t respond,” sophomore cornerback Kevin Cook said.

With 5:38 left in the first quarter, Reilly connected on a 29-yard pass to junior tight end Anthony Calcagni to give Marist a 7-3 advantage.

The second half saw two more touchdowns for the Red Foxes on a 4-yard pass by Reilly and a 1-yard run by senior running back Matt Gray. The scores gave Marist a 21-3 lead going into the locker room.

The Bulldogs were hit with two key injuries at the end of the second quarter as well.

Senior linebacker Nick Caldicott was helped off the field after suffering an injury during a tackle, and senior quarterback Andrew Huck suffered a shoulder injury on the last play of the half.

Play was much closer in the second half, with Butler holding Marist to one touchdown and scoring one as well.

“We weren’t going to bend over and let this happen,” Cook said. “There was a lot of good leadership showing at halftime.”

Things began to look bleak for the Bulldogs when the Red Foxes scored another touchdown, stretching their lead to 28-3.

Butler made the game respectable by scoring the final touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, closing the deficit to 28-10.

Butler freshman quarterback Wade Markley recorded his first collegiate touchdown pass with a 29-yard toss to senior wide receiver Jeff Larsen.

“Those guys were put in a really tough situation,” Voris said. “I thought they did well for the situation they were in.”

Markley completed five of his six pass attempts for 83 yards in relief of Huck and redshirt sophomore Tom Judge.

Reilly was the star of the game though. He completed 21 of 24 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

Marist held a 38:58–21:02 advantage in time of possession by the end of the game and outgained Butler 431-284.

Senior defensive back Andy Dauch led the team in tackles with a career-high 14 stops.

“[Dauch] is a good football player,” Voris said. “He does his job, and he’s an outstanding leader in the locker room.”

Junior linebacker Jordan Ridley tallied 12 tackles for the Bulldogs. He is currently leading the Pioneer Football League in tackles.

After an off-day this Saturday, the Bulldogs will be back in the Butler Bowl against Davidson Saturday, Nov. 5 at noon.

Even with senior quarterback Andrew Huck throwing a career-high 381 yards, the Butler football team was not able to stop the running game of Pioneer Football League foe Campbell, dropping Saturday’s game 38-23.

“In any game, you’re going to get your ups and downs, and that’s kind of how our game went,” freshman cornerback  Jimmy Schwabe said.

The Bulldogs (3-3, 1-2) started the game off on the right foot—senior kicker David Lang’s—with two consecutive field goals in the first half, giving Butler an early 6-0 advantage.

Campbell’s offense rallied during the second quarter and took the lead from the Bulldogs, driving 54 yards in seven plays.

The Fighting Camels (2-3, 1-2) reached double-digit points with a field goal, but Lang came through with his third field goal of the half to make it a one-point game going into the locker room.

“We were in control the first half,” sophomore safety Jayme Szafranski said. “Then  they made a couple of plays [in the second half], and the momentum just kept going.”

The Fighting Camels stepped up their running game in the third quarter, scoring back-to-back touchdowns and boosting their lead to 24-9.

“In the second half, they  really went back to their running attack,” Schwabe said. “That was their philosophy.”

Campbell ended the game with 247 rushing yards compared to Butler’s 79.

Photo by Maria Porter

The Bulldogs were hampered by the losses of senior running back Trae Heeter and sophomore wide receiver Brandon Grubbe, who both left with injuries.

The game went on, however, and the Bulldogs ended the third quarter with a 67-yard touchdown pass from Huck to senior wide receiver Zach Watkins.

It was déjà vu for the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter.

Butler was able to end the game on a high note with a 41-yard pass from Huck to senior wide receiver Jeff Larsen.

However, the Fighting Camels scored two more touchdowns in the quarter to seal the victory.

Huck is now the second Butler quarterback to throw for more than 6,000 career yards after hitting the 6,020 mark on Saturday.

He also completed a career-best 34 of 47 passes against Campbell.

Huck wasn’t the only Bulldog to have a career-best performance during the game.

Sophomore wide receiver Brendan Shannon had a career-high 10 catches for 87 yards, and junior linebacker Jordan Ridley, who was later named the PFL Defensive Player of the Week, recorded a career-high 19 tackles.

Senior defensive back Andy Dauch also had a career-high 10 tackles.

Butler will play next at home, competing in the “Hoosier Helmet” game against Valparaiso on Saturday at 1 pm.

Despite a stone-wall defense in the second half and a record-breaking performance by senior wide receiver Zach Watkins, the Butler football team fell to Drake 24-14 in a battle of the Bulldogs on Saturday.

The Bulldogs from Drake (3-1, 1-0) managed to find the end zone first, despite a sack by Butler senior defensive lineman Grant Hunter and an interception by senior linebacker Nick Caldicott.

Drake put the Butler Bulldogs (2-2, 0-1) in an early hole with a 6-yard run into the end zone by senior running back Patrick Cashmore. Butler blocked the extra point attempt, keeping the deficit at 6-0.

After the Drake touchdown, Butler’s defense continued to hang tough, with junior linebacker Jordan Ridley and junior defensive lineman Jack Tennant nabbing back-to-back sacks.

The defensive push sent Drake’s offense back 12 yards and started a Butler drive that carried into the second quarter.

Photo by Maria Porter

Less than a minute into the second quarter, the Butler Bulldogs found the end zone when senior wide receiver Jeff Larsen made a 24-yard reverse pass to Watkins for the touchdown.

“We try something every week that keeps them guessing, ‘will they or won’t they?’” head coach Jeff Voris said. “We thought we had that one pretty polished up.”

The reception gave Watkins his second school record in as many games. Watkins moved past Dan Bohrer on Butler’s all-time receiving yards list with 2,308.

Butler made the extra point, taking a short-lived 7-6 lead. A Drake touchdown with 6:58 left in the half followed by a successful two-point conversion and another run into the end zone gave Drake a 21-7 halftime advantage.

The third quarter was a defensive one for both teams, with a field goal by Drake accounting for the quarter’s only points. It would be the last score of the day for Drake’s offense.

“[The defense] was up to tempo on game speed,” Voris said. “Everyone was doing their job, being in the right place at the right time.”

Butler’s offense made a late push with a touchdown during the game’s final two minutes. Senior quarterback Andrew Huck completed a 27-yard pass to senior wide receiver Jordan Koopman to cut the lead to 24-14.

Butler’s defense recovered a fumble moments later, but the ensuing offensive drive ended with Huck being intercepted, preserving Drake’s victory.

“We have to move forward and leave this behind us,” Watkins said.

In addition to Watkins’ record-setting day, Huck attempted a school record 51 passes during the game, completing 27 of them.

Butler will travel to Dayton this Saturday for another Pioneer League matchup.