That No. 3 Butler won its eighth straight Jayhawk Conference championship on Saturday with a 24-7 win over No. 4 Fort Scott didn’t surprise me. That the Greyhounds didn’t make it more of a game did. And it begs the question: will anyone ever stop the Grizzlies? It’s been 10 years since the Grizzlies and Rudi Johnson won back-to-back national titles and it seems like, with each season, the program gets a little more powerful. Does anybody have any ideas how to stop them? If you do, I’m sure Troy Morrell’s already thought of them. The guy always surprises me …. thinking three steps ahead, you know what I mean?
Anyways.
Let’s break down Sunday’s two playoff games:
Garden City (6-3) at Butler (8-1)
The Broncbusters have to be kicking themselves after losing to Hutchinson at home. It wasn’t going to be fun going on the road to El Dorado or Fort Scott, but this loss might have cost them a bowl game for the third straight year. The worst part, in each of those three years, they’ve been a win away. It won’t get any easier in the future for GCCC head coach Lucas Aslin, who wears out the recruiting trail already.
Butler’s defense is playing incredible right now and their running game is coming into its own. With the passing game already firmly established, watch out. My pick: Butler 42, Garden City 14.
Hutchinson (6-3) at Fort Scott (8-1)
The Blue Dragons have won four straight since losing three of four, including a defeat at the hands of Highland, early in the season. It’s safe to say at this point HCC head coach Rion Rhoades has turned this thing around since the winless debacle of two years ago. The win over Garden City was also Hutch’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2004 and the first win over a Jayhawk Conference ranked opponent since 1999. I didn’t realize it had been that long! For Fort Scott, I think this game will show what kind of team they are. Up until this point they haven’t had to deal with any adversity this season … it’s been smooth sailing until Saturday’s loss at Butler, which I know they had a lot invested in. I’m calling upset after the fallout from the loss. My pick: Hutch 21, Fort Scott 20
-TA
PS.
Think I’m an idiot? Think I’m a genius? Post and let me know. Except you Ben, I already know what you think.
One Comment
Yeah, you are an idiot!
Ben
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[...] away. I even made my picks early in the week that Butler would win by 28, but they won by 5 … although I did pick Hutch to win. But they didn’t and credit Buster quarterback Eugene Smith, head EUGENE [...]