Box Score Five Bulldogs found the endzone to complement a stellar defensive effort as Butler overmatched Davidson, 38-7, Saturday afternoon at the Butler Bowl. The win improves Butler to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Pioneer Football League play. Davidson falls to 1-5 (0-3 PFL).
Quarterback
Matt Shiltz led the Bulldogs attack, completing 22 of 33 attempts for 218 yards passing. He connected with running back
Rico Watson on a 30-yard touchdown strike to start the scoring halfway through the first quarter. From there, the remaining scores all came on the ground as
John Hall,
Anthony Scaccia and
Duvante Lane scored their first career touchdowns to go along with a Shiltz one-yard quarterback keeper.
"This was a great team effort with all three phases playing well today," said head coach Jeff Voris. "Our defense put our offense in good positions throughout the day and our special teams flipped the field several times. I thought we prepared well throughout the week and took advantage of the opportunities provided to us. The schedule continues to get tougher, and we have to utilize our time productively to prepare."
Hall's 12-yard run gave the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead with two minutes to play in the first quarter and that score would hold into the half. On two occasions in the first half, Butler's defense had key stops on fourth down to get the ball back to the Bulldogs' offense. With 9:13 to play in the second quarter,
Adam Chappelle and
Adam Rodgers combined to stop Davidson's David Rogers on 4
th and 3 from Butler's 7. It was the play the defined the Butler defensive effort all day.
Butler held a 439-238 advantage in total yards and had possession of the ball for 36:56 compared to just 23:04 for the Wildcats. Butler had 221 yards on the ground with a balanced effort including 55 yards for Lane to go along with 45 for Hall and 41 for Watson.
Junior
Josh Willis had 2.5 sacks for Butler, which limited Davidson to only 11 first downs. The Bulldogs had five sacks on the day. Chappelle was part of a team-high six tackles, including one tackle for loss.
Ethan Brunhofer recovered a fumble, the only turnover from either side Saturday afternoon.
Brian Akialis averaged 39.5 yards per punt with almost all of his six punts going into a stiff wind. Marquese Martin-Hayes had an 87-yard kick-off return that set up Shiltz's sneak from a yard out late in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs return to action Saturday (Oct. 24), traveling to Dayton for a 6 p.m. PFL contest. A live video feed is available. Check ButlerSports.com for more details throughout the week.
