The Butler Grizzlies withstood a furious comeback and took advantage of a unique special teams play in double overtime to defeat Snow College 37-30 on Saturday, winning the Top of the Mountains Bowl and claiming back-to-back NJCAA national championships.
During the second overtime, the Butler offense stalled at the 11-yard, and the Grizzlies lined up for a Logan Ortiz field goal. The kick was partially blocked and squirted into the end zone. A Snow player tried to recover the ball, but could not, allowing Butler’s Demonte Hill to fall on the ball. The officials conferred before ruling that since a Snow player had touched the ball first, it was again a live ball, and awarded Hill and the Grizzlies the touchdown.
Snow would still have its turn on offense, and on the very first play, Eastman threw a pass that was bobbled by receiver Regan Buck. Butler linebacker Forlando Johnson grabbed the ball out of the air for an interception, ending the game and sending the Grizzlies sprinting to the middle of the field to celebrate the national title.
The championship is Butler’s second consecutive, as they also won the title in 2007 by beating Snow 56-27. It is the second time the Grizzlies have won back-to-back championships, as they also won consecutive titles in 1998 and 1999. Butler has now won six national championships in its history, including five in the past 11 years (1981, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008).
The Grizzlies finish the season as champions with an 11-1 record.
Olivia Newfarmer
Joyce Kinyange
Rachel Hoeffner
Chris Neal
Jon Pic
Posts
