EL DORADO, Kan. - The Independence Football team couldn't overcome three second half turnovers as they fell in overtime, 30-27, to 13th-ranked Butler on Saturday afternoon.
For the Pirates (2-2, 0-1), it was their first game since September 6th, their first road game against a ranked opponent, and their first KJCCC game.
Coming off the bye week, Indy started fast as they moved the ball deep into Butler territory on their first drive, but eventually stalled out as they failed to convert on fourth down. The Grizzlies (3-0, 1-0) first drive was a carbon copy as they moved the ball all the way to the Pirates 24 yard line but Indy was able to stand strong and get off the field on fourth down as well.
The first scoring drive of the game came on Indy's next possession. A huge 21 yard catch by Ejani Shakir extended the drive on a third and nine. The 12 play, 75 yard drive, was eventually capped off when Keegan Anderson found Shakir for a six yard touchdown pass.
Butler wasted no time in answering the score as the first play of the second quarter was an explosive 67 yard run to ultimately tie the game up at seven.
After back to back empty possessions, one by each team, the Pirates were able to put together another scoring drive. Backup quarterback, Nathan Neal, had to replace Anderson for one play due to Anderson losing his helmet on the previous play, and Neal made the most of his one play as he kept a read option and scampered into the end zone from six yards out. The Pirates would mishandle the snap on the PAT attempt, resulting in a 13-7 lead.
After back to back three and out's from each team, the Indy defense would come up with their first big play of the day as Nasir Hudson was able to corral a fumble, giving the Pirates excellent field position.
The Indy offense would cash in quickly, as Anderson would throw his second touchdown of the day, an 18 yard strike to Anthony Colon to put the Pirates up 20-7.
The Grizzlies put together one last scoring drive in the first half as they went down and kicked a field goal, to cut the Pirate lead to 10 at the half.
The second half would begin with back to back turnovers as each quarterback would throw an interception on back to back plays. Mekhyri Hinkle had the interception for the Pirates, his first of the year.
With the ball back in the Grizzlies possession, the Pirate defense once again held strong, forcing a punt, but the Pirates offense stalled out again leaving the score at 20-10.
Late in the third quarter, the Grizzlies would cut further into the lead, as they converted a third and long that resulted in a 13 yard touchdown pass.
The Pirates, while struggling to move the ball, maintained their three point lead until the 5:29 mark of the fourth quarter when Butler made a 20 yard chip shot field goal to tie the game at 20.
The second turnover of the half proved to be costly for the Pirates as on their next drive Keegan Anderson was sacked and the Grizzlies, Curtis Hood scooped up the loose ball and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown, the first Butler lead of the game.
With Anderson banged up from the previous drive, the Pirates once again turned to Nathan Neal at quarterback, who led a fantastic bounce back drive. After a nice 16 yard completion from Neal to tight end James Resar, the Pirates turned to the ground game as Ivan Johnson broke free for a 26 yard touchdown to tie the game at 27 with about three minutes left.
Butler was able to work the ball into Independence territory thanks to two personal foul penalties, but ultimately came up empty after a missed 47 yard field goal attempt, sending the game to overtime.
The Pirates first overtime possession of the season did not go as planned, starting at the 25 yard line going in, the second play was the third and most costly turnover of the second half as Anderson was once again strip sacked trying to scramble and make a play resulting in an empty possession for the Pirates. Anderson was originally ruled down by contact, but after officials review it was deemed the ball was in fact coming loose before he was down.
Butler, needing only a field goal to win, was able to run the ball a few times moving the ball down to just outside the goal line, setting up kicker Hunter Rioux for a chip shot 20 yard field goal that he would make and send the Pirates home with a heartbreaking loss.
The two teams were just about dead even in offensive yardage, as Butler totaled 337 to the Pirates 338. The two biggest stats that came back to bite the Pirates were losing the turnover battle, 4-3, and hurting themselves with 170 penalty yards, as a remarkable effort on the road against a nationally ranked team falls just short.
Keegan Anderson would finish the day 24 of 39 for 307 yards, while Ivan Johnson led the Pirates on the ground with 48 yards on 11 carries. Ejani Shakir and Anthony Colon each caught a touchdown and had 90 and 53 yards receving respectively. Defensively, Kamar Lhomme led the way with seven tackles. Kaleb Cain had a nice day with three tackles for loss, and Montez Covington had the lone Pirate sack.
The Pirates will once again have time to regroup as they will have their second bye week this next weekend, before returning home on October 4th to square off with Highland Community College.