Missed Opportunities Doom 'Cats in 17-7 Loss at Butler

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INDIANAPOLIS – Butler quarterback Wade Markley threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and Zach Watkins caught five passes for 90 yards to lead Butler to a 17-7 Pioneer Football League victory over Davidson Saturday afternoon at the Butler Bowl.

The Wildcats rolled up 379 yards of total offense and 26 first downs, but had four turnovers. Davidson drove inside the Butler 25-yard line five times and came away with just seven points. Butler registered 271 yards of offense and 12 first downs.

“You can have 700 yards of offense, but if you don't score points, it doesn't matter,” said head coach Tripp Merritt. “It feels like Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Our vertical passing game limits itself because of where we are on the field. I thought we did a good job of running the football again today. We have to find a way to score.”

Chris Gorman had 20 carries for 112 yards and caught three passes for 31 yards and a touchdown for the Wildcats (2-7, 0-6 PFL). Lanny Funsten caught 13 passes for 102 yards, and Jonathan Adams had nine receptions for 89 markers. Jonathan Carkhuff completed 37-of-47 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown but threw three interceptions.

Markley completed 15-of-22 passes for the Bulldogs (5-4, 3-3 PFL), and the Butler defense recorded five sacks.

Trailing 17-0 late in the 3rd quarter, Davidson got on the scoreboard when Carkhuff found Gorman for a 16-yard touchdown pass. Carkhuff hooked up with Adams for a 36-yard gain earlier in the drive to set up the score.

Davidson had the ball in Butler territory looking to cut into the 10-point lead twice in the fourth quarter but Andy Dauch, and Phillip Powell picked off Carkhuff passes inside the 10-yard line to end the drives.

Davidson moved the ball methodically down the field on its first two drives but could not get on the scoreboard. The Bulldogs sacked Carkhuff three straight times on the 'Cats' third possession and as a result, got the ball with good field position at their own 47-yardline.

Markley found Watkins for a 44-yard pass play, and two plays later, Markley hit Stuart Harvey in the end zone for a touchdown.

David Lang knocked in a 23-yard field goal late in the quarter as Butler went into the locker room with a 10-0 lead. The key play on that drive came on 3rd-and-8 from the Butler 36-yard line. Davidson's Malcolm Moses-Hampton came free on a blitz, but Markley was able to escape and dump the ball of to Trae Heeter, who rumbled 21 yards for a first down.

Davidson drove down to the Butler 23-yard line, But Chazzo Habliston's 40-yard field goal try with 43 seconds left sailed wide left. All told, Davidson moved the ball inside Butler's 25-yard line three times in the half but came away with no points.

The Bulldogs used a trick play to push their advantage to 17-0 early in the third frame. Following a Davidson timeout on 3rd-and-1 from the Wildcat 24, Markley rushed up to the line of scrimmage looking like he was going to run a quarterback sneak for the first down. As the ball was snapped, he made it look like he had mishandled the snap, pulling in the Wildcat secondary. But Markley had the ball the whole time and threw to a wide-open Matt Jenson for a 24-yard touchdown.

“We saw it on film and worked on it in practice,” said Merritt. “We just didn't have our eyes in the right place.”

Davidson finishes the season with a pair of PFL home games, beginning with a 1 p.m. contest against Morehead State next Saturday.

Game Notes: Funsten's 13 receptions are a career high… Gorman went over 100 rushing yards for the second straight week… Carkhuff threw for 300-plus yards for the fifth time in his career… It was the sixth-straight loss for Davidson.

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