BUTLER-Blazer Field was the site of a key NECC Small School divisional opener where the Eastside Blazers responded from a 2-game losing skid and beat the Churubusco Eagles 28-6. For Eastside, that makes it four straight wins against Busco in the season series and three wins away from claiming their fourth straight divisional title. 

Busco won the toss and received the football to start this game, but they were forced to punt. From the first snap onward, the Eastside Blazers commanded the pace of the game on both sides of the football, tackling linemen at will, and consistently pressuring Riley Buroff the entire game. Eastside found their game tonight returning to Blazer football with tremendous energy and stopping the run. That “All-In” motto Head Coach Todd Mason is famous for at Eastside was exactly the theme of tonight’s team effort for the hometown Blazers.

Busco’s famous Wing-T offense had some of the quantity numbers with 193 rushing yards. However, Busco was unable to move the chains consistently and ran into trouble the whole game. 

Eastside’s first possession was all they needed to get things rolling in Butler. After missing last week’s game at West Noble, Dax Holman returned for this big game against Busco with some serious dominance. Holman ran 7 yards into the end zone to give the Blazers a 7-0 lead. Eastside never lost that lead for the rest of the night. Dax Holman finished that game with 17 carries for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns. Eastside’s second drive would lead to another score when Briar Munsey was able to turn a 3rd and 8 situation to a 39-yard touchdown run, which gave Eastside a 14-0 lead with 7:21 left in the first half. 

If you think that was done, well it only gets better for the Blazer faithful and worse for Turtle Town. Another Busco punt set up Eastside’s third straight drive with a touchdown. With 26 seconds left and facing 4th and 1, Carsen Jacobs iced the game with a touchdown run of his own on a QB keeper to the left side that beats everybody. At the halftime intermission, it was Eastside 21 Churubusco 0. 

It took Eastside four drives before Busco was able to stop them, but by the time they had a chance, it was almost too little too late. Busco sustained a 2 min, 28 second drive before coming up just short on 4th down and punting once again. Then Eastside milked more clock (3 min and 34 second drive to be exact) and Dax Holman scored another short TD run to make it 28-0 with 2:11 left 3Q. Busco would eventually end the shutout just nine seconds into the fourth quarter when Riley Buroff connected with his tight end Gavin Huelsenbeck for a 40-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-6 as Busco failed the 2-point conversion. By that point, this game was over in the minds of everyone, and Eastside was back to their winning ways once again. 

Eastside ran for 283 yards on the ground led by Carsen Jacobs with 114 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries (he also went 6-9 completion for 59 yards). In addition to Holman’s 106 rushing yards, Briar Munsey added 63 yards on 8 carries. Defensively, Dackotia Reed was all over the field with 6 tackles and a sack, and Dax Holman added another 5 tackles on defense. 

In a losing effort, Busco’s Riley Buroff was 8-12 completion for 113 yards and a touchdown pass, and ran for 39 yards on 12 carries. Wyatt Marks led the backfield with 77 yards on 6 carries. 2-2 Eastside will travel to 0-4 Garrett, while 2-2 Busco hosts 1-3 Prairie Heights.