Beau Butner scores twice on offense, once on special teams to lead Central Valley over Mt. Spokane 33-0
Beau Butner is going to be all over the field for the Central Valley football team this season.
He certainly was Friday in the Bears’ 33-0 win over the visiting Mt. Spokane Wildcats in a Greater Spokane League season opener.
It was a statement game by the Bears, who were picked to finish third among the GSL’s 3A teams behind first-place pick Mt. Spokane.
“For sure,” said Butner, who starts at running back, defensive back and plays a key role on special teams. “We take being ranked third personally. Well take this game and move on to the next one.”
Butner didn’t pile up the yards, but he managed to score three touchdowns and cause a safety. He rushed for 80 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown, caught a TD pass and recovered a muffed punt in the end zone.
His father, CV coach Ryan Butner, thought the Bears would start well.
“We have a lot of confidence in our guys; I know nobody else did,” he said. “Quite honestly, we were an afterthought when it came to where we landed in the (preseason picks). But I think deep down we have a lot of confidence in our guys. They bought into game plans and worked really hard these last couple of weeks. It’s a great example of trusting the process.”
The Bears made a 19-0 halftime lead stand up.
CV added two touchdowns in the second half in a game it dominated from start to finish.
CV was especially tough on defense, holding Mt. Spokane to 38 yards in the first half and 138 total.
In the first half, it was all Central Valley. The Bears had 202 yards total offense to the Wildcats’ 38.
Mt. Spokane couldn’t sustain a drive in the first two quarters.
CV needed just five plays to go ahead 7-0 when quarterback Tuff Ryan hit receiver Kamden Lanphere on a 12-yard scoring play.
Moments later, Butner, coming unblocked from the left side, blocked a Mt. Spokane punt. He had a chance to recover the ball in the end zone, but it squirted away and Mt. Spokane recovered, allowing a safety with 5 minutes to go in the opening quarter.
On its first possession of the second quarter, CV scored when Butner took a screen pass for 9 yards to increase the Bears’ lead to 16-0.
On its last possession of the second quarter, CV scored again when kicker Tyler Bissell connected from 41 yards out to extend the lead to 19-0 with 6 seconds to go before halftime.