WORKING OVERTIME: Coming off a tough loss to No. 1 New Mexico Military Institute, Snow College won and instant classic on the road against No. 8 Butler Community College Saturday in El Dorado, Kansas.

It was a 2-point conversion from Rahsul Faison that gave the Badgers the 50-49 victory in overtime.  The Badgers improved to 2-1 on the season with the win.

Snow College opened a 28-0 lead over the first twenty-two minutes of action.  The lead would evaporate over the next 18 minutes.  It was back and forth from there with teams exchanging touchdowns until the score was knotted at 42 and headed into overtime.

BCC took its first lead of the game three plays into overtime putting the Badgers backs again the wall.  They responded scoring a touchdown on the next play and elected to go for two and the win.  The try was successful, and Snow College found itself victorious earning the 50-49 win.

The Badgers will look to continue the winning ways as they take on Gila River Junior College Saturday inside Terry Foote Stadium in Ephraim with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

BY THE NUMBERS: Snow College moved the ball effectively throughout the entire game.  The Badgers gained a well-balanced 511 yards of total offense with 292 yards coming through the air and 219 yards coming from the ground game.

The Badgers converted more first downs than the Grizzlies, 27-25, and limited them to just 101 rushing yards on 34 attempts.  Alternatively, Snow College pounded the ground game and of its 79 total offensive plays, 50 of them were rushing attempts.

Snow College's defense had a bend not break mentality.  It limited the Grizzlies to 4-15 on third down conversion attempts.  It also had seven tackles for losses and two sacks driving BCC back a total of 45 yards.

511 yards is the most yards Snow College has gained in a game since racking up 538 yards of total offense in a 49-17 road victory of Georgia Military College October 2. The Badgers have gained 500 or more yards of total offense six times under head coach Zac Erekson.  They are undefeated in those games.

Erekson is now 4-4 all time in game when both teams are in the NJCAA Division I Football Top 15.

SHUFFLE AT THE TOP: In a weekend that saw three top-10 matchups and another top-15 matchup, the NJCAA DI football rankings also saw a sizable shakeup Monday.  While the top four teams remained unchanged, each of slots five through 15 saw changes with Snow College landing at number seven. Kilgore College and Jones College each moved to five and six with Iowa Central, East Mississippi and BCC dropping to eight, nine, and ten following losses.

LAST TIME OUT: Following a tough loss to the No. 1 ranked Broncos a week prior, the now No. 10 ranked Badgers were faced with their second top-10 matchup in as many weeks as they traveled to El Dorado, Kansas to take on the No. 8 Grizzlies.  

BCC entered the matchup with a 2-0 record after claiming wins over Garden City Community College and Highland Community College in its first two weeks of action.  The Grizzlies also touted one of the nation's top quarterbacks in freshman Jake Wolff, who led the nation in passing yards and was second in the country in yards per game entering the matchup.

That didn't stop the Badgers from coming out of the gates flying.  The Badgers forced a three-and-out on the Grizzlies opening possession.  On fourth down, Maclaran Bird blocked the BCC punt and Snow College recovered it at the 1-yard line.  Carsen Manookin wasted no time and punched in the short rush to give the Badgers the early lead.

After forcing a punt on the Grizzlies subsequent drive, Snow College would put together an eight-play 76-yard drive that resulted in a quarterback keeper from Daisean Cash, who scampered 19 yards into the end zone to give the Badgers a 14-0 advantage after the successful PAT.

Snow College's defense continued to play well in the first quarter and converted another BCC punt into points on the next series. This drive was aided by a 30-yard completion from Cash to Elijah Ervin to set up the Badgers in Grizzly territory.  Cash would culminate the drive by finding a wide-open Dallin Bentley who waltzed untouched into the end zone to give Snow College a 21-0 advantage in the first quarter.

The Badgers flexed their defensive muscles yet again on the Grizzlies next drive.  BCC drove down the field and were set up first and 10 from the 11-yard line.  An incomplete pass, a sack and a completed pass left the Grizzlies with forth and 2 from the 3-yard line.  Snow College stuffed the attempted run play and took over on downs from inside the 2-yard line.

The Badgers would then proceed to march 98 yards down the field and score its fourth touchdown of the game.  It was again Cash who completed back-to-back passes to Manookin, the first was 29 yards, the second a 23-yard touchdown reception that Manookin took to the end zone weaving between Grizzly defenders to give Snow College a 28-0 lead.

BCC would punch back and would score on the next drive.  The Grizzlies moved quickly down the field and scored in just under two minutes to bring the score to 28-7.  They would force a three-and-out, but the Badger's punt was greatly influenced by a strong wind and set BCC up at the Snow College 30.  Three plays later and the Grizzlies had cut the Badger lead in half in a matter of minutes.  The score would stay 28-14 going into halftime.

The Grizzlies received the second-half kickoff and used a good return to their advantage.  They capitalized on the short field and scored within five plays to bring the score 28-21 just minutes into the third quarter.  BCC would even the score with a 33-yard passing touchdown from Wolff to Quavez Humphreys midway through the period.

Snow College would respond immediately and score on the subsequent drive going nine plays and 75 yards to find the end zone.  It was Rahsul Faison who carried the ball across the goal line on a 15-yard rush to give the Badgers the lead 35-28.

The Badgers would be forced to punt to open the fourth quarter.  The punt was returned 82 yards for a touchdown by AJ King.  After a successful PAT the score was again level at 35 apiece.

The bulk of the fourth quarter would remain scoreless until the Badgers took the lead late in the period.  Faison capped off an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 10-yard rush and his second touchdown of the game, giving Snow College a 42-35 lead. 

The Grizzlies had two timeouts and needed to go the length of the field after a touchback on the ensuing kickoff.  BCC moved the ball well and were aided by defensive pass interference calls on back-to-back plays and eventually found itself set up first and goal from the 2-yard line after converting a fourth and 10.  Wolff called his own number on the goal-line play and fumbled the football, which was recovered by Snow College at their own 1-yard line with 15 seconds to play.

The Badgers elected to call a quarterback sneak to try and get some breathing room from their own end zone.  Cash fumbled the snap, and the ball was recovered by the Grizzlies in the end zone for a touchdown which brought the game to 42-41 with the PAT pending.  BCC originally lined up to go for two and the win, but a procedural penalty moved them back five yards and the Grizzlies elected to just kick the extra point, which was good to tie the game and sent it into overtime.

BCC got the ball first in overtime beginning at the Snow College 25-yard line.  Facing a third and 8, Wolff again found Humphreys in the end zone and with a successful PAT took a 49-42 lead – the Grizzlies first lead of the game.

Snow College's chance from the 25-yard line ended as quickly as it started.  Manookin took the handoff from Cash to the left and then pitched it to Marquise Montgomery on the reverse.  Montgomery shoveled the ball back to Cash who found a wide-open Bentley in the end zone to bring the Badgers within one.

Instead of attempting the PAT and force a second overtime, Snow College elected to go for two.  Cash handed the ball to Faison who took it across the goal line untouched to give the Badgers the 50-49 overtime victory.

Snow College amassed 511 yards of total offense.  Cash finished the game going 18-29 with 292 yards and three touchdowns.  Faison led all rushers with 75 yards and two touchdowns on 15 attempts.  Manookin added 177 all-purpose yards – 65 rush, 112 receiving – and two touchdowns.  Bentley caught two touchdown passes totaling 37 yards in the win.

COACHING STAFF: Zac Erekson (Brigham Young University, 2007: 30-18 overall record) is entering his third season at Snow College (17-4), second as the head football coach and his 13th year overall in coaching. In Erekson's first season as Head Football Coach he led the Badgers to an 8-0 regular season finish and a trip to the National Championship game. Prior to coming to Snow College, Erekson served as the athletics director and head coach at Skyline High School in Salt Lake City. Before his tenure at Skyline, Erekson coached high school football throughout Texas for 8 years. Erekson coached at 5A Abilene Cooper in Abilene, TX where his team went 12-2 in 2011.

Erekson is joined on the sidelines by Defensive Coordinator Jordan Pulou (Missouri S&T; 1st season), Special Teams and Wide Receivers coach James Dye (Brigham Young University; 1st season), Defensive Backs coach Dustin Pressley (Arkansas Monticello; 1st season), Offensive Line coach Trever McFalls (Southern Utah University; 1st season), Running Backs coach Ryan You (Arizona State; 4th season), Defensive Line coach Kyle Murray (Dixie State; 1st season), and Linbackers coach Devon McKinney (Louisiana Tech; 1st season).

BREAKING DOWN THE SCHEDULE: Snow College will play a total of 11 games this season including six home games and five road games.  The Badgers will play host to Trinity Valley Community College (8/25; 7 p.m.), Gila River Community College (9/17; 7 p.m.), Georgia Military College (10/1; 1 p.m.), ASA College (Miami) (10/15; 7 p.m.), Community Christian (Detroit) (10/29; 7 p.m.), and Monroe College (11/12; 12 p.m.), while playing road games against New Mexico Military Institute (9/3; 4 p.m.), Butler Community College (9/10; 1:30 p.m.), Iowa Western Community College (10/8; 12 p.m.), Us Air Force Academy Preparatory School (10/21; 1 p.m.), and Lackawanna College (11/19; 11 a.m.).

The Badgers biggest tests will come against No. 1 New Mexico Military Institute and No. 2 Iowa Western Community College, both of which were in the NJCAA national title game last season. The reigning national champion New Mexico Military Institute Broncos finished the season 12-1 and culminated the season defeating IWCC 31-13 in the National Title game.  IWCC defeated Snow College in last year's semi-final game 30-29 in overtime and finished the season 10-1 with its lone loss coming at the hands of the Broncos. 

Snow College will also face two other opponents currently ranked inside the NJCAA DI top 15 and another who recently fell out of the top 15 but received votes in the lates poll.  In addition to facing NMMI, and IWCC, the Badgers will also take on No. 11 Georgia Military College September 10, and No. 12 Lackawanna College November 19.  The Badger will also take on Monroe College, who boasted a preseason ranking of 13.

UP NEXT: Snow College will have a bye week before resuming action October 1 against No. 11 Georgia Military Academy.  The game will be the Badgers first home afternoon game with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.

The Bulldogs have started the season 3-0 with victories over Georgia Christian College (54-0), No. 13 Monroe College (27-7), and ASA College (Miami) (39-0). GMC will take on No. 12 Lackawanna College Saturday at home.  The Bulldogs boast the nation's top defense allowing just 2.3 points per game and 107 yards per game of total offense.  Snow College defeated GMC 49-17 last season in Milledgeville, Georgia.