Butler Co. 49, Dixie 35ST. GEORGE -- Even a woman accompanied by two little girls recognized that Butler County's Rudi Johnson was something special after Saturday's Dixie Rotary Bowl.
"Can they have your autograph? Because you're going to be famous some day," the woman asked Johnson just after he received his Dixie Rotary Bowl MVP trophy.
Oh, were they ever right.
Johnson, a 5-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore from Colonial Heights, Va., had 40 carries for 370 yards and seven touchdowns (one receiving) to lift the Grizzlies to a 49-35 victory over the No. 1-ranked Dixie Rebels and position themselves for a second straight national championship.
Johnson and the Grizzlies made a strong statement Saturday for the No. 1 spot by beating then No 3. Garden City in the final game of the year to earn a shot at No. 1 Dixie.
"Unbelievable," Butler coach James Shibest said of Johnson's seven-TD performance.
"He was getting worn down there late, but we were going to ride the horse as long as we could," he said. "I think we'll be seeing that guy play on Sunday someday somewhere."
Johnson finished the year with 2,121 yards for a 176.8-yard average and 35 touchdowns (31 rushing, four receiving).
Shibest said academic problems in high school kept Johnson out of a Division I program, but since he now carries a 3.0 GPA, Johnson, the 1999 NJCAA Player of the Year, will be able to choose from a long list of college teams begging for his services.
"I think he'll be heading to Colorado or Auburn from what I hear, and they'll have a helluva player. I don't even think they know what they're getting."
Johnson said he will make a decision on either of those schools later this month and will join that team for spring drills.
Dixie, however, knows what he's got.
Heading into the game, the Rebel defense was allowing 50 yards per game on the ground before Johnson and the Grizzlies burned it for 400 yards rushing and 209 yards passing for 609 yards total offense.
"We expected a war. That's what we figured, and that's what it was," Johnson said. "We all put it together and scored 49 points."
"It didn't look like the same team I've coached all year," Dixie coach Greg Crosahw said. "We got behind, then we started to play loose like we've played all year."
But by that time it was too late.
The Rebels' Tony Nielson scored three plays into the game on a 14-yard run to take a 7-0 lead, but it was set up by two equally impressive catches by Timpview's Ethan Ross (46 yards) and Chris Anderson (21 yards).
Then it was all Johnson, who scored on runs of 2, 66, 20 and 2 yards in the second quarter in racking up 160 first-half yards.
He scored again to start the half, this time on a 17-yard pass from Daniel Cobb to increase Butler's lead to 35-7.
Following a shanked Butler punt that gave the Rebels the ball on the Butler 23, Quinn Hampton, Dixie's MVP, hit Ethan Ross from 23 yards out to trim the lead to 35-14.
Johnson scored two more times on runs of 25 and five yards in the third quarter before the Dixie offense awoke in the fourth quarter with three touchdowns to make what was a lopsided game a little more interesting.
Tony Jones scored from 10 yards out, then, following a Johnson fumble, Hampton connected with Ross again -- this time from 28 yards -- cutting the lead to 49-28.
The Rebel defense held the Grizzlies on three plays, and a Wyatt Gines punt return of 44 yards put the Rebels in striking distance again. Hampton connected with Anderson for an 8-yard score to cut the lead to 49-35.
The Rebels had the ball again after another fine Gines return but lost the ball on downs with less than five minutes to play in the game.
"We knew we had to throw the ball to get back into it quick," Hampton said. "We had some great catches and a couple quick scores and got right back in it and had a chance to come back and win it but came up a little short."
The Grizzlies controlled the ball the remainder of the game to preserve the victory.
"We had to pick it back up (in the last quarter). We lost our intensity a little bit," Johnson said. "We had to get a couple key first downs, and that's what we did."
Hampton completed 18-of-29 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns, and Ross had nine catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns.
Cobb, who transferred from Georgia and who is also eyeing Colorado and Auburn, completed 12-of-23 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown. Sam Breeden had five catches for 89 yards.