After Friday's 42-20 win against arch-rival Independence, Butler High football coach Brian Hales said his team finally is beginning to play the way he imagined it would back in the summer.

Butler (11-1) won its 11th straight game and its 12th straight playoff game over the past three seasons. The Bulldogs scored on five of their first six possessions and led by as many as 30 points.

"They're getting more comfortable with what they're doing," said Hales, whose team will play a quarterfinal game at Greensboro Page next week. "We've got so many new faces and new roles that it took up to this point for them to really understand what they were doing."

Hales, smiling as he said it, admitted this was Butler's most complete performance of the year.

Independence got a long scoring drive to end the game and a 60-yard scoring drive late in the second quarter. The Patriots also scored on a 17-yard fumble return from Tyler Fay. But Butler's defense choked the life out of this game early.

Independence (10-3), which lost for the second time to Butler in three weeks, finished with 46 yards rushing. Patriots quarterback Evan Guest threw for 230 yards but completed only 16 of 35 attempts while frequently under heavy pressure.

Butler rushed for 179 yards and junior quarterback Riley Ferguson completed 21 of 31 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns, including three to his older brother Zach. Riley would've had a fifth score, but his brother let a potential 50-yard scoring pass slip through his hands during the second half.

"It was another good team win," said junior receiver Uriah LeMay, who had four catches for 72 yards and a score. "We came into the game with the right mindset. No discredit to Independence, they have a really good team, but we came out and dominated the way we wanted to."

Now, Hales said his job is to keep his team this focused and sharp as it tries to march to a third straight state championship berth.

"They're ready, I think," he said. "They've always been pretty focused. I probably have had more trouble getting them to calm down before games than getting them pumped up. Like I said, they finally looked comfortable and it was great to see."