Football season is over in the Flathead. All of the valley’s remaining high school teams lost this past weekend in the playoffs, though a bit farther up north the Eureka Lions advanced to the Class B semifinals to face undefeated Huntley Project.
In Class AA, the Flathead Braves fell to a tough Billings West team, 56-13. In Class A, Columbia Falls, following an impressive first-round 27-26 victory over Corvallis, lost to No. 1 Billings Central 27-13. Polson, ranked No. 1 in Northwestern A, dropped its playoff match-up to Miles City by a score of 26-20.
Whitefish had already ended its season in the first round of the state tourney a week earlier, losing to Class A powerhouse Dillon, 48-28.
In Flathead’s loss to Billings West, a perennial state championship contender, the Braves jumped out to a 7-0 lead through the first quarter. But West scored 35 straight points in the second quarter to take a 35-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. West tacked on three more touchdowns in the third quarter en route to the 56-13 victory.
It was the last game for Flathead’s talented seniors, a group that includes multi-sport star Bryce Stacy at running back; receiver Travis Andrus; lineman and Oregon State recruit Tyler Thomas; and quarterback Brock Osweiler, who will play at Arizona State University next year.
Osweiler finishes as the Braves’ all-time passing leader in yards and touchdowns. He ended this year with 2,703 yards passing, while setting new school records with 29 touchdown passes, 42 total touchdowns and 3,463 total yards.
In Class A action, the Columbia Falls Wildcats hung tough against a Billings Central team that entered the game with a 21-game winning streak dating back to last year. Ultimately, though, the bigger and deeper Central squad wore down the Wildcats in a 27-13 win. Central moves on to play Dillon in this weekend’s Class A semifinals.
Miles City made the 600-mile trip to Polson and didn’t show many signs of travel fatigue, holding off the Pirates for a 26-20 victory. The 10-1 Cowboys advanced to face Frenchtown this weekend in the semis.
In Class B, Eureka used a dominating run game, as has been the theme throughout the season, to beat Conrad 32-14. Running back Dalton Williams ran for 168 yards while his backfield buddy Chad Price added 149 yards on the ground. Williams had four touchdowns for the 8-1 Lions.
Here are the remaining state tournament brackets:
Class AA (Friday and Saturday with times to be announced):
No. 5 Great Falls @ No. 1 Helena Capital
No. 3 C.M. Russell @ No. 2 Billings WestClass A (all games on Saturday with times to be announced):
Eastern No. 1 Billings Central @ Southwestern No. 2 Dillon
Southwestern No. 1 Frenchtown @ Eastern No. 2 Miles CityClass B (all games on Saturday with times to be announced):
7B No. 1 Eureka @ 4B No.1 Huntley Project
6B No. 1 Loyola Sacred Heart @ 1B No. 1 FairfieldClass C 8-man (all games on Saturday with times to be announced):
Eastern No. 1 Scobey @ Western No. 1 Superior
Western No. 2 Twin Bridges @ Eastern No. 3 Wibaux
Class C 6-man (all games on Saturday with times to be announced):Northern No. 3 Augusta @ Northern No. 1 Geraldine
Northern No. 2 Highwood @ Western No. 2 Reedpoint/Rapelje