fbpx

Football Roundup: Flathead Wins Overtime Thriller

Glacier, Bigfork improve to 3-0 with impressive victories

By Dillon Tabish
The Flathead football team walks towards Legends Stadium. Beacon File Photo

Flathead 42, Great Falls 41 (4OT)

Four quarters and four overtimes later, the Flathead Braves emerged victorious in an unforgettable Class AA showdown in Great Falls.

On fourth down, Seth Adolph rushed the ball but before being tackled tossed it to Bridger Johnson, who powered in a 1-yard touchdown run. Cosy Cusker nailed his sixth extra point to vault Flathead over Great Falls in dramatic fashion.

The victory was Flathead’s first this season and marked a memorable win for head coach Kyle Samson over his father, Mark, who coached Kyle in high school and college and now leads the Bison (1-2 overall).

Johnson finished with two rushing touchdowns and a pair of passing TDs, connecting with James Flannigan on a 4-yard score in the second quarter and a 2-yard score in the second overtime. Blake Counts rushed in two TDs, including a 4-yard score in the fourth quarter to put Flathead up 14-7.

Great Falls scored with 1:20 remaining to force overtime, which turned into a dramatic back-and-forth from the 10-yard line. In the fourth OT, Great Falls scored but missed the extra point, opening the door for Johnson’s final TD and Cusker’s clinching extra point to win the game.

Flathead (1-2) travels to Missoula Big Sky (2-1) on Friday.

Glacier 28, Helena Capital 14

Drew Turner rushed for 142 yards and tallied three touchdowns to lead the Wolfpack past the Bruins in a battle between Class AA foes.

Glacier improved to 3-0 for just the second time in program history.

Turner turned in another workmanlike performance. He scored from five yards out in the first and added two more TDs in the fourth quarter — a 76-yard rush and a 15-yard catch — to break up a 14-all tie and give Glacier the victory. Quarterback Tadan Gilman finished with 111 yards passing and 31 yards rushing. Cole Crosby added Glacier’s other score, a 1-yard TD run in the third quarter.

Patrick O’Connell had three catches for 56 yards and Scout Willcut had two catches for 18 yards. Andrew Durado had two catches for 12 yards and Ethan Larson had three catches for 10 yards.

Glacier hosts Great Falls (1-2) this Friday for homecoming. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Columbia Falls 35, Hamilton 21

Dakota Bridwell continued his impressive senior campaign and the Wildcats continued to dominate, taking down the Broncs in a nonconference Class A matchup.

Bridwell passed for four touchdowns, hiking his season total to 17 in three games. No other Columbia Falls stats were made available from the game.

The Wildcats (3-0) travel to Browning (0-3) this Friday.

Whitefish 27, Browning 8

A well-balanced offensive attack gave the Bulldogs their first win of the season in a nonconference Class A matchup.

Four different players scored for Whitefish, including Carver Gilman, who kicked a pair of field goals, from 30 yards and 36 yards. Tyler Cote had an 85-yard kickoff return for a TD, quarterback Derek Kastella had a 16-yard scoring run and Forrest Kobelt capped the scoring with a 5-yard run.

Kastella finished 13 of 23 for 150 yards. The Whitefish defense limited Browning to 100 yards of total offense.

Whitefish (1-2) travels to Stevensville (2-1) on Friday.

Bigfork 28, Conrad 26

Matt Farrier scored a pair of touchdowns and quarterback Augie Emslie connected on two scoring passes as the Vikings held off the Cowboys in a nonconference Class B matchup.

Bigfork improved to 3-0 after Conrad missed a field goal as time ran out. Logan Taylor caught a 33-yard TD pass from Emslie and Anders Epperly caught a 64-yard TD pass from Emslie in the third quarter.

Bigfork travels to St. Ignatius (0-3) on Friday.

Polson 47, Corvallis 14

In the air and on the ground, Tanner Wilson combined for 336 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Pirates past the Blue Devils in a matchup between Northwestern A and Southwestern A foes.

Wilson rushed 11 times for 170 yards and two TDs and passed for 166 yards. He connected with Matthew Rensvold on a pair of TDs from 35 yards and 24 yards. He also found Koby Garcia from six yards. Garcia added a 1-yard TD rush and Colton Cote had 113 yards and a 16-yard scoring run.

Polson (2-0) travels to Dillon (2-0) on Friday.

Ronan 40, Libby 6

Kasey Mock accounted for five touchdowns as Ronan cruised past Libby in nonconference Class B action.

Mock passed for three scores and rushed for another pair.

Nik Jones scored the Loggers’ lone TD, on a 1-yard rush.

Libby (0-3) hosts Shelby on Friday.

Shelby 28, Eureka 18

The Coyotes outscored the Lion 21-12 in the fourth quarter to clinch the nonconference Class B victory inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.

Garrett Graves passed for 174 yards and one touchdown for Eureka, which accrued 367 yards of offense.

Cannan Smith scored twice for Eureka and Jacob Nowakowski had an 18-yard TD catch in the fourth.

Eureka (2-1) hosts Florence (1-1) on Friday.