Football Friday: Columbia Falls Wins North Valley Showdown
Glacier, Flathead win to improve playoff position; Loyola hands Bigfork first loss
By Andy Viano
Whitefish scored first but it was all Columbia Falls after that, with the defending Class A state champion Wildcats going on the road and hammering the Bulldogs 40-7 in the de facto Northwest A conference title game Oct 12.
Columbia Falls (6-1, 4-0 Northwest A) was virtually a one-man team offensively in Whitefish, but the Cats did not need much more than the 340 rushing yards provided by Colten McPhee. The senior running back carried the ball 38 times and scored five touchdowns, and added a 17-yard reception — the longest of the day for Columbia Falls — for good measure. The loss ended a five-game Whitefish (5-3, 3-1) winning streak. The Bulldogs will travel to Libby (4-4, 3-1) Oct. 19 with the winner guaranteed a berth in the state tournament.
In Class B, Missoula Loyola (7-1, 5-0 Western B) spoiled Bigfork’s undefeated season with a 26-21 win on the Vikings’ home field. Anders Epperly threw a pair of long first-quarter touchdowns but Loyola’s 13 unanswered second-half points were the difference. Bigfork (6-1, 4-1) concludes the regular season at Deer Lodge on Oct. 19.
Meanwhile, it was a successful week for Kalispell’s two Class AA schools. Surging Glacier put itself right back in the thick of the Class AA state playoff race while Flathead won its sixth game of the season in record-setting fashion on Oct. 12.
Glacier (3-5) scored 21 fourth-quarter points at Legends Stadium in a come-from-behind 35-21 win against Helena Capital (3-5). The Wolfpack are now tied for the eighth and final playoff spot with two regular season games remaining.
Wolfpack running back Preston Blain had a monster game against the Bruins, rushing for 205 yards and three touchdowns on 37 carries, and adding four receptions for another 44 yards. Blain’s 49-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter would turn out to be the game-winning touchdown.
Flathead running back Blake Counts had his own big day in Great Falls, leading the Braves (6-2) to a 38-9 win against Great Falls C.M. Russell (2-6). Counts ran for 203 yards against the Rustlers and, more significantly, broke Flathead great Lex Hilliard’s single-season rushing record in the process. Hilliard ran for 1,384 yards in his most productive season for the Braves before embarking on a brilliant college career at the University of Montana and five seasons in the NFL. Counts has now run for 1,541 yards this year with two games still remaining.