Helena native Matt Upham notched his first win as Flathead High School’s head football coach in his old hometown, leading the Braves to a 13-9 upset win against Helena High on Friday, Oct. 4.
Flathead (1-5, 1-3 Western AA) took the lead for good on Tanner Russell’s second touchdown run of the game, late in the fourth quarter. The Braves endured a miserable first four weeks of the season before a narrow 21-14 loss to Helena Capital on Sept. 27. Flathead finally broke into the win column at the expense of the Bengals (4-2, 2-2), who were coming off back-to-back wins.
Glacier also notched a victory last week, fending off a feisty Missoula Hellgate team 35-28 at Legends Stadium. Sophomore Jake Rendina ran the ball 31 times for 182 yards and the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack (3-3, 2-2) also got a big game from University of Montana commit Drew Deck, who caught eight passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
Elsewhere in Northwest Montana, Eureka forged ahead of the pack in the Western B with a 34-14 rout of Florence. The Lions (5-0, 3-0) handed the Falcons (4-2, 3-1) their first conference loss behind quarterback Hank Dunn’s 293 total yards, and four rushing touchdowns from his teammates. Bigfork (2-3, 1-2) also notched a conference win on Oct. 4, taking down Deer Lodge 36-12.
In Class A, Libby (6-0) remained undefeated with a 29-21 win at Butte Central, while Whitefish (5-1) hammered Corvallis 31-7. Columbia Falls (1-5) was not as fortunate, falling 56-7 at Hamilton.