After a gritty comeback on the road last weekend against Billings Senior, the Flathead Braves football team is heading into the start of conference play against Hellgate this week fresh off its first win since 2023.
Things were looking less than ideal for Flathead at halftime last Friday, with the Broncs up 20-7. By the start of the fourth quarter, the situation had deteriorated further as Billings extended its lead to 30-13.
Recalling how his team turned it around, the Braves first year head coach Mac Roche pinpointed a moment at the start of the fourth quarter when his team just might have hit a low point. Still down 30 to 13, Flathead was facing a third and 20 from its own 30 yard line, when senior quarterback Eli Coopman hit junior receiver Oliver Rosenberg on a tunnel screen. Four or five broken tackles later, Rosenberg finally went down about a yard shy of a first down.
Coopman converted on a quarterback run, and Roche said it set the tone for the remainder of the game, as the team continued to march down the field for one of multiple unanswered scores in the fourth quarter.
“Without Rosenberg’s huge effort on that screen, we don’t get the momentum, and we have to punt. That set everything up.”
Rosenberg came up big throughout the closing minutes of the game, including on a game-ending interception while playing free safety. He finished the game with seven catches for 91 yards and a touchdown.
“He played lights out. I’m extremely proud of him,” Roche said.
Coopman, the Braves quarterback, totaled over 300 total yards of offense. His legs carried him to three rushing touchdowns, and he added one score through the air. For his efforts, Coopman was honored as the Montana AA Prep Football player of the week by the Montana AA Prep Football Facebook page. Flathead senior running back Nolan Campbell finished the day with 15 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown, and the Braves racked up 229 yards on the ground. Roche said that the team’s offensive line took over the game and dominated, which allowed the run game to thrive. At the same time, the defense righted itself in the fourth quarter and made critical stops.
While Roche noted that pivotal moment in the fourth quarter, he indicated that the groundwork for the comeback had been laid far before they reached that point. The coach had observed a team that was bought in throughout the summer and their fall camp, and that put together a good week of practice leading up to Billings.
“I think it’s just a testament to the players mentality this year, and the culture that all of my coaching staff is bringing to the guys. It’s never quit, we’re never going to hang our heads. We’re going to go out and execute, and adversity will happen.”
Addressing his team at the half, Roche and his staff emphasized that they were putting the team in a position to succeed, and that players needed to execute, and answer the call.
“They came out in the second half and did,” Roche said.
It was the second time this season that the Braves had found themselves in uncertain territory at the halfway mark of a game. Their season began with a home game against Great Falls, and the Bison were up 21-7 at halftime. Lightning in the area resulted in officials calling the game, and Roche said there was some disagreement between himself and the opposing team about how to record the result, with Roche saying that he disagreed that his team had lost. A review from the Montana State High School Association, the governing body for high school sports in the state, determined that it was a no contest.
That means the Braves are 1-0 heading into their home game this Friday against Hellgate. Roche said that there are players on this team who had never won a varsity football game until last weekend. The 2023 season, the last time the team won, was filled with its share of losses, too. The team finished that year with a 2-7 record. The win over Senior is the school’s sixth football win since 2019, according to records available on the high school sports website MaxPreps. It’s also the first time the team has had a 1-0 record since 2022.
The post-win excitement was apparent after the Flathead team got to its hotel last Friday night around 10:30 p.m. The players ate, and then it was lights out at 11 p.m. But there was a buzz in the air, and Roche said he wound up getting phone calls that night from a couple of his players asking if they could get a pass on the lights out curfew to watch film from the game. This time, the coach granted an exemption.
“I couldn’t be more proud with the way they responded,” Roche said of how his team stuck it out last week. “It would have been really easy for them to go into the fourth quarter and say ‘Hey, we’re losing by 17, let’s just ride it out.’ And they didn’t. They fought, and it’s just a testament to the mentality our kids are bringing.”
Speaking Wednesday morning, Roche said that the team had showed up to practice this week ready to work. “We’re 1-0 and we believe in this thing, and we’re going to work every day,” he said.
The Flathead Braves play against the Missoula Hellgate Knights this Friday at 7 p.m. at Legends Stadium in Kalispell.