Wildcats throttle Bigfork
COLUMBIA FALLS - In a season filled with positive milestones, the Columbia Falls Wildcats conquered an old demon Friday night, setting the stage to vanquish their biggest one yet.
Kyle Rosenbaum put on a show, rushing for 270 yards and four touchdowns as the Wildcats defeated Bigfork 53-25. It was Columbia Falls' first win over the Vikings at least since Bigfork moved to Class A nine years ago.
"That's a nice monkey to get off our backs," Wildcats coach John Thompson said. "Nine years of losing to one team is a long time.
"And that's what we talked about with our kids this week, and I thought they played pretty damn well."
They did indeed, piling up 350 yards rushing and 226 yards through the air against an injury-riddled Bigfork team.
The Vikings were without starting quarterback Mitchell Hill, who was hurt in last week's loss to Ronan. Laine Averill moved in from wide receiver for his first ever start at quarterback.
"Injuries hurt, big time," Bigfork coach Aaron Stiegler said. "Anytime you lose a great player like Mitchell Hill, it's going to hurt.
"Laine I thought stepped in and did a great job. He'd never ever played quarterback in his entire life."
Averill threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns, but he did make the sort of mistakes you would expect from a novice quarterback, resulting in four interceptions, two by Drew Perry.
"I'm just proud of my team for fighting, and continuing to fight," Stiegler said. "At Bigfork, we don't have the numbers other schools have, and when we lose a couple of key guys, it really, really hurts."
Columbia Falls got off to a fast start, with Rosenbaum scoring from 22 yards out just 2:35 into the game.
Bigfork (1-7 overall, 0-4 conference) would take an 8-7 lead less than a minute later when Averill found Erik Torgerson for a 40-yard touchdown, and the Vikings ran in a two-point conversion on what looked like the old swinging gate play.
But the Wildcats pulled away after that, quickly regaining the lead for good and building a 34-11 halftime advantage.
The win allowed Columbia Falls seniors to do their traditional field walk in victory for the first time in a long time.
"I've been here for 11 years, and I don't think I've ever seen seniors walk the field on their last game after a win," Thompson said. "I want to see them have the success they deserve. It's been tough."
Now the Wildcats (4-4, 2-2) turn their attention to arch-rival Whitefish (4-3, 2-2). Both teams are tied for third in the conference, and the winner will advance to the playoffs. For Columbia Falls, a win would be its first over the Bulldogs and first trip to state since 1992.
"We're going to need to play well next week, that's all there is to it," Thompson said. "We wanted to get a good solid win under our belts heading into Whitefish."
WILDCATS 53, VIKINGS 25
Bigfork 11 0 0 14 - 25
Columbia Falls 14 20 12 7 - 53
First Quarter
CFHS-Kyle Rosenbaum 22 run (Kevin Boyer kick), 9:25
BHS-Erik Torgerson 40 pass from Laine Averill (Aaron Vogel run), 8:29
CFHS-Rosenbaum 15 run (Boyer kick), 4:41
BHS-Torgerson 31 FG, :07
Second Quarter
CFHS-Nik Caron 4 run (Boyer kick), 10:23
CFHS-Rosenbaum 55 run (Boyer kick), 4:56
CFHS-Drew Perry 38 pass from Craig Olson (kick failed), 4:09
Third Quarter
CFHS-J.D. Fields 21 pass from Olson (kick failed), 4:41
CFHS-Rosenbaum 43 run (kick failed), 4:30
Fourth Quarter
BHS-Kellen Wasell 51 pass from Averill (Donny Houtonen pass from Averill), 7:25
CFHS-Olson 1 run (Boyer kick), 2:25
BHS-Cody King 30 pass from Averill (pass failed), 1:07
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Bigfork (14-10), Vogel 11-38, Averill 2-(minus-11), Team 1-(minus-17). Columbia Falls (53-350), Rosenbaum 24-270, Caron 11-53, Micah Patterson 2-15, Olson 4-11, Ryan Buck 4-9, Josh Peterson 3-3, Alex Sterhan 1-1, Calvin Williams 2-0, Matt Busick 1-(minus-1), Team 1-(minus-6).
PASSING-Bigfork, Averill 14-39-4-297. Columbia Falls, Olson 9-13-1-226.
RECEIVING-Bigfork, Wasell 5-105, King 5-83, Shaun Reed 3-69, Torgerson 1-40. Columbia Falls, Perry 2-81, Buck 3-72, Fields 2-38, Rosenbaum 1-26, Peterson 1-9.