Braves prepare for physical test with Big Sky

Not a lot of flash, not fancy, just solid and very well done.

That, according to Flathead head football coach Grady Bennett, is what Flathead football fans can expect tonight from the visiting Missoula Big Sky Eagles.

Game time is 7 p.m. at Legends Stadium.

"They're going to run the football and run it very well," Bennett said.

For that, they have sophomore running back Beau Donaldson and quarterback Paul Morris.

Donaldson gained 139 yards on 16 carries in Big Sky's 13-12 win last week over Skyview.

Morris, a senior, was all-state a year ago as a kicker. Last weekend, he kicked two field goals, ran for 43 yards, including the game-tying touchdown and kicked the extra point.

"There are two things I know from (Big Sky coach Gary Ekegren), his teams are always physical. He does a good job of getting his kids to play physical football," Bennett said.

The second thing?

"They play hard and execute well. They don't run a lot of stuff, but they do it well. It's not very complicated.

"Their play-action game (off their run game) is really good," he added.

"It's good, because you're trying to stop the run and … boom!," the coach said.

Meanwhile, the stakes ratchet up a little higher with each passing week.

The Braves (3-3, 3-2) are tied with Great Falls High at fifth in the Class AA standings. Big Sky (3-3, 3-3) is right below them.

"Every week is a big game in (Class) AA," Bennett said.

"I really try … every week there's a game on our schedule. That's all we focus on," Bennett said.

"The kids have been really good about that."

And before Flathead can think about the playoffs, it has to figure out a way to win at Legends Stadium.

"This is a pride game to me," Bennett said.

"We're 3-0 on the road and that's awesome. But we're 0-3 at home.

"I don't care about the standings and the implications. We can't even begin to talk about those things until we take care of a game at home," the coach said.

"We've got one opponent and they're coming to our field. We've got to play with pride and a little passion. Doggone it, we're going to protect our home turf."

The way to do that, Bennett feels is through the Flathead defense.

"If we can build on last week - we shut Helena out and held the state's leading rusher down like we did (the Bengals' Tyson Bogumill ran for a grand total of 65 yards) … wow."

The key has been the Braves' ability to simply line up and play solid assignment football, Bennett said.

"Our front four has played so well. If they make teams throw, our secondary is so good.

"(The defense) has jelled so well. They fly to the ball. It's fun to watch them on film. Every play, white shirts are flying to the ball."

Offensively, Bennett is starting to feel a lot better.

"We made big strides this week. We've gone with just the one quarterback. It's led to some improvement."

And that one quarterback is?

Junior Reed Watkins (5-11, 160).

"He came in last week and he gave us a little spark. He had a great week.

"I feel like it's a chance to break out a little bit."