Braves' fast start sinks Butte

Hit them in the face first.

That was the answer earlier this week when Flathead senior cornerback Corey Campbell was asked the best way to deal with the Butte Bulldogs.

That's exactly what the Flathead football team did Friday night.

There's not a much better shot to the chops than a 93-yard return of the opening kickoff.

Flathead senior Garrett Smith collected the kick, and headed straight up the middle. Sixteen seconds later, the Flathead football team celebrated a lead it would never surrender. Not too much later, the Braves (5-3, 5-2) collected a 35-20 Class AA football win over Butte (4-4, 4-4).

The win almost certainly gives Flathead a playoff berth. If the Braves win the next two (against Missoula Sentinel and Bozeman), they'll have a good chance to host a playoff game.

"I'm so confident in our wedge," Smith said. "They got it done. They made some huge blocks and I was able to get through.

"I hit the hole and luck followed me," he added.

"I think that (return) just gave us confidence. It was just good to have points on the board."

"Butte's the kind of team - if they get rolling, they're tough," Flathead coach Grady Bennett said.

But, if the Bulldogs should happen to get down early, "then it's a different ballgame. The kids knew that," he said.

"They were so focused and so ready," Bennett said of the Braves.

"I'm proud of them for that. Senior night is tough. It's a challenge. There are so many distractions," he said.

The Brave defense held Butte to three-and-out on the Bulldogs' first possession. The Flathead offense got the ball back with 10:46 left in the first quarter.

But, a couple of special teams penalties put the Braves on their own 10-yard line.

No matter.

The Braves put together a 90-yard, 16-play drive that ate up more than seven minutes and culminated with a

13-yard run by quarterback Reed Watkins.

Another three-and-out from Butte - and a 49-yard punt return from Foston Reilly put Flathead back in business at the Bulldog 20.

They settled for a 30-yard Cody Haugen field goal that time, but tacked on two more when the Butte return man took the ensuing kickoff at his own eight, then retreated and got tackled in his own end zone.

By the time halftime rolled around, Flathead had added another Haugen field goal and a 43 yard touchdown reception from Brock Osweiler to Nick Haegele and led 29-0.

Things were really going well.

Watkins hit his first four passes and was 7-for-9 in the first half. Running back Scott Cassel had 80 rushing yards at half.

The only bad news?

Penalties. Tons of them.

In all, Flathead was flagged 13 times for 105 yards. Eleven were in the first half.

"Everything was just rolling. If not for too many mental mistakes, we might have had 50 (points) at half," said Bennett.

"Our offense came out strong," agreed senior defensive lineman Damian Farrier.

"Our o-line had some pretty good pass blocking."

But the second half was a whole different story - and Butte was a different football team.

The Bulldogs ran harder, with more emotion. It paid off with a 62-yard scoring drive.

"They got a little momentum going," Farrier said. "They seemed to pick up the tempo.

"They just seemed to be making plays they couldn't make in the first half," he said.

"I didn't expect them to come out that pumped," he added.

"But it didn't faze me that much. I knew we'd come back and stop them."

Still, the last seven minutes were worrisome for the Braves.

Butte scored with 4:35 left in the game.

From then on, "it was onside kick city," Bennett said.

Butte recovered the first onside kick, scored two plays later to get within 35-20, then tried - and recovered a second onside kick.

"They definitely did a great job executing the onside kick," Bennett said.

"The onside kicks were frustrating, but we'll work on that," Farrier said.

But it was too little, too late for Butte as the Flathead defense put together a stand and stopped the Bulldogs on fourth-and-20 at the Flathead 21.

"We weren't really panicking, but we were worried," Smith confessed.

"I'm proud of our defense for finally saying 'OK, it's over," Bennett said.

"Our offense came out right away … and our special teams. Our defense stuck together when we needed to," Farrier said.

Braves 35, Bulldogs 20

Butte 0 0 7 13 - 20

Flathead 14 15 6 0 - 35

First Quarter

F - Garrett Smith 93 kickoff return (Haugen kick), 11:44.

F - Reed Watkins 13 run (Study kick), 3:40.

Second Quarter

F - Haugen 30 field goal, 11:54.

F - Safety (John Goldberg), 11:45.

F - Haugen 32 field goal, 7:49.

F - Haegele 43 pass from Osweiler (Haugen kick) :10.3.

Third Quarter

B - McCloskey 20 pass from Sullivan (Haynes kick), 8:01.

F -Cassel 39 pass from Watkins (kick failed), 3:19.

Fouth Quarter

B - Dennehy 5 run (Haynes kick), 4:35.

B - McCloskey 30 pass from Sullivan (pass failed), 3:52.

B F

First downs 11 8

Rush-yds 37-37 36-148

Pass yards 204 162

Comp-att-int 15-32-2 9-12-0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties 3-35 13-105

Individual Statistics

Rushing-Butte, Heath McCloskey 11-27, Casey Dennehy 7-23, Ryan Pollock 2-17, Adam Witt 2-7, Willie Sullivan 10-minus 13, Brett Bond 5-minus 24. Flathead, Scott Cassel 15-77, Reed Watkins 13-44, Ben Moyers 5-15, Ben Ogden 2-11, Shane Komenda 1-1.

Passing-Butte, Willie Sullivan 11-19-0-148, Brett Bond 4-10-1-56, McCloskey 0-1-1-0, Ryan Pollock 0-2-0-0. Flathead, Reed Watkins 8-11-119, Brock Osweiler 1-1-43.

Receiving- Butte, McCloskey 7-129, Dennehy 5-39, Pollock 1-24, Tony Cunneen 1-9, Tyler Gilder 1-3. Flathead, Foston Reilly 3-53, Scott Cassel 2-47, Nick Haegele 2-47, Dan Ogden 1-13, Jason Russell 1-2.