Playoff Push

The Daily Inter Lake

A change was definitely in order.

So, when the 2004 Flathead football season ended on a 3-7 sour note and with a 49-0 loss to the Bozeman Hawks, the Braves coaches spent some talking about the direction the program needed to take in order to become a perennial power.

They decided to change some of the things for which the Flathead Braves had long been known.

Flathead would become more physical up front; it would run the football and control the line of scrimmage.

They decided the offensive line was going to be the foundation of the program.

Over dinner at Bennetts home last December, he and offensive line coach Mark Harkins told line members we would put the best we could find in those five spots and we were going to hang our hat on them, he said.

The challenge was to build an offensive line with attitude.

Every time, every snap of the ball, our goal is to push the other guys back at the point of attack and not get pushed back ourselves, Harkins said.

I think this O-line might be the group Im most proud of, Bennett said.

The group consists of seniors Cody Haugen, left tackle, Stetson Spooner, left guard, center Colter Bennett, Casey Poier, right guard and Tanner Osweiler, right tackle. Senior tight end Jason Russell and junior right guard Bob Hickey are also big contributors.

They just went after it. The work they did in that weight room is just amazing. Im just so proud of the effort they put in, Bennett said.

Theyve all been weight room fanatics, Harkins agreed.

Its made the difference in their ability as football players. The key to that is Buford (Bennett, strength coach).

All seven point to their offseason effort.

We all worked hard in the offseason,Osweiler said.

Last year, we all started lifting the week after football got over.

The D-lines are almost always bigger than us. All the weight room weve done with Buford … its just helped out, Spooner said.

It didnt matter what we offered to them. They just soaked it up and did it, Grady Bennett said.

That effort didnt seem to have a lot of payoff in the early going as the Braves got off to a 2-3 start.

Part of the problem was a rotating quarterback system as senior Brian Fox, junior Reed Watkins and freshman Brock Osweiler all took turns taking snaps.

We were having kind of a problem picking positions, explained Spooner.

We had three quarterbacks. It was hard to get on one guys cadence.

I take a lot of blame for that early on, coach Grady Bennett said.

Some things would have been better if I had made a choice. But these kids never complained, he added.

They just went out there and played. They just kept hanging in there.

But then came the Oct. 1 game at Helena High.

The Braves saw that as a must-win situation.

We knew we could beat them up and we did, Spooner said.

We just flat pounded them, Haugen agreed.

Running back Scott Cassel gained 98 yards that day. As a team, the Braves rushed for 163 yards and won the game, 7-0.

The Helena High game clicked for them. We were able to physically run the football. They were able to get Scotty going, Grady Bennett said.

I think they turned the corner, Harkins agreed.

Theyve won every game since. The Braves offensive stats for the last four games include 550 rushing yards, 568 passing and theyve outscored opponents, 100-27.

Things are clicking. Coming together, said senior center Colter Bennett.

Were rolling.

Weve improved every week. Were communicating. Getting to our assignments, Spooner said.

We trust each other more than we used to, Hickey agreed.

Weve got a lot more confidence now, too, Colter Bennett said.

We expect to win every week, he said.

Our confidence is really high right now, Osweiler agreed.

We also demand the best out of each other, he said.

Our recent goal is to score more points than the soccer team has fans, put in Poier.

And theyre in shape.

Were not the most talented or athletic team in the state, but Ive never looked to my side and seen the guys huffing air, Spooner said.

The undisputed leader of the group is Bennett.

Hes the quarterback of the offensive line. He knows every position and what we have to do, Osweiler said.

If I screw up, I hear about it before the whistle blows, Spooner agreed. Colter is getting on me as a leader.

He just knows the game, coach Bennett said.

Hes very, very smart and he loves the game.

There were times when Watkins was first stepping in as quarterback that Colter Bennett audibled for him, the coach said.

He also complimented the play of tight end Jason Russell.

Until this year, Russell was in the quarterback mix.

Hes such an unselfish example of putting team first. He put in a ton of time trying to be our starting quarterback.

But when he didnt get the job, Russell didnt sulk or try to stay as a backup, he moved to tight end.

It took a lot to get mentally and physically prepared to block, Russell said.

But he did it, Spooner put in.

You have to jell. You have to know what the other guy is doing beside you and you have to trust each other, Grady Bennett said.

Offensive linemen dont get many pats on the back and they have no individual statistics at which to point.

Linemen, especially these guys, are really intrinsically motivated. They play because they love to play, Harkins said.

They get their stats through Scott (Cassel) and Reed (Watkins), he added.

Its heart. Its a physical position. Every play theyre hitting somebody.

At 6-3 overall, the Braves are in a position tonight to clinch a home playoff game. They need a win over the Bozeman or for Great Falls High to defeat Great Falls Russell for that to happen.

Everybody expects us to look past them. We dont look past anybody, because people look past us, Spooner said.

And that home playoff game carrot is focus enough right there, Bennett said.

If we keep playing like we have been … Colter Bennett said.

Spooner finished his sentence.

It shouldnt be a problem.