Braves ready for Butte rematch

By DIXIE KNUTSON

The Daily Inter Lake

There is no new game plan. There is no new magic idea.

The Flathead Braves (6-3) are simply going to go into tonight's Class AA football quarterfinal at Butte's Bulldog Memorial Stadium and do what they do.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

"At this point of the season, you want to be going in running what you're doing well, what you're best at," said Flathead head coach Grady Bennett.

"The biggest challenge is not to trick yourself or overcoach," he said.

"There's not some magic call out there, some perfect play the coach is going to call. It's a matter of lining up and just executing," Bennett said.

Bennett expects the same from the Bulldogs.

"(The Bulldogs) had a pretty good year doing what they do," Bennett said.

"They don't do a lot of tricky stuff. They line up and play solid and execute."

The Braves beat Butte 21-14 Oct. 6, the sixth week of the regular season.

Flathead outplayed the Bulldogs in just about every way that night - from the number of first downs to rushing and passing yards to just wearing Butte down physically.

But Flathead isn't banking on that win.

After all, the Bulldogs (7-2) went on to win two of the next three games and is currently ranked No. 3 in the state. Flathead lost two of the next three and is unranked.

"We fell out of the ranks, even. There's no pressure on us. We're the lower seed," Bennett said.

"We just want to be doing the things we're doing well.

"We're kind of in a good position to come in. I just can't wait. You get to this point now, you just want to play. It's hard to get through the week," he said.

"It'll be another great football game."

The Butte/Flathead winner will meet the winner to Billings West/Bozeman in the semifinals the weekend of Nov. 10-11.