Libby leaves no doubts
Holy cow, how good is the Libby High School football team?
What was billed as a Montana Class A No. 2 versus No. 3 showdown played out with Libby showing it was too powerful for any Northwestern A opponent.
The Loggers are now heads above the rest as the top contender to knock off top-ranked Dillon for the state championship.
Unfortunately for Class A gridiron fans, the potential state championship matchup between No. 1 Dillon and No. 2 Libby can't happen. The Southwestern No. 1 seed and the Northwestern A No. 1 seed are on the same side of the playoff bracket. If both teams win their second-round games, they will face off in the semifinal round.
Coming into the game with the league's best passing attack, the Loggers showed how complete their team is by running for 287 yards. They held Whitefish to 56 net yards rushing and cruised to a 20-3 halftime lead.
Libby coach Neil Fuller said the Loggers needed to establish consistency in their running game in order to beat Whitefish and have success in the postseason.
In a battle of Northwestern A's only undefeated squads, Libby controlled both lines of scrimmage and took sole possession of first place.
Whitefish joined Columbia Falls and preseason-favorite Polson as Northwestern A's one-loss teams. Only the top three teams from each conference advance to the postseason.
"It came down to the basics of football - blocking and tackling - and they did a much better job of blocking and tackling," Whitefish coach Patrick Dryden said of his 27-17 loss.
Junior Jeremy Chumley carried the load with 235 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries as Libby threatened to blow the Bulldogs out on their homecoming. But Whitefish got its offense in gear in the fourth quarter to cut its deficit.
Chumley - a 5-foot-8, 200 pounder - nearly doubled his season rushing total and moved into fourth place on Northwestern A's rushing yardage list with 471 yards.
The Loggers also proved why it garners the league's top rushing defense. They limited Whitefish running back Luke Fennelly to 72 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. Fennelly came into the game as the league's top running back, but now trails Columbia Falls' Josh Wilson in rushing yardage with 813 yards.
Libby has averaged 30.3 points scored this year while allowing just 7.2.
"All along, I was hoping for a low-scoring game because they've been so stingy," Dryden said. "We needed some turnovers and we didn't get any."
The Loggers are second in the conference to Bigfork in passing yards with 1,075. But Libby quarterback Joel Fuller threw only seven passes, completing three of them for 92 yards and a 70-yard touchdown strike to 6-4, 215-pound quarterback-turned wide receiver Kyle Baker in the first quarter.
Baker leads the conference with 26 yards per catch, snaring 14 receptions for 364 yards and four touchdowns.
Whitefish (5-1, 3-1) is host to Columbia Falls (4-2, 3-1) on Friday while Libby (6-0, 4-0) takes a break from conference play to entertain Post Falls, Idaho, on homecoming.
A botched snap
Eureka's Tanner Newell caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jesse Johnson with four seconds left to draw the Lions to within one point, 13-12, of Columbia Falls, but the Lions botched their extra-point attempt.
Eureka was trying for its first Northwestern A victory in its first season in the conference.
According to Columbia Falls coach John Thompson, Eureka's holder bobbled the snap on the PAT, then rolled to his right and shoveled the ball to Eureka kicker Isiah Linnell who threw it toward the corner of the end zone where Columbia Falls' Jared Jimmerson knocked it down.
Thompson said the play should have been flagged because there were two forward passes.
Columbia Falls' running back Josh Wilson rushed for 177 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns, but the Wildcats lost two fumbles on Eureka's 11-yard line.