Has Image{rtf1macansicpg10000cocoartf102

{fonttblf0fswissfcharset77 Helvetica;}

{colortbl;red255green255blue255;}

margl1440margr1440vieww13500viewh11000viewkind0

pardtx720tx1440tx2160tx2880tx3600tx4320tx5040tx5760tx6480tx7200tx7920tx8640qlqnatural

f0fs36 cf0

Flathead'd5s Brandon Schmaus, right, goes up and over Helena High'd5s Jeremy Burrows to pull in the Braves'd5 only touchdown of the night. Helena High, ranked No. 5, upset top-ranked Flathead, 10-7.

Bengals smack No. 1 Braves

By DIXIE KNUTSON

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead Braves found out quickly that the Helena High Bengals were ready to play football Friday night.

'd2They came out and smacked us in the mouth and I don'd5t know if we ever recovered,'d3 said Flathead head coach Grady Bennett.

'd2I really think they got off the bus and popped us in the mouth.

'd2And they could sense it. They could smell the blood.'d3

The end result was a physical, hard-hitting football game 'd1 and a10-7 win for the No. 5-ranked Bengals (6-2, 6-2) over top-ranked Flathead (5-2, 5-2).

'd2All I can really do is credit Tony Arntson and his guys,'d3 Bennett said.

'd2They took us out of everything we wanted to do.'d3

For his part, Arntson gave credit where it was due 'd1 to the Bengal defense.

'd2This is huge for us,'d3 he said.

'd2I was awful proud of our defense. They just did a great job. Big plays on defense, big sacks,'d3 Arntson said.

The Bengals were in the face of Flathead quarterback Brock Osweiler all night long. The sophomore was sacked six times on the night 'd1 five times in the first half 'd1 for a loss of 48 yards.

Helena held the No. 2-ranked offense in Class AA to 205 total yards and only one touchdown. The Braves had been averaging 33 points and 372 yards per game.

Osweiler had his roughest start of the year. He was 9-for-22 for 130 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

'd2I'd5ve been there as a young quarterback,'d3 Bennett said. 'd2This is a good game for Brock to go through. It'd5s going to make him better.'d3

Offensively, the Bengals did well enough, Arntson said.

'd2We hoped we could run the ball. We moved the ball well enough and we didn'd5t make any mistakes.'d3

The Bengals, with their No. 3-ranked offense, racked up 287 yards.

Running back Eron Krpan was a horse with 139 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries.

The Bengals took the early lead on a 30-yard field goal by Sean Kelly midway through the first quarter.

Flathead bounced back with a 19-yard Osweiler to Brandon Schmaus touchdown pass early in the second.

But the Bengals didn'd5t flinch one bit.

And when they needed to put together a drive to score at the end of the half, they were up to the task.

They drove 53 yards in 2:44. Krpan topped it off with a 4-yard jaunt up the middle to put Helena up 10-7.

Flathead still had 55 seconds to try to get something done, but a 5-yard gain, an incomplete pass and a sack finished that idea.

The second half was about ball control. Helena didn'd5t score, but it chewed up huge chunks of the clock. The Braves ran nine plays in the third quarter and nine in the fourth quarter.

One shining moment for Flathead 'd1 a 27-yard touchdown pass from Osweiler to Schmaus 'd1 was called back on a holding call.

'd2We didn'd5t have the best week of practice. It wasn'd5t bad, just average,'d3 Bennett said.

He took the blame for that.

But this week will be one for soul-searching for Flathead.

'd2I know this group of guys and I know they'd5ll respond,'d3 Bennett said. 'd2They all looked me in the eye.

'd2The present we get is we get to go on the road and play Capital.'d3

'd2We still are a team that'd5s learning and growing,'d3 Bennett said.

'd2This will either make us 'd1 or things can turn on you in a hurry.'d3

The first question Bennett asked the Braves in the locker room afterward was whether they still believed they were a state-championship calibre team. The resounding response was 'd4yes,'d5 he said.

'd2The easy answer is 'd4yes'd5. OK. Thanks for saying yes. We'd5ll find out.'d3

Helena 3 7 0 0 'd1 10

Flathead 0 7 0 0 'd1 7

First Quarter

H 'd1 Sean Kelly 30 field goal (5:35).

Second Quarter

F 'd1 Brandon Schmaus 19 pass from Brock Osweiler (Clint Manning kick), 9:49.

H 'd1 Eron Krpan 3 run (Kelly kick)(1:01).

'd1'd1'd1'd1

H F

First downs 15 10

Total Net Yards 287 205

Rushes-yards 51-244 23-64

Passing 43 141

Punt Returns 5-0 4-7

Kickoff Returns 3-58 1-0

Comp-Att-Int 5-13-0 9-22-3

Punts 5-152 5-156

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-1

Penalties-Yards 7-50 1-10

'd1'd1'd1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING'd1Helena,Eron Krpan 34-139, Ryan Fetherston 12-87, Dylan Lang 1-10, Josh Stuberg 4-8. Flathead,John Goldberg 3-48, Reed Watkins 8-40, Dan Ogden 5-24, Brock Osweiler 7-48 .

PASSING'd1Helena,Ryan Fetherston 5-13-0-43. Flathead,Brock Osweiler 9-22-3-130. Reed Watkins 1-1-0-11.

RECEIVING'd1Helena,Reil Cornelius 5-43. Flathead, Nick Haegele 3-65, Reed Watkins 3-31, Geoff Hogan 3-26, Brandon Schmaus 1-19.