Braves going without Osweiler

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead Braves have carved themselves another tough Friday night assignment.

The Braves, ranked No. 1 as recently as a week ago, fell out of the top 5 with a 10-7 loss last Friday to Helena High.

Next up?

A trip tonight to Helena to take on No. 4-ranked Helena Capital at Vigilante Stadium. Game time is 7 p.m.

The Bruins (6-1, 6-1) have the No. 1 offense in Class AA, averaging 430.7 yards and 38 points per game.

Their defense is giving up just 13.7 points per game.

Flathead (5-2, 5-2) has the No. 2-ranked offense, but the Braves go into tonight's contest without sophomore quarterback Brock Osweiler. Osweiler was hurt during last week's game.

Osweiler "seriously wanted to play (tonight)," said Flathead coach Grady Bennett.

But Flathead has a policy that two missed practices means missing that week's game.

"If I would have released him, he would have (played). If I would have said 'yes,' he'd be playing. I'm proud of him for showing the desire. But it's going to work out for the best," the coach said.

The Braves are already in the playoffs, regardless of tonight's result - or the outcome of next week's regular season finale versus Hellgate.

"We're fine. It's just a matter of seeding now," Bennett said.

Had Flathead defeated Helena High and won out, the Braves might have claimed a No. 2 or No. 3 seed and might have hosted as long as they were in.

If they split their final two games, they could still get a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.

"What I've sold the kids on, regardless of record, there's not a team in the state that's going to want to face us in that first round," Bennett said.

So with that in mind, the coaching staff installed quarterback packages for both senior Reed Watkins and freshman Shay Smithwick-Hann.

Who gets the start between those two will be a game-time decision.

"I just don't want to take Reed out of the things he so good at," Bennett said.

"Reed is just a competitor. He's a winner. He just flat plays hard. He's one of those special guys who can make things happen."

But Bennett referred to Smithwick-Hann as "the next Brock. He possesses kind of a knack, an inane ability to read coverage. He's just a good athlete. He's poised. He's calm, doesn't really get rattled. It's almost uncanny.

"Shay had a great week. He really did a great job," Bennett said.

"As good as Shay is, why not play Reed at wideout?" the coach said.

As for the Bruins, if they can, they will be happy to run the ball. According to Bennett, they run a version of the wing-T with plenty of misdirection runs, sweeps and the occasional play-action pass.

"The main thing they do, they do a quick tempo. Your defense barely has time to get aligned. They really establish tempo well and they get off the ball," Bennett said.

The big difference between the 2006 Bruins and teams from their recent past is an ability this year to throw the ball.

"You can't just pack the box and play the run," Bennett said.

Quarterback Jared Hunt is averaging over 98 yards per game. But he can run the ball, too. He threw for 87 yards and ran for 98 in last week's 17-7 Capital win over CMR.

"Our defense is again challenged. So far, they've been stepping up to those challenges," Bennett said.

"I know those guys will come out and play well."

But, he added, the offense must help out by keeping them off the field.

Flathead ran just 18 second-half plays against Helena High.

"We have to take care of the ball ourselves," Bennett said.