Some firsts present themselves in playoffs

There's a first and a revisited first coming up on Saturday in the opening round of the Class A high school football playoffs.

Whitefish travels to Frenchtown and Anaconda travels to Polson in the Northwestern A versus Southwestern A side of the bracket. Both games begin a 1 p.m.

The Whitefish-Frenchtown matchup is a first. The teams have never played each other because Frenchtown moved up to Class A in 2002.

Both teams have league-leading rushers.

Whitefish's Luke Fennelly led the Northwestern A with 12 touchdowns. He was second in the conference with 1,006 yards rushing at 6.6 yards per carry.

Frenchtown's Nate Lebsock led the Southwestern A with 1,071 rushing yards at 6.6 yards per carry. The Broncs also have their league's No. 2 rusher. Colin Dilworth rushed for 909 yards at 6.9 yards per carry.

The game should be an awesome matchup between Frenchtown's wishbone offense and Whitefish defensive coordinator Chad Ross' confusing unit. Both teams' seasons last year ended at the hands of state champion Dillon.

The winner will travel to Central A champion Havre next Saturday.

The Anaconda-Polson matchup revisits a first. The teams haven't played since Sept. 7, 2001, when the Pirates beat the Copperheads, 6-0, in overtime. That win was head coach Scott Wilson's first at Polson.

While the Pirates are 1-5 in postseason play since Wilson's arrival, the Copperheads haven't tasted the postseason since 1998.

The Pirates have a three-headed monster at running back. Bryce Picard, Ted Morigeau and Pat Dellwo have combined for 1,454 yards and 20 touchdowns on 231 carries. They combine to average 6.3 yards per carry.

Sophomore quarterback Craig Bagnell has completed 50 percent of 173 passes for 1,195 yards and six touchdowns.

Anaconda running back Jake Orrino has 846 yards rushing at 5.6 yards per carry.

Quarterback Triston Spehar added another 350 yards on the ground for the Copperheads. He went into last week's game completing 49 of 118 passes for 851 yards and seven touchdowns with four interceptions. But against Frenchtown, he was 1-for-22 with five interceptions.

The Polson-Anaconda winner will travel to play Eastern A champion Billings Central next Saturday.