Braves one of three unbeatens
A ball-control offense? Who'd of thunk that out of the Flathead High School football team?
That was the case Friday night in a 39-6 pummeling of Missoula Sentinel. And now the Braves are one of three unbeaten teams in Montana's Class AA ranks.
Sentinel, which was averaging 43 passing plays and another 20 running plays per game, ran just 47 total plays against the Braves. Flathead, on the other hand, held the ball for 70 plays - and ran more than passed (38 to 32).
"We are controlling the ball," said a kind-of-surprised FHS coach Grady Bennett. "Both games we have been able to control the clock. We're spreading our offense out across the field, but we do want to control the clock if we can - and we've been doing that. We've been scoring on big plays, but also controlling the ball."
The only discouraging stat was 111 rushing yards on those 38 carries. That's an average of 2.9 yards per carry.
"I'm not worried about that," Bennett said. "Most of that came as the second half progressed and we had a younger kids in there and Sentinel was loading the box because we weren't going to pass it anymore. Our main backs (John Goldberg and Dan Ogden) averaged almost 5 yards per carry and that's where we want to be."
On the explosive side of the offense, 6-foot-8, 225-pound sophomore quarterback - and future Gonzaga basketball player - Brock Osweiler has completed 55 percent of 44 passes on the season for 546 yards and seven TDs without any interceptions.
"The main thing he (Osweiler) possesses is an understanding of the game," Bennett said. "When I first started working with him in eighth grade, he had an understanding that some seniors don't have out there. I don't have to spend too much time covering stuff with him. We don't have to rechalk plays a lot or rewatch plays a lot on film. He gets it the first time. He has an ability to sense coverages and get to an opponent's weakness and has a knack for knowing which receiver routes are going to be open before the play starts.
"He could have easily started for us all of last year. But I'm so glad with how it worked out that we didn't have to rush him into the position. He still got a lot of playing time last year and now, this year, he feels so much like a veteran. He has such a command of the game.
"The only thing we want him to improve on is his completion percentage. We've had some drops, which would be putting him at about 60 percent right now, but one of the things we are working on now is his decisions in hitting the primary receivers instead of checking down. I've also challenged him to start watching film privately."
Reed Watkins, last year's starting quarterback, is Osweiler's favorite target with eight catches for 231 yards and five touchdowns.
Just as impressive was the FHS defense.
Linebacker Coltin Weber registered three unassisted tackles, a tackle for a loss, two pass breakups and a sack to help lead the Braves in holding Sentinel to minus-18 yards rushing. Granted Sentinel's starting tailback was out, but Bennett said defensive ends Josh Harris and Brad Huff played excellent and relentlessly put pressure on the offense.
Spartans' QB Jordan Graves had completed 39 of 87 passes for 333 yards in his first two games but completed just 11 of 29 passes for 112 yards against the Braves.
So was it any special schemes Bennett employed on defense to confuse the passing attack of Sentinel?
"We just run a base D," he said. "We run a 4-3, cover-2 as our base. We've only blitzed four times in two games. We're just lining up and playing. I like the philosophy of just teaching kids how to play better than trying to trick opponents or create things on defense - and our coaches are doing a great job teaching and the kids are doing a great job playing."
Can you believe the Great Falls and CMR high school football teams are a combined 0-6 on the season?
CMR lost to Highland High of Pocatello, Idaho, 27-10 in Idaho State University's Holt Arena while Great Falls let lowly Missoula Hellgate rally with 27 unanswered points for a 27-7 victory.
Both Great Falls teams are FHS's opponents the next two weeks.
CMR is off to its worst start in 34 years under legendary coach Jack Johnson. The loss extended the Rustlers' losing streak to seven games, dating back to last season. Highland, which beat CMR's cross-town rival the week before in Great Falls, is ranked No. 2 among Idaho's 5A schools. Rustlers running back Christian Prosperie, who opened the season with a 269-yard effort against Helena High, rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
The Hellgate victory over Great Falls High rested on the shoulders of the Knights' defense. It was the lowest an opponent scored against the Knights in seven years. A long interception return at the end of the first half, a blocked punt in the third quarter and holding the Bison to 21 total yards in the second half resulted in Hellgate's first victory of the season. Hard-plugging fullback Roy Pritchett, who led the way on defense as the team's linebacker, finished with 103 rushing yards on 25 carries to lead the Knights on offense.
Top-ranked Butte survived yet another nailbiter.
Trailing the Bulldogs, 14-7, with 2:33 left in the game, Helena High put together an 80-yard drive and scored the potential game-tying TD with 1:15 left, but missed the 2-point conversion.
"With us scoring that late, we thought we'd take a shot at it," Helena coach Tony Arntson told The Montana Standard. "I don't regret my decision. We had a chance to make a play and we just missed it."
Butte cornerback Adam Bleken intercepted the 2-point conversion to seal the Bulldogs' win.
"If I were in Tony's shoes, I would have gone for two also," Butte coach Greg Salo said. "That was their best chance to win."
Second-ranked Helena Capital flexed some muscle with a 51-21 victory over previously-unbeaten Bozeman.
The Bruins scored five TDs in the first half in taking a 35-14 lead. They rushed the ball 56 times for 347 yards while holding the Hawks to 43 yards rushing. The Bruins completed just two passes. Running back Matt Williams led the Bruins with 101 total yards and a TD.
In the battle of Billings' top two teams, Senior took West down a notch.
The previously-winless Broncs beat the defending state champs, 42-30, to halt a 15-game winning streak in front of 6,000 fans.
QB AJ Paine hooked up with Sam Gratton on an 80-yard TD less than four minutes into the game and then running back Mo Burrough took over. Burrough finished with 168 yards and three TDs. Gratton finished with seven catches for 150 yards. Paine was an amazing 11-for-13 for 176 yards.
West QB Gary Fox Jr. was 15-for-34 for 228 yards and two first-half TDs with two interceptions. The Golden Bears committed six turnovers.
Billings Skyview got its first win of the season by scoring three second-half TDs to rally over previously-unbeaten Missoula Big Sky, 28-25.
Big Sky scored a touchdown with 54 seconds left in the game but couldn't recover its onside kick.
Skyview RB Jared Weil had 83 yards on 11 carries to lead the way. QB Josh Morris went 4-for-5 for 104 yards and a TD and added two rushing TDs.
Big Sky QB Greg Tuttle went 23-for-35 for 266 yards and a TD while RB Beau Donaldson had 98 rushing yards and two TDs on 13 carries.
Class AA
Standings
Butte 3 - 0
Capital 3 - 0
Flathead 2 - 0
Big Sky 2 - 1
Blgs. West 2 - 1
Bozeman 2 - 1
Helena 1 - 2
Blgs. Senior 1 - 2
Blgs. Skyview 1 - 2
Hellgate 1 - 2
CMR 0 - 2
Great Falls 0 - 2
Sentinel 0 - 3
Schedule
Last week
Blgs. Senior 42, Blgs. West 30
Flathead 39, Msla. Sentinel 6
Butte 14, Helena 13
Capital 51, Bozeman 21
Hellgate 27, Great Falls 7
Skyview 28, Big Sky 25
Highland, Idaho, 27, CMR 10
Friday, Sept. 15
Gillette, Wyo. at Billings Senior
Billings West at Great Falls
Billings Skyview at Bozeman
Helena at Missoula Sentinel
Missoula Hellgate at Helena Capital
Saturday, Sept. 16
Kalispell at Great Falls CMR
Butte at Missoula Big Sky