Braves-Bison game features top QBs

DIXIE KNUTSON/The Daily Inter Lake

The Great Falls forecast?

Thirty percent chance for snow this morning, but clear skies and cold tonight.

Why the weather forecast on the sports page?

Because the Flathead Braves (4-2) are on their way to the Electric City for a matchup with the Great Falls High Bison (4-2).

Game time is 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

The Braves are playing Saturday because CMR played host Friday to Bozeman.

Both Flathead and Great Falls are in the thick of the playoff hunt. The top eight finishers make the playoffs. The top four earn home field advantage in the first round.

Currently, undefeated Billings West leads all. CMR is tied for second place with Helena Capital and Billings Senior, while Flathead, Great Falls and Helena are all at 4-2.

Bozeman is at 2-4, tied with Butte High, Billings Skyview and Missoula Big Sky.

Great Falls has wins over Big Sky (35-24), Missoula Hellgate (34-0), Billings Skyview (28-14) and Glacier (51-7). Losses are to Bozeman (8-7) and Billings Senior (24-14).

"They like to throw. They feature their quarterback (Andrew Hafliger, 6-3, 190), whether it's running or throwing. He does a good job of both," said Flathead coach Russell McCarvel of the Bison.

"(Hafliger) is good. He makes a lot of things happen. They have a big-play wide receiver in Aaron Booth (6-0, 160) and they really have a good group of wide receivers," McCarvel added.

"They're going to try to throw the ball, that's their forte, for sure. They do a lot of zone option stuff and a lot of quarterback counters," he said.

Booth is "fast, he has good size. They also have two 6-3 wideouts.

"But the big plays usually come from the quarterback," he said.

"They'll take what you give them. And they definitely have big play capability."

Sound familiar?

Flathead has AA's No. 1-ranked pass offense and the No. 1-ranked quarterback in junior Brock Osweiler. Great Falls has the No. 2-ranked pass offense and the No. 3-ranked quarterback in Andrew Hafliger.

Flathead also has the No. 1 receiver in senior Mike Gallagher.

Gallagher leads the league in both receptions per game (an average of 7 per game) and receiving yardage (111.5 yards per game).

Through six games, the Braves have completed 124 of 202 pass attempts for 1,690 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.

The Bison have completed 88 of 168 pass attempts for 1,188 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.

In total offense, the Bison are No. 2 with 2,243 total yards. The Braves are No. 3, exactly 20 yards behind.

Defensively, McCarvel is impressed with Great Falls, too.

"They have an excellent group of linebackers, led by one of the top wrestlers in the state, Ty Vinson (6-1, 200)," McCarvel said.

Vinson won an 8-5 decision over Flathead's Luke Fischer last February to claim the 2007 state championship at 171 pounds.

McCarvel also saw a lot of good things from Great Falls inside linebacker Andy Pennell.

"As a group, it's probably the best linebacking corps we seen," he said.

"Our defense is playing well," the coach hastened to add. "I have confidence our defense is going to go out and play well again, he said.

"We had a good week of practice. We know it's going to be a tough place to play. I'm sure our kids will be ready to go.

"We're just trying to get better at the little things, we're trying to be more efficient close to the end zone. We're just trying to get better," McCarvel said.