Northwestern A Notebook: Hamilton comes to C-Falls; Whitefish travels to Frenchtown

The playoff pairings are set for Montana?s Class A football.

Southwestern A?s No. 3 seed Hamilton comes to Columbia Falls and Whitefish travels to Southwestern A?s No. 2 seed Frenchtown for first-round games.

Both games start at 1 p.m.

Northwestern A?s No. 1 seed Libby earned a bye and awaits the winner between Central A?s No. 2 Belgrade and Eastern A?s No. 3 Sidney.

The last time Hamilton came up to the Flathead Valley was on Sept. 14, when it pounded Whitefish, 40-0. The Broncs (6-2) won six straight games to start the season, the lost their last two. They lost in double overtime to Frenchtown, 26-25, and then to Dillon on Friday, 29-6.

Since 2000, the Wildcats own a 2-1 edge against Hamilton. The last time they played each other was on Sept. 9, 2005, here in the Flathead Valley. The Broncs won, 13-7. In 2003, the Wildcats went to Hamilton and won, 19-13. In 2002, the Wildcats prevailed, 14-13.

This game will feature the top rushing attacks in western Montana. Hamilton has run for 1,693 yards; C-Falls has rushed for 1,987.

Columbia Falls junior running back Josh Wilson has 827 yards and seven touchdowns and averages 6.1 yards per carry. Junior quarterback Mackie Nolan added another 276 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Hamilton senior running back Ryan Turley has rushed for 1,047 yards and scored 20 touchdowns.

The difference in the game could be the physical nature of Hamilton. The Broncs offensive line averages 239 pounds per player.

THE WHITEFISH-FRENCHTOWN game is a rematch of last-year?s first round playoff. In that playoff, Frenchtown won 42-14 before going on to play Dillon in the state championship for the second consecutive year. The teams squared off again this year, on Sept. 7, and Frenchtown barely won, 14-7. Those are the only two games the teams have played against each other this century.

This game features Northwestern A?s and Southwestern A?s No. 2 rushing attacks.

Utilizing the wing-T offense, Frenchtown rushed for 1,456 yards on a 5.9 yards-per-carry average. Whitefish finished with 1,485 yards on a 6.0 ypc average.

But Frenchtown?s run defense is stifling, allowing just 73 yards per game on the ground, while Whitefish?s run defense allows 198 yards per game.

Frenchtown running back Cody Kirk led his team with 948 yards during the regular season. Senior running back Matt Starr led Whitefish with 542 yards.