Hamilton clobbers Wildcats

Broncs control trenches; rush for 344 yards, hold C-Falls to 22

COLUMBIA FALLS - Simply put, the Hamilton High School football team flexed its muscle Saturday.

Facing Columbia Falls in the first round of the Class A playoffs, the Broncs power rushed for 344 yards and then stuffed the Wildcats' rushing attack to 22 yards en route to a 24-0 victory.

The Broncs, Southwestern A's No. 3 seed, advance to play Butte Central.

The Wildcats, Northwestern A's No. 2 seed, ended their season with a 6-3 record after hosting a playoff game for the first time in 32 years.

"Hopefully this is a step in the right direction for the program," Columbia Falls' fifth-year coach John Thompson said. "We've had some kids that have paid the price and have done a good job dedicating themselves to the weight room and hopefully more kids will step up now. Hopefully this generated more interest in the program. Now we have to go make ourselves better."

In regards to strength and size, the game was humbling for the Wildcats.

The Hamilton Hogs paved the way for senior running back Ryan Turley to rush 40 times for 208 yards and a touchdown while junior fullback Brady Anderson added 142 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.

"That was our gameplan," Hamilton coach Steve Weston said. "I told the kids, 'If Ryan carries the ball 35 times and Brady carries it 25 times, we're going to win.' And that's what we did. They both did a great job carrying the football and our O-line did great. We controlled the line of scrimmage."

The Broncs ran more than twice as many plays as the Wildcats, 73-36, and finished with 19 first downs compared to the 'Cats' six. The 'Cats didn't get their initial first down until 3 minutes, 20 seconds remained in the first half. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Hamilton held a 17-4 edge in first downs.

Still, the Broncs held just an 8-0 halftime lead and went ahead by two possessions halfway through the third quarter thanks to a fumbled punt return on the Wildcats' 27-yard line. All three of Hamilton's scores came on short runs.

The 'Cats nearly came within a 2-point conversion of tying the game before halftime when sophomore quarterback Mitchell Wassam subbed in for an injured Mackie Nolan. Wassam completed two passes for 52 yards and had C-Falls on Hamilton's 10-yard line. But a second-down slot back pass resulted in an interception by Hamilton's Chase Mildenberger in the end zone.

C-Falls running back Josh Wilson had just four carries for five yards. Senior slot back Scott Palmer led the 'Cats in rushing by busting a sweep for 23 yards to begin the second half. Not including that run, Hamilton's D held C-Falls to minus-1 yard rushing.

"They did some things defensively that caused us some problems," Thompson said. "They did a great job of staying at home on the backside and then also attacking the play side and sweep side with enough bodies that it made it tough for us to get outside with a sweep. Staying at home on the backside took away the zone read (to Wilson)."

Weston said it was his boys up front (250-pound sophomore tackle Wesley Sherman, 240-pounder junior tackle Cody Sellers, along with ends Brady Anderson and Colton Weigle) that took away Wilson's inside zones.

"Our guys up front did a great job and they weren't able to run the inside zone," Weston said. "When Josh wasn't able to run the inside zone, then they were forced to run to the perimeter. We controlled the edge a little bit and forced them back inside."

He credited linebackers Brit Farley, Alex Martin and Brock Anderson for that and his defensive backs accounted for four interceptions. Mildenberger had two of the picks; Turley and Justin Gillespie had the others.

"Our defense played great and got a handful of big plays," Weston said. "We did a great job on Josh (Wilson) and forced them to throw the ball."

The game capped a three-game sweep for Hamilton against Flathead Valley teams (C-Falls, Whitefish and Bigfork) this season. On the road in all of those games, the Broncs out-scored them all, 113-0.

It's been six years since Hamilton last won a playoff game. That one came in Bigfork in 2001.

"We've gone through quite a dry spell in our program," Weston said.

Hamilton 8 0 8 8 - 24

C-Falls 0 0 0 0 - 0

First Quarter

H-Ryan Turley 7 run (Turley run), :08.

Third Quarter

H-Brady Anderson 1 run (Anderson run), 2:37.

Fourth Quarter

H-Anderson 2 run (Turley pass from Jason Schallenberger), 9:37.

TEAM STATS

Ham CF

First Downs 19 5

Total Yards 407 167

Rushes-yards 67-344 20-22

Passing 63 145

Punt Returns 2-23 0-0

Kickoff Returns 1-24 4-29

Int. Returns 4-19 1-0

Comp-Att-Int 4-6-1 6-16-4

Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 2-16

Punts 2-28.0 5-41.0

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-1

Penalties-Yards 6-50 3-25

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING-Ham, Ryan Turley 40-208, Brady Anderson 26-142, team 1-(-6). CF, Scott Palmer 1-23, Chase Fairbank 3-11, Josh Wilson 4-5, Michael Hader 1-(-1), Mitchell Wassam 2-(-2), team 1-(-4), Mackie Nolan 8-(-10).

PASSING-Ham, Justin Bourne 2-3-0-48, Jason Schallenberger 2-3-1-15. CF, Nolan 4-13-3-93, Wassam 2-2-0-52, Fairbank 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVNG-Ham, Kyle Crowley 2-15, Chase Mildenberger 1-35, Justin Gillespie 1-13. CF, Jordan Thompson 2-83, Chase Fairbank 2-8, Chase Grilley 1-40, Hader 1-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-none.