Flathead holds off Sentinel's late charge
The Daily Inter Lake
Braves recover fumble at 1-yard line to preserve victory
MISSOULA - Clutch defense.
The Flathead Braves recovered a fumble on their own 1-yard line as time wound down Friday night to preserve a 21-14 victory over Missoula Sentinel (0-6).
The victory moved the Braves to 4-2 on the year -with a road trip to Great Falls High on the horizon next Saturday.
Flathead coach Russell McCarvel was happy - and unapologetic.
"We lost a game at the one-yard line earlier this season," he said, referring to Flathead's home opener loss to Helena High.
"This week, we won a game at the one-yard line. Our defense did a great job," he said.
The Spartans, who scored both their touchdowns in the fourth quarter, had put together a nice 70-yard drive to get close.
But on fourth down, with the clock winding down, Sentinel tried a quarterback sneak.
"We stopped it cold. It was a great push by our defensive front," McCarvel said.
The Sentinel quarterback fumbled the ball, and Flathead recovered it during the ensuing scrum.
The Flathead defense was also responsible for a third-quarter score that put the Braves up 21-0.
Tyler Hendrick returned a Sentinel fumble four yards for the score.
"The defense getting a score was big," the coach said.
"Coach (Dallas) Stuker and the defensive staff did a good job putting together a plan and the kids executed it," McCarvel said.
McCarvel also complimented the defensive efforts of David Lau and Curtis Manning.
The Braves started the afternoon with a precision attack - eight plays that culminated in an 18-yard Brock Osweiler to Travis Andrus score.
Flathead turned the ball over on the first play of its second possession, but then put together a 22-play 90-yard scoring drive, their longest of the season.
"We made a lot of clutch plays," McCarvel said.
Osweiler found Mike Gallagher on a route to the outside (a play the Braves put in earlier this week).
Gallagher caught the ball on about the four-yard line and broke a couple tackles to score.
"It was a nice throw, nice catch, Mike made a great effort to get in the end zone," McCarvel said.
The Brave passing attack did its' typical good job -Osweiler was 15-for-24 for 207 yards. Gallagher had seven catches for 86 yards and Andrus had three catches for 65 yards.
But the Braves also put together their best rushing game of the year.
Junior Bryce Stacy, starting in place of the injured Charlie Dotson, ran for 128 yards. Flathead finished the night with 156 yards on the ground.
The coach also complimented offensive linemen Paul Streich and Dustin Ozegovich.
"They did a good job of run blocking today and our running game was very good," McCarvel said.
Flathead 7 7 7 0 - 21
Sentinel 0 0 0 14 - 14
F - Travis Andrus 18 pass from Brock Osweiler (CJ Manning kick)
F - Mike Gallagher 10 pass from Osweiler (Manning kick)
F - Tyler Hendrick 4 fumble return (Manning kick)
S - Steven Rominger 19 run (kick failed)
S - Ben Roberts 4 pass from Rominger (Rominger pass from Ty Rogers)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Flathead (33-156): Bryce Stacy 22-121, Brock Osweiler 10-41, Mike Gallagher 1-(-6). Sentinel (29-102): Ryan Mutzenberger 10-81, Steven Rominger 10-26, Taylor King 6-0, Jeremy Windham 3-(-5).
Passing - Flathead: Osweiler 15-24-2-207. Sentinel: Rominger 11-18-0-108, King 4-11-1-50.
Receiving - Flathead: Gallagher 7-86, Travis Andrus 3-65, Stacy 2-22, Sam Tedrow 1-13, Kyle Eimeren 1-14, Cody Bouley 1-7. Sentinel: Dalton Bright 4-72, Ty Rogers 4-42, Ben Roberts 4-32, Windham 2-12, Tyler Jacobsen 1-0.
Standings
W-L
Billings West 6 - 0
Billings Senior 5 - 1
CMR 5 - 1
Great Falls High 4 - 2
Helena Capital 5 - 1
Flathead 4 - 2
Helena High 4 - 2
Bozeman 2 - 4
Butte 2 - 4
Billings Skyview 2 - 4
Hellgate 1 -5
Big Sky 2 - 4
Glacier 0 - 6
Sentinel 0 - 6
This Week's Games
Friday
Flathead 21, Missoula Sentinel 14
Missoula Big Sky 21, Butte 0
Helena Capital 63, Glacier 0
Helena 47, Missoula Hellgate 7
Billings Senior 24, Great Falls 14
Great Falls Russell 41, Billings Skyview 14
Billings West 14, Bozeman 12