Wild playoff victory for 'Cats

By DIXIE KNUTSON/The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - Football is a game of inches.

It's an old adage, but it's true.

The Corvallis Blue Devils were inches from a Class A first-round playoff victory Saturday.

But Columbia Falls' linebacker Mackey Nolan stopped Blue Devil Austin Byron just shy of the goal line as Corvallis, trailing by a point with 1:21 left in the game, tried a two-point after touchdown conversion.

"Before the play snapped, I was just thinking … if they score right here, our season has a slim chance. Our season would basically be over. Being a senior, I didn't want my season to end, so I just gave everything I had," Nolan said.

"I think Dustin VonFeldt kind of helped finish him off, because he almost kind of crawled in after I got there," Nolan said.

"They ran that play a lot in the first half and they had success with it. They pitch it out to the running back and try to crack block with the slot receiver. I just got around the slot receiver's block and made the play."

He made that play and the Columbia Falls Wildcats won the game, 27-26.

No one at Saturday's game knew exactly how long it's been since Columbia Falls won a playoff game, but estimations were that it was during the mid-1970s.

The win puts the Wildcats in uncharted territory - football practice at 4 p.m. Monday. They'll board a Billings-bound bus later this week to take on Class A No.1-ranked Billings Central (9-0).

"If he would have stretched, he might have gotten it," said Wildcat quarterback Mitchell Wassam of Byron's conversion try.

"But it was our good effort. Our linebackers stepped up," Wassam said.

"We weathered the storm at the end and held them on the 2-point conversion. It was huge.

"Our crowd was going nuts. We wanted to give them something to cheer even louder for. Coach Thompson deserved that," Wassam added.

"Luckily, we had a kid make a big play," Columbia Falls coach John Thompson said.

"This was a fun game to be a part of. It feels good. It's a credit to the kids. Our kids have worked really hard all year long," Thompson said.

That Corvallis was in a position to win the game at that point was a surprise.

Although the Blue Devils had been among Class A's top-5 ranked teams at various points in the season - and had gotten votes in the poll after the final weekend of regular-season play - it was the Wildcats who developed a 20-point first half lead.

Stephen Baumgartner got the 'Cats on the board with a 73-yard first quarter romp.

Columbia Falls recovered a Corvallis fumble moments later and turned that into a 21-yard Wassam to Nolan connection one play later. Baumgartner made it 20-0 as he walked in from 4 yards out with 2:17 left in the half.

Baumgartner was one of the stars of the game, with 157 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. He also caught a 22-yard pass.

Everything was coming up royal, scarlet and white roses at half.

But the third quarter was enough to shake the most ardent fan.

Not only did Corvallis score 20 points in the first 8:10, but the Wildcats managed only 13 yards of offense. They fielded a kickoff at their own 1-yard line, then had a punt blocked and recovered in the end zone for a Blue Devil touchdown.

"That was a pretty tough span for us. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. That's not characteristic of us, especially late in the season," Thompson said.

"We shouldn't have let them come back. We weren't focused. We came out of half time too relaxed. They took advantage of that," Wassam said.

"They're very athletic and when they get their confidence behind them, they are hard to stop," he added.

"It just shows the game is not over until it's over. We hopped on them really good like we wanted to," Nolan said.

"But we lost focus in the second half and let them back in the game. It didn't take very long," he said.

"We were up 20 and now we're tied. It was a big slap in the face after they scored that third touchdown," Nolan said.

"That's the very first thing we talked about at the end of the game. Anything can happen in this game. There's never a place to be complacent. There's never a place to be satisfied," Thompson said.

"I don't think necessarily we felt that way. You've got to give the Corvallis kids credit. They came out, they made some huge plays. They made some adjustments, took some stuff away from us and they hurt us on special teams," the coach said.

"But we didn't really panic this afternoon and that's a credit to our kids," Thompson said.

"We told them 'keep playing, keep your chins up, keep your heads up. When you put your head down, it's over.'

"They did a nice job of keeping their heads up," he said.

"We tried to get it back together and play like we did in the beginning," Nolan agreed.

The Wildcats put together an 8-play, 77-yard drive to start the fourth quarter.

That drive, fueled by Baumgartner's 42 and 12 yard runs, was capped by junior John Woody's 12-yard touchdown run on fourth down.

"I kind of let the team down in the third quarter and I just wanted to give back, so I was trying real hard," Woody said.

"I feel really good about that," he said.

Woody was the one who fielded the Corvallis kickoff at the Wildcat 1-yard-line earlier.

"I didn't want our season to end. (The game) shouldn't have been this close," he said.

"We told our offensive line up front … 'just push,'" Wassam said.

"Everything went to the offensive line in this victory. We rode them to the win," he said.

Corvallis 0 0 20 6 - 26

Columbia Falls 13 7 0 7 - 27

First Quarter

CF - Stephen Baumgartner 73 run (Mackey Nolan kick), 1:42.

CF - Mackey Nolan 21 pass from Mitchell Wassam (Kick failed), :42.

Second Quarter

CF - Baumgartner 4 run (Nolan kick), 2:17.

Third Quarter

C - Tyler Bongard 58 pass from Drew Zeiler (Mahlone Jessop kick), 6:23.

C - Austin Byron recover blocked punt by Byron (Jessop kick), 4:43.

C - Matt Smith 3 run (Kick failed), 3:50.

Fourth Quarter

CF - John Woody 12 run (Nolan kick), 9:31.

C - Smith 35 run (run failed), 1:21.

C CF

First Downs 13 10

Penalties 5-38 3-25

Individual stats

Rushing - Corvallis, Matt Smith 22-141, Austin Byron 8-17, Drew Zeiler 5-23, Rodee Anderson 1-42. Columbia Falls, Stephen Baumgartner 14-157, John Woody 6-20, Mitchell Wassum 4-minus 5, Mackey Nolan 17-64.

Passing - Corvallis, Drew Zeiler 9-27-125-1, Columbia Falls, Mitchell Wassum 5-13-88-1.

Receiving - Corvallis, Tyler Bongard 5-101, Matt Smith 1-4, Rodee Anderson 3-19; Columbia Falls, Clinton Hegel 2-10, Baumgartner 1-22, Tanner Perry 1-39, Mackey Nolan 1-7.