Flathead falters in first round of playoffs
The Daily Inter Lake
Billings West scores 35 points in second quarter
BILLINGS When the wheels came off, they really came off.
The Flathead Braves fell 56-13 to the No.2-seeded Billings West Golden Bears in the opening round of the Class AA football playoffs Friday night at Wendys Field at Daylis Stadium.
The Braves took the opening kickoff and drove the length of the field on 17 plays, scoring on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brock Osweiler to Travis Andrus to build a 7-0 lead.
But three first-half snaps over quarterback Brock Osweilers head led to a plethora of scoring opportunities for the Bears.
They took advantage of every one, scoring 35 unanswered points in the second quarter.
Eli Swain scored three touchdowns for Billings West. The Bears also scored touchdowns on a Derek Fritz fumble recovery in the end zone and a 43-yard interception return by Jordan Spoonemoore.
West (10-1) advances to the semifinals next week. It will play host to CMR, a 49-6 winner Friday over Missoula Big Sky.
Osweiler was 19-for-31 for 213 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran 24 times for 42 yards in his final outing as a Flathead Brave. Bryce Stacy caught six passees for 86 yards and gained 31 yards rushing. Bryant Eickert caught four passes for 48 yards and Cody Bouley had three catches for 29 yards.
West 56, Flathead 13
Flathead 7 0 6 0 13
West 0 35 21 0 56
Scoring plays
First quarter
Flathead Travis Andrus 5 pass from Brock Osweiler (Michael Windham kick) 4:50
Second quarter
West Eli Swain 8 run (Josh Pelczar kick) 10:52
West Derek Fritz recovered fumble in end zone (Pelczar kick) 9:02
West Josh Swain 29 pass from Brian Schwarzkoph Pelczar kick) 5:00
West Jordan Spoonemore 43 interception (Pelczar kick) 4:35
West Chris Hayes 6 run (Pelczar kick) 2:39
Third quarter
West Jase Muri 4 run (Pelczar kick) 10:16
Flathead Bryce Stacy 14 pass from Osweiler (kick failed) 7:18
West Eli Swain 19 run (Pelczar kick) 5:41
West Eli Swain 2 run (Danny Robinson kick) 2:48
Team statistics
Flathead West
First downs 22 17
Rushes-yards 44-29 27-185
Comp-Att-Int 21-36-1 10-17-0
Passing yards 219 221
Total yards 248 406
Punts 5-33 2-39
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1
Penalties-Yards 6-28 4-50
Individual statistics
Rushing Flathead: Osweiler 24-42, Stacy 10-31, Zach Diest 3-10, Ian Damon 1-2, Mike VanArendonk 2-1, Travis Ozegovich 2-0, Team 2-minus 57. West: Eli Swain 11-86, Muri 7-58, Domingo Cano 2-24, Bryce Worthington 1-18, Hayes 1-6, Shaun Wolf 3-minus 1, George Grismer 1-minus 1, Derek Dennehy 1-minus 5.
Passing Flathead: Osweiler 19-31-1-213, VanArendonk 2-5-0-6. West: Muri 8-11-0-181, Schwarzkoph 1-2-0-29, Dennehy 1-4-0-11.
Receiving Flathead: Stacy 6-86, Andrus 6-45, Bryant Eickert 4-48, Cody Bouley 3-29, Dominic Eickert 2-11. West: Josh Swain 6-187, Worthington 2-17, Kelly Doble 1-11, John McDonald 1-6.