Braves face much-improved Sentinel

This is a new one.

How long has it been since the Missoula Sentinel Spartans have come into Legends Stadium with a better record than the Flathead Braves?

Guessing it's been a few years.

But the Spartans come into tonight's Class AA football game with a 3-2 record. The Braves are 2-3.

Both teams are right in the thick of the playoff hunt.

The Spartans have wins over Butte (55-21), Big Sky (25-13) and Senior (17-13). Flathead's wins are over Butte (45-29) and Bozeman (35-27).

Game time is 7 p.m.

"They're good," Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said of the Spartans.

"I think anybody who expects to see the Sentinel team of the last few years will be mistaken. They were a team that was getting better last year."

Flathead made a last minute defensive stop to beat Sentinel last year, 21-14.

"They were kind of coming along and they've got another year under their belt. They've very athletic and they have a lot of guys who have

played a lot of football," McCarvel said.

"They looked good at camp. They were good this summer. They're not taking anybody by surprise.

"They want to spread the ball out and then just kind of take what you give them," McCarvel said.

But the Spartans offense centers around one guy - senior quarterback Steven Rominger (5-10, 190).

He is their leading rusher - he averages 86 yards per game. He's third in the state in total offense with 1,208 yards.

Flathead's Brock Osweiler is first with 1,784 yards.

"Brock (Osweiler) is more of a power runner. This kid is a shifty runner. He's fast, he's a slasher and he makes a lot of things happen for them," McCarvel said.

The Spartans also have two very good wideouts - sophomore Ben Roberts (6-3, 185) and senior Dalton Bright (5-10, 185).

Roberts is second in Class AA in receptions per game and receiving yardage per game, with an average of 6.2 catches for 84.8 yards.

Bright is averaging 30 yards per catch.

"They spread it out so well. They don't say 'we're going to do this,' but they get production from their quarterback and wideouts," McCarvel said.

"We have to make sure we're sound against everything they line up in.

"We need to keep the quarterback in the pocket, not let him get outside on us and we need to make it difficult to get the ball to Roberts and take away the big plays to Bright," he added.

Offensively, "we'll take what they give us," he said.

Last year, Sentinel ran a four-man front against nearly everyone else, but ran a three-man front against the Braves.

This year, they've shown mostly a four-man front.

"But we'll have to be ready. They're a team that likes to blitz and bring a lot of pressure."

The Brave family had one new addition, McCarvel announced. Assistant coach Joel Rosenberg and wife Shannon welcomed son Oliver Robert on Thursday.