Roche's 5 TD passes ignites WHS

The Daily Inter Lake

Columbia Falls rallies past Libby

RONAN - Whitefish quarterback Mac Roche threw five touchdown passes, two each to Aaron Tkachyk and Seth Wiley, as the Bulldogs crushed Ronan 43-18 Friday in Northwestern A football play.

Roche hit Tkachyk on touchdown strikes of 18 and 75 yards, and Wiley for 25 and 23 yards.

Matt Whitehead had the other TD reception, 38 yards.

Tkachyk finished with seven receptions for 146 yards.

Roche, making just his second varsity start, connected on 14 of 20 passes for 264 yards. He was intercepted once.

Also scoring for the Bulldogs was Daniel Simmons on a 1-yard run.

Whitefish, 2-0 in league and 3-3 overall, led 20-12 at the half.

Ronan drops to 0-2 and 2-3.

Whitefish rushed for 153 yards on 28 carries. Simmons finished with 65 yards on 16 carries. Derek Crittenden had 53 yards on seven attempts.

"I thought we played a real clean game," Whitefish coach Patrick Dryden said.

"We only had three penalties. We played with a lot of intensity."

Dryden said Ronan moved the ball, but Whitefish's defense came up with some big stops on fourth down.

"I'd like to give a pat on the back to our offensive line (Dylan Dryden, Josh Backer, Sean Sagen, Geoff Streeter, Tyson Ferda, Kyle Knox and Connor Silliker)," Dryden said.

"We didn't give up a sack. I don't think our QB got hit all night. They were blitzing on every down. Those kids stepped it up."

Whitefish 14 6 15 8 - 43

Ronan 0 12 0 6 - 18

Whitefish - Aaron Tkachyk 18 pass from Mac Roche (Alex Elespuru kick)

Whitefish - Matt Whitehead 38 pass from Roche (Elespuru kick)

Whitefish -Seth Wiley 25 pass from Roche (kick failed)

Ronan - Tyson Noyes 15 run (kick failed)

Ronan - Matt Detwiler 9 pass from Mike Fisher (kick failed)

Whitefish - Daniel Simmons 1 run (Tkachyk pass from Roche)

Whitefish - Wiley 23 pass from Roche (Elespuru kick)

Ronan - Fisher 2 run (kick failed)

Whitefish - Tkachyk 75 pass from Roche (Siliker pass from Knox)

Columbia Falls 20, Libby 12

LIBBY - Stephen Baumgartner and John Woody ran for touchdowns in the final 6:16 as Columbia Falls rallied for a Northwestern A victory over Libby.

Baumgartner scampered 33 yards with 6:16 to play. That score capped a seven play, 70-yard drive.

Woody found the end zone on a 10-yard burst with 1:33 remaining. That score was set up by a short Libby punt. The drive started on the Libby 20-yard line.

Libby then lost the ball on downs at the Columbia Falls' 46-yard line and the Wildcats ran out the clock.

Columbia Falls rushed for 151 yards on 33 attemtps.

"They (Loggers) had a good game plan in the first half," Columbia Falls coach John Thompson said.

"They shut us down. We didn't have much offense."

But the Wildcats rebounded in the final half.

"Our defense had a big stand," Thompson said.

"Mike Macijunas (nose guard) had a huge defensive stop on fourth and two deep in our territory.

"It's a credit to our kids," Thompson said.

"It's a good group to work with. The second half, we played a lot better."

Columbia Falls improves to 2-0 in league, 3-2 overall. Libby drops to 0-2, 2-4.

Columbia Falls 0 0 7 13 - 20

Libby 6 0 0 6 - 12

Libby - T.J. Benson 11 pass from Joel Fuller (kick failed)

Columbia Falls - Mitchell Wassam 1 run (Mackey Nolan kick)

Libby - Fuller 9 run (pass failed)

Columbia Falls - Stephen Baumgartner 33 run (Nolan kick)

Columbia Falls - John Woody 10 run (kick blocked)

Eureka 38, St. Ignatius 6

ST. IGNATIUS - Dalton Williams ran for three touchdowns and Chad Price for two more as Eureka spoiled St. Ignatius' homecoming in a 7-B matchup.

Williams scored on runs of 42, 55, 68 and 3 yards.

Price's scoring runs covered 4 and 12 yards.

Eureka, 2-0 and 3-1, led 26-0 at the half.

St. Ignatius falls to 0-2, 2-3.

Eureka 12 14 6 6 - 38

St. Ignatius 0 0 0 6 - 6

Eureka - Dalton Williams 42 run (run failed)

Eureka - Williams 55 run (kick failed)

Eureka - Chad Price 4 run (run failed)

Eureka - Price 12 run (Bryan Price pass from Collin Gillard)

Eureka - Williams 68 run (pass failed)

Eureka - Williams 3 run (pass failed)

St. Ignatius - Austin Durglo 1 run (pass failed)