Whitefish blasts Bigfork, Polson nips Libby
The Daily Inter Lake
WHITEFISH - After two scoreless games, Whitefish broke loose in a big way.
The Bulldogs scored eight touchdowns in whipping Bigfork 55-18 Friday in the Northwestern A football opener for both teams.
Whitefish, 2-3 overall, led 21-0 after the first period, and 42-12 at the half.
Alex Elespuru started the scoring 14 seconds into the game when he stole the ball from a Bigfork runner and returned the fumble 26 yards for touchdown.
"That really gave us a big lift," Whitefish coach Patrick Dryden said.
"Then two really big pass plays got the offense rolling."
Mac Roche, making his first start at quarterback, hit Aaron Tkachyk for two touchdown passes, 68 and 24 yards.
Later he hit Matt Whitehead on 65-yard TD pass.
Cheyne Valentine did all of the scoring for Bigfork, 0-4, hauling in touchdown passes of 41, 19 and 48 yards from Christian Ker.
"It was nice to get Daniel Simmons back," Dryden said.
"He missed the last three games with injuries. That was a big boost to our running game."
Simmons had 18 carries for 120 yards.
Dryden said Derek Crittenden moved into the backfield "and did a nice job of blocking and running."
Crittenden had 49 yards on three attempts and scored two TDs.
Whitefish defensive end Josh Backer, according to Dryden, "had a monster game."
Backer returned an interception 39 yards for a TD and also had a fumble recovery. Crittenden and Elespuru also recovered fumbles.
Elespuru was 7-for-8 on PAT kicks and also scored a TD on a 21-yard run.
Bigfork 0 12 0 6 - 18
Whitefish 21 21 6 7 - 55
Whitefish - Alex Elespuru 26 fumble recovery (Elespuru kick)
Whitefish - Aaron Tkachyk 68 pass from Mac Roche (Elespuru kick)
Whitefish - Tkachyk 24 pass from Roche (Elespuru kick)
Whitefish - Derek Crittenden 41 run (Elespuru kick)
Bigfork - Cheyne Valentine 41 pass from Christian Ker (kick failed)
Whitefish - Matt Whitehead 65 pass from Roche (Elespuru kick)
Whitefish - Josh Backer 39 interception return (Elespuru kick)
Bigfork - Valentine 19 pass from Ker (pass failed)
Whitefish - Crittenden 5 run (kick failed)
Whitefish - Elespuru 21 run (Elespuru kick)
Bigfork - Valentine 48 pass from Ker (run failed)
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Bf Whs
First downs NA NA
Rushing-yards NA 29-219
Passing yards NA 192
Passing NA 7-13-3-0
Penalties NA 11-110
Fumbles-lost 3-3 0-0
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Individual Stats
Rushing - Bigfork, NA; Whitefish, Daniel Simmons 18-120, Derek Crittenden 3-49, Alex Elespuru 3-32.
Passing - Bigfork, NA, Whitefish, Mac Roche 7-13-0-192.
Receiving - Bigfork, NA; Whitefish, Aaron Tkachyk 2-92, Matt Whitehead 5-100.
Eureka 28,
Plains/Hot Springs 20 (OT)
EUREKA - Chad Price rushed for four touchdowns, the final one on a 13-yard scamper in overtime, as Eureka rallied past Plains/Hot Springs in the District 7B opener for both schools.
Price's game-winning TD came on second down. He also ran for the two-point conversion.
Plains/Hot Springs failed to score on its possession in OT.
"We played kind of a slugging first half," Eureka coach Ed Newell sid.
"Homecoming festivities this week got us off-kilter a little bit. In the second half, we played extremely well, especially the fourth quarter."
Price, 17 carries for 148 yards, also scored on runs of 38, 1 and 19 yards. The 19-yarder came with 9:07 to play and tied the game at 20.
Eureka's Dalton Williams also had a big game, rushing for 129 yards on 15 carries.
Plains/Hot Springs missed a 45-yard field goal with two minutes remaining in regulation.
Eureka linebacker Ben Dechart recorded 21 tackles.
"He was all over the place," Newell said.
Eureka improves to 2-1 overall.
Plains/Hot Springs 0 0 7 13 0 - 20
Eureka 0 6 0 14 8 - 28
Plains - Cody Hoff 9 pass from Riley Winebrenner (Carson Lilja kick)
Eureka - Chad Price 38 run (pass failed)
Plains - Mitch Thompson 65 run (Lilja kick)
Plains - Steven Reistroffer 1 run (kick failed)
Eureka - Price 1 run (run failed)
Eureka - Price 19 run (Price run)
Eureka - Price 13 run (Price run)
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P/HS Eur
First downs 5 7
Rushes-yards 38-139 41-267
Passing yards 113 9
Passing 8-19-3 2-7-0
Penalties 7-55 3-20
Fumbles-lost 3-2 4-4
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Individual Stats
Rushing - Plains, Mitch Thompson 21-118; Eureka, Chad Price 17-148, Dalton Williams 15-129.
Passing - Plains, Riley Winebrenner, 8-19-3-113; Eureka, Colin Dilliard 2-7-0-9.
Receiving - Plains, Brian Green 3-47; Eureka, Luke Truman 1-5, Williams 1-4.
Polson 48, Libby 41
LIBBY - Polson jumped out to a 28-0 lead and held on to knock off Polson in a wild Northwestern A opener for both teams.
Tim Rausch, 21 carries for 144 yards, had four TD runs (3, 3, 27 and 4 yards) to power Polson, 3-2 overall.
Quarterback Craig Bagnell completed 10 of 14 passes for 171 yards and three TDs. He did not throw an inteception.
Joel Fuller put Libby on the board with two scores in the final three minutes of the second quarter. He ripped off a 64-yard TD run and followed with a 6-yard TD pass to Charlie White.
Libby scored the final 13 points of the game in the last four minutes of play to make it close. Fuller hit Conner Benson on a 50-yard TD pass and Fuller ran 23 yards for the final score.
Fuller completed 22 of 43 passes for 258 yards and four TDs. He was intercepted five times.
He also carried the ball 24 times for 210 yards.
Benson had eight receptions for 148 yards.
Polson 21 14 6 7 - 48
Libby 0 16 12 13 - 41
Polson - Tim Rausch 3 run (Craig Bagnell kick)
Polson - Ryan Kelley 35 pass from Bagnell (Bagnell kick)
Polson - Rausch 3 run (Bagnell kick)
Polson - Kyle Bagnell 23 pass from C. Bagnell (C. Bagnell kick)
Polson - Rausch 27 run (C. Bagnell kick)
Libby - Joel Fuller 64 run (Charlie White pass from Fuller)
Libby - White 6 pass from Fuller (Colton Cannon pass from Fuller)
Libby- Conner Benson 15 pass from Fuller (run failed)
Polson - Rausch 4 run (run failed)
Libby - Cannon 24 pass from Fuller (pass failed)
Polson - Fouty 18 pass from C. Bagnell (C. Bagnell kick)
Libby- Benson 50 pass from Fuller (run failed)
Libby - Fuller 23 run (Benson kick)