Butte Central crushes C-Falls
BUTTE - Butte Central's Andy Ritter joined close company after his historic day in Bulldog Memorial Stadium.
Unfortunately for the Columbia Falls football team, it had to come at its expense.
Central's junior quarterback totaled three touchdowns and a school-record 455 yards of total offense and the fifth-ranked Maroons scalded the Wildcats 49-13 in the Class A quarterfinals on Saturday.
Ritter's new single-game record eclipses the previous one held by his older brother Matt, who is the quarterback at Carroll College in Helena.
The Maroons (8-2) advance to the semifinals next weekend and will face second-ranked Frenchtown. Columbia Falls drops out of the quarterfinals for the second year in a row and finishes 7-4.
"Unfortunately, we just didn't show up today," Columbia Falls first-year head coach Bill Coleman said. "We started slow, we had difficulty responding and all the credit to (Butte Central). They played really well. The offensive output that they had speaks for itself. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time, all day long. And we couldn't just figure out how to get in the right place."
Central held a 21-13 lead at intermission and right from the opening kickoff in the second half, the momentum began tilting in Butte's favor.
The Maroons got the ball and converted three first downs in four plays and went on to score four plays later.
That turned out to be the beginning of the Butte avalanche. After the score, Ritter and Co. only had four plays to catch their breath as the Central defense forced Columbia Falls to a three and out. The 5-foot-11 Ritter didn't seem a bit winded, and went on to tally 150 yards in total offense in the third quarter alone. He scored the game's final three touchdowns and the Maroons finished with 479 yards of offense.
Overall, Butte Central converted 13 times on third and fourth downs.
"We just had a hard time getting (our defense) off the field and that's a credit to them," Coleman said.
"Their kids execute their offense really well and it's difficult to defend."
"In the second half we got that opening kickoff and I think that really got the momentum in our favor," said Don Peoples, Jr., in his 21st year as head coach at Butte Central.
"It seems like the first drive of the third quarter is always the pivotal one in a ballgame so our kids responded well and we're happy to get a win over a very good team. Give them a lot of credit, they're a very good team and we're excited to have the opportunity to move on."
Columbia Falls quarterback Mitchell Wassam kept the Wildcats in the game in the first half after Central jumped ahead 13-0.
In the second quarter, Wassam found teammate Kyle Howell crossing over the middle in stride and threw a dart 12 yards into Howell's arms. Without missing a step, Howell blazed down field another 59 yards for the revitalizing touchdown.
Wassam connected on another big play just before halftime when he passed to John Woody, who scored the 14-yard touchdown, making it 21-13.
Wassam finished with 193 yards passing. Woody totaled 52 yards on 12 runs and Nate Thompson had 38 yards on seven carries.
"We knew Columbia Falls was a very good team and their quarterback worried us some and he had a heckuva first half," Peoples, Jr., said.
"We didn't want their offense on with Woody and Kaleb Johnson and Wassam. They're all very good players, so that was really big that we were able to control the clock and move the ball."
Afterward, the Columbia Falls sideline felt a few degrees colder as the season came to an end; and Coleman, for the first time as Columbia Falls head coach, had to say goodbye to an outstanding senior class.
"We played with a lot of heart," Coleman said.
"I'm incredibly proud of this group of kids. They showed a lot of resiliency over the course of the year."
Columbia Falls 0 13 0 0 - 13
Butte Central 13 8 14 14 - 49
First quarter
BC - Jonathan Richards 3-run (Nathaniel Loomis kick), 2:57
BC - A. J. Acuna 12-run (kick blocked), :09
Second quarter
CF - Kyle Howell 71-pass from Mitchell Wassam (Wassam kick), 9:17
BC - Richards 3-pass from Andy Ritter (Richards pass), 3:57
CF - John Woody 14-pass from Wassam (kick failed), 1:49
Third quarter
BC - Richards 3-run (Loomis kick), 8:13
BC - Ritter 35-run (Loomis kick), 4:54
Fourth quarter
BC - Ritter 13-run (Loomis kick), 11: 54
BC - Ritter 4-run (Loomis kick), 7:30
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CF BC
First downs 8 20
Passing yards 193 226
Rushing yards 24-88 42-253
Passing (com/att/int) 7-20-2 16-25-0
Total offense 281 479
Penalties 2-6 5-42
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Punt returns 1-20 4-52
Punting 5-177 1-39
Kickoff returns 6-109 3-46
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Individual statistics
RUSHING - Columbia Falls, John Woody 12-52, Nate Thompson 7-38, Kaleb Johnson 1-1; Butte Central, Andy Ritter 20-202, A.J. Acuna 12-34, Jonathan Richards 6-24, Kevin Cox 2-3.
PASSING - Columbia Falls, Mitchell Wassam 7-20-193-2-2; Butte Central, Ritter 16-25-253-0-1
RECEIVING - Columbia Falls, Johnson 2-18, Woody 2-39, Kyle Howell 1-71, Devyn Rocker 1-43, Taylor Martinson 1-22; Butte, Phil Antonioli 8-134, Richards 5-43, Aschan Richards 3-49.