Special teams lift Bears over Braves

West returns two punts for TDs in 35-7 victory

The Daily Inter Lake

BILLINGS - Shaun Wolf scored three touchdowns and had 152 yards rushing as the Billings West Golden Bears devoured Flathead 35-7 on Friday afternoon at Wendy's Field at Daylis Stadium.

The game, though, was closer than the score would indicate, as West led just 13-0 at the half and 13-7 midway through the third quarter.

Flathead got its lone score with 6:37 to go in the third quarter - a 43-yard Mike VanArendonk to Dominic Eickert connection.

Special teams played a huge role in this one as the Braves were right with West offensively - 295 yards to 297, but gave up two punt returns for touchdowns - one 82-yarder and one 55-yarder.

VanArendonk was 11-for-27 for 181 yards. He also gained 32 yards on eight carries.

Eickert had two catches for 54 yards. Sophomore Calvin Athy caught six passes for 97 yards and Travis Ozegovich had two catches for 16 yards.

West 35, Flathead 7

Flathead 0 0 7 0 - 7

West 7 6 8 14 - 35

First quarter

West - Shaun Wolf 6 pass from Derek Dennehy (Bailey Lehenbauer kick) 4:55.

Second quarter

West - Wolf 97 run (kick failed) 3:50.

Third quarter

Flathead - Dominic Eickert 43 pass from Mike VanArendonk (Gregory Seaman kick) 6:37.

West - Seth Compton 82 punt return (Lee Hardt pass from Dennehy) 2:57.

Fourth quarter

West - Wolf 20 run (Zach Wilson kick) 6:52.

West - Compton 55 punt return (Wilson kick) 3:10.

Flathead West

First downs 11 15

Rushes-yards 32-83 34-208

Comp-Att-Int 13-32-0 10-18-0

Passing yards 212 89

Total yards 295 297

Punts 10-32.9 5-38

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties-Yards 4-37 4-35

Individual statistics' Rushing - Flathead: Travis Ozegovich 12-26, Mike VanArendonk 8-32, Calvin Athy 1-(-2), Zach Diest 6-15, Trevor Beaman 2-5, Team 1-5, John Collins 2-2. West: Shaun Wolf 16-172, Derek Dennehy 11-45, Seth Compton 2-13, Team 1-(-18), Jayc Van Zee 3-5, Brady Gustafson 1-(-9).

Passing - Flathead: Mike VanArendonk 11-27-0-181, George Sherwood 2-5-0-31. West: Derek Dennehy 10-18-0 - 89.

Receiving - Flathead: Dominic Eickert 2-54, Calvin Athy 6-97, Travis Ozegovich 2-16, George Sherwood 1-32, Braxton Nimmick 1-9, John Collins 1-4. West: Lee Hardt 5-61, Seth Compton 4-23, Shaun Wolf 1-5.