Sentinel snaps skid vs. Flathead

The couldas, shouldas and wouldas added up against the Flathead Braves on Friday night.

They added up to a 40-16 Missoula Sentinel win, the first for the Spartans over the Braves since 2000.

The Braves scored first, but the Spartans came back with 33 points before Flathead saw the end zone again.

"We continue to see positives," said Flathead coach Russell McCarvel.

"Certainly our effort was outstanding. We played hard to the end.

"But give Sentinel credit. They're well-coached and they're pretty talented … and they're a little more athletic than we are," McCarvel said.

McCarvel could point to two plays that likely sealed Flathead's fate - a second quarter pass interference call and a fumble on the second half kickoff return.

"I thought that pass interference was pretty big. It was 13-7 at that point and it was third down and a bunch," McCarvel said.

The 15-yard penalty kept the drive alive and the Spartans cashed in seven plays later with an 11-yard Riley King to Jace Prideaux connection.

King had an impressive evening. He was 15-for-19 for 217 yards, four touchdowns to four different receivers and threw one interception.

The fumble was more than costly - not only did it give Sentinel the football on Flathead's 33-yard line, it cost the Braves their leading receiver.

Sophomore Calvin Athy was hurt as the play went out of bounds.

It took approximately 30 minutes for play to resume - and when it did it got ugly quickly for the Braves.

"More than anything the fumble affected us. We turn it over and two plays later they have a touchdown," McCarvel said.

That put Sentinel up 27-7. It was up 33-7 before the Braves scored again on a Travis Ozegovich two-yard run.

On Flathead's side, sophomore George Sherwood also had a fairly nice night in his first varsity start.

He was 17-for-30 for 227 yards, including a 66-yard connection to Athy, and scored one rushing touchdown, but also threw two interceptions.

Athy had three catches for 74 yards. Mike VanArendonk caught four passes for 56 yards and Dominic Eickert had five catches for 50 yards.

"George did a good job trying to make plays, make things happen. It's a tough thing, tough job," the coach said.

"I was happy with his effort. He made a few mistakes, but he kept them to a minimum and he did a good job trying to make plays," McCarvel said.

Missoula Sentinel 6 14 13 7 - 40

Flathead 7 0 0 9 - 16

First Quarter

F - George Sherwood 1 run (Greg Seaman kick), 3:58.

S - Tyler Jacobsen 46 pass from Riley King (Kick failed), 2:21.

Second Quarter

S - Ben Roberts 13 pass from King (Tyler Ramos pass from King), 10:46.

S - Jace Prideaux 11 pass from King (Justin Meyer kick), 3:55.

Third Quarter

S - Ryan Mutzenberger 2 run (Meyer kick), 11:30.

S - Brody Miller 10 pass from King (Kick blocked), 5:04.

Fourth Quarter

F - Travis Ozegovich 2 run (Seaman kick), 8:33.

F - Jeremy Grosswiler tackled Collin LaPorte in end zone, 1:57.

S - Mutzenberger 47 run (Meyer kick), 1:26.

Stats

F MS

First Downs 12 12

Total net yards 243 307

Rushes-yards 36-16 31-90

Passing 227 217

Punt returns 3-16 2-17

Kickoff returns 4-57 2-42

Interceptions-returns 1-15 1-3

Comp-Att-Int 17-30-2 15-19-1

Punts 5-35.2 4-44.8

Penalties 6-45 4-35

Individual Statistics

Rushing - Sentinel, Riley King 3-minus 33, Ryan Mutzenberger 15-102, Biran Maus 1-1, Ben Roberts 1-6, Jace Prideaux 2-28, Collin LaPorte 8-minus 13, Brody Miller 1-minus 1. Flathead, George Sherwood, 15-minus 16; Travis Ozegovich 17-29; Trevor Beaman 2-4; Zach Diest 2-minus 1.

Passing - Sentinel, Riley King 15-19-1-217-4; Flathead, George Sherwood, 17-30-2-227-0.

Receiving - Sentinel, Ryan Mutzenberger 1-9, Tyler Jacobsen 4-81, Jace Prideaux 3-40, Brody Miller 3-20, Ben Roberts 4-67; Flathead, Travis Ozegovich 3-29, Dominic Eickert 5-50; Jon Cochran 2-18, Calvin Athy 3-74; Mike VanArendonk 4-56.