Ronan upsets C-Falls; Libby surprises Polson

COLUMBIA FALLS - Cole McArthur caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Robbie Gauthier with 14 seconds remaining to lift Ronan to a 28-20 upset of Northwestern A champ Columbia Falls on Friday night.

Columbia Falls (4-4 overall, 3-1 league) tied the game at 20-20 on Nate Thompson's 4-yard run with 1:42 remaining. Columbia Falls quarterback Austin Barth kept the scoring drive alive by hitting Kaleb Johnson on a 26-yard pass and Devyn Rocker on a 16-yard pass. Both were on fourth-down attempts.

Columbia Falls kicked the ball out-of-bounds following the TD, giving Ronan (5-4, 2-2) excellent field position at the 35-yard line to start its game-winning drive.

Ronan outgained Columbia Falls 413 yards to 160.

Thompson finished with 147 yards rushing on 29 carries.

"All the credit to Ronan," Columbia Falls coach Bill Coleman said.

"They outplayed us tonight."

Up next for Columbia Falls is a first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs.

Ronan 12 8 0 8 - 28

Columbia Falls 6 8 0 6 - 20

CF - Nate Thompson 8 run (kick failed)

R - Robbie Gauthier 16 run (run failed)

R - Jack Humphreys 8 run (pass failed)

R - Gauthier 1 run (Cole McArthur pass from Gauthier)

CF - Thompson 5 run (Kaleb Johnson pass from Austin Barth)

CF - Thompson 4 run (kick failed)

R - McArthur 20 pass from Gauthier (Gauthier run)

 Libby 17, Polson 16

LIBBY - Tyler Troy caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Kelly May with 1:11 remaining to lift Libby to a come-from-behind victory over Polson.

Patrick Valentine added the extra point, which turned out to be the difference in the game.

Troy also hauled in a 46-yard TD pass from May in the third quarter.

The victory gives Libby (5-4, 3-1) the No. 2 seed from Northwestern A and a home game for the upcoming playoffs.

Polson (6-2, 2-2) is the No. 3 seed for the playoffs and will play a road game.

Polson  0 10 6  0 - 16

Libby 0 3 7 7 - 17

P - Kyle Bagnell 25 FG

L - Patrick Valentine 36 FG

P - Bagnell 5 yd pass from Vince DiGiallonardo (Bagnell kick)

P - Bagnell 13 pass from Digiallonardo (kick failed)

L - Tyler Troy 46 pass from Kelly May (Valentine kick)

L - Troy 25 yd pass from May (Valentine kick)