Braves end football season with loss to Bengals

The Flathead Braves gave it a good go, but Helena High just had too many horses on Friday night.

The Bengals, (9-1) and ranked No. 2 in Class AA football, outgained Flathead 398 to 139 yards en route to a 35-0 rout at Legends Stadium.

Helena moves forward into the Class AA playoffs as the No. 2 seed. The Braves wrapped the season at 1-9.

Helena had nine players rush for a total of 259 yards. The Bengals also connected on 12 of 24 passes for 139 yards.

That said - this one was tight for the first half.

Flathead had one long drive that included a 46-yard completion between quarterback Mike VanArendonk and senior wide receiver Jeff Markavage.

But that drive stalled out on the Helena 6-yard line and an 18-yard field goal try missed.

"The first half went fast. We had one drive and we really held them from getting any big plays. We did a good job for a half," said Flathead coach Russell McCarvel.

"We had a chance to make it 14-7. We got down there, but didn't quite get it in," McCarvel said.

Helena had the ball four times in the first half.

Defensively, the Braves gave up one fourth down conversion - Helena turned a fake punt into a 21-yard gain and followed that up with a 32-yard Dylan Simac touchdown catch.

The Braves went to the lockerroom feeling pretty upbeat.

"We went in very positive. We felt like we just needed something to go our way - and it just didn't happen," McCarvel said.

Flathead opened the second half with a fumble recovery, but gave the ball right back three plays later with an interception and a return to the Brave 14.

Helena punched it in two plays later.

From there, it was all Helena. The Bengals added a 36-yard scoring run by Grahm Bogumill, then returned a Flathead punt 55-yards to the Brave 5. Nick Sandau capped the scoring with a 5-yard run with 9:15 to go in the game.

"They kind of physically wore us down a bit," the coach said of the second half.

"I'm proud of the guys who finished the season. That record doesn't define them. We were in eight of the 10 games and we could have won a couple more. I'm proud of those guys, their work ethich and how they came to practice every day," he said.

Helena 7 7 14 7 - 35

Flathead 0 0 0 0 - 0

First Quarter

H - Dylan Simac 32 pass from Taylor South (Dylan Simac kick), 7:23.

Second Quarter

H - Sean Bomquist 9 run (Simac kick), 4:57.

Third Quarter

H - Sy Keltner 2 run (Simac kick), 9:05.

H - Grahm Bogumill 36 run (Kick good), 2:31.

Fourth Quarter

H - Sean Bomquist 6 run (Kick good), 9:15.

F H

First Downs 8 17

Rushes-yards 16-4 42-259

Passing 13-33-1 12-24-1

Passing yards 135 139

Total yards 139 398

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties 6-40 6-60

Individuals

Rushing - Helena: Taylor South 2-1, Dawson Reardon 2-minus 21, Sy Keltner 20-133, Sean Bomquist 8-46, Jared Ishak 1-0, Dillon Simac 2-41, Nate Caldwell 3-12, Grahm Bogumill 2-41, Trey Vincent 1-0. Flathead:Mike VanArendonk 9-minus 12, Travis Ozegovich 6-8, Tevin Groshelle 1-8.

Passing - Helena: Taylor South 8-17-1-109, Dawson Reardon, 4-7-0-30; Flathead: Mike Van Arendonk 13-33-1-135.

Receiving - Helena: Jordan Umsted 2-14, Nate Caldwell 1-7, Dylan Simac 6-65, Nick Sandau 1-9, Chase Williams 2-44; Flathead: Travis Ozegovich 4-30 Matt McLean 2-10, Gaige Mower 1-9, Jeff Markavage 3-55, Braxton Nimmick 3-31.

Class AA

Standings

W L

Bozeman 10 0

Helena 9 1

Billings West 8 2

Helena Capital 7 3

Billings Senior 6 4

Billings Skyview 6 4

Glacier 6 4

Butte 5 5

Sentinel 4 6

CMR 4 6

Hellgate 2 8

Great Falls 2 8

Flathead 1 9

Big Sky 0 10

Thursday's Games

Capital 48, Sentinel 14

Bozeman 34, Skyview 14

Friday's Games

Billings West 24, Billings Senior 21

Butte 34, Missoula Big Sky 7

Great Falls 37, Great Falls Russell 24

Helena 35, Flathead 0

Glacier 32, Missoula Hellgate 15

End of regular season