West spills Flathead
A great first drive, terrific defensive effort ... but one huge Billings West play right at the end of the first half.
With the score tied at 7-all and with the horn blaring halftime, Golden Bears quarterback Brady Gustafson launched a 43-yard shot that somehow found its way through several Flathead defenders and into the arms of senior receiver Lee Hardt.
Flathead's Connor Thomas blocked the extra point attempt, but the damage was done as Billings West went on to claim a 26-7 victory at Legends Stadium.
"That was big. That changed a lot of momentum," said West coach Paul Klaboe.
"All of a sudden you come up with a big play right at the end. For high school kids, momentum is huge. Your guys start playing a little more relaxed, their guys start to question themselves. That was probably the biggest play of the game," he said.
"The play at the end of the half was obviously pretty big," said Flathead coach Russell McCarvel.
"We had a great opening drive and then couldn't find a good rhythm after that," he added.
"For myself, I'm very disappointed in my own play calling. I just didn't get us in spots to win. I take a lot of responsibility for not getting us in good place to win," McCarvel said.
The Braves played a great first half. They opened with a 78-yard, 11-play scoring drive capped by Larry Francis' 2-yard dive.
Quarterback Mike VanArendonk was nearly perfect on that drive - 4-for-5 to three different receivers.
"Flathead did a good job, they came down and scored that first try," Klaboe said.
"Our defensive guys, they kind of questioned themselves a little bit, but I was real happy the way we played," he said.
West battled back to knot the score at 7-all and Flathead responded with a second drive to reach the West 24.
A long field goal try came up just short - and with 30.8 seconds left in the half and West on its own 20 yard line, it appeared the deadlock would continue.
Instead, Gustafson found Hardt on the Flathead 43 and with 1.1 seconds to go, found him again.
The Braves didn't just fade away in the second half - they never quit at all.
Their defense and special teams kept the Bears at bay through the third quarter - intercepting Gustafson once, then forcing and recovering a West fumble on a Flathead punt.
"Our defense gave us some opportunities to get some points and we didn't take advantage of it," McCarvel said.
The Flathead offense couldn't get on a consistent roll in the second half. It drove at times, but never got closer than the West 17.
"The big thing is we contained the quarterback a little bit better the second half, I thought. And our defense played a lot better," Klaboe said.
"Offensively, we moved the ball well at times, but we really made a lot of mistakes," he said.
"Flathead is a good football team. Capital was lucky to beat them last week. They've scored a lot of points in two games, so for us to hold them to seven points was big," Klaboe said.
"We're lucky to travel this far and win on the road. It's not easy and we're happy we won."
Billings West 7 6 0 13 - 26
Flathead 7 0 0 0 - 7
First Quarter
F - Larry Francis 2 run (Dylan Torgerson kick), 8:28.
BW - Clay Compton 7 run (Bailey Lehenbauer kick), :16.5
Second Quarter
BW - Lee Hardt 43 pass from Brady Gustafson (kick blocked), :00.
Fourth Quarter
BW - Lehenbauer 33 field goal, 11:47.
BW - Lehebauer 26 field goal, 6:16.
BW - Ben Ray 40 interception return (Lehebauer kick), 4:22.
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BW F
First downs 18 14
Rushing 35-177 30-51
Passing 230 135
Com/Att/Int 17-31-1 15-28-1
Fumble-rec 3-1 1-1
Individuals
RUSHING - West, Clay Compton 17-95, Ben Ray 12-52, Jace Vanzee 1-29; Flathead, Travis Ozegovich 10-26, Mike VanArendonk 16-24, Larry Francis 3-7.
RECEIVING - West, Lee Hardt 5-111, Compton 3-47, Daine Muller 3-19, Jace Vanzee 2-17, Blaine Worthington 1-14, Ben Ray 1-10; Flathead, George Sherwood 4-51, Drew Crosby 4-33, Ian Gillespie 2-19, Braxton Nimmick 2-17, Gaige Mower 1-5, Ozegovich 1-5, Matt McLean 1-5.
PASSING - West, Brady Gustafson 17-31-1-1-230; Flathead, VanArendonk 15-28-1-0-135.