AA football: Flathead catches Capital at a bad time - after a 41-7 loss to West
When the Flathead Braves enter Vigilante Stadium in Helena today, they’ll be up against an opponent looking for blood.
Eleven-time state champion Helena Capital (4-2) suffered its worst loss since 1973 in last week’s 41-7 defeat at the hands of Billings West, and the Bruins should be anxious to put that loss behind them.
“I know that West got some points on them last week,” Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said.
“Really to me that means they’re going to come out and play with a lot more passion. I know that Coach (Pat) Murphy will have those guys fired up and they’ve got a lot of pride, so I’m sure that they’ll be ready to play against us, no doubt about that.”
Flathead (0-6) is still in search of its first win and is coming off a 55-14 loss to crosstown-rival Glacier. The Braves trailed 27-14 at the half but faded after halftime when they had five turnovers and were outscored 28-0.
Fading in the second half has been a common theme for the Flathead, which played well for a half against some of the toughest teams in the state in No. 4 Glacier and No. 2 Helena High, but hasn’t been able to finish strong.
“The key is to find a way to put four quarters together,” McCarvel said. “Had there been a magic potion for that, we would’ve done it already. Obviously we’ve got to cut down on the turnovers and we’ve got to stop the big plays.”
Flathead has lost 22 turnovers this season and has a Class AA worst minus-19 turnover margin. Capital ranks second in the state with a plus-5 turnover margin.
The Braves’ biggest challenge against Capital will be slowing down running back Gunnar Brekke, an all-state selection a year ago who has committed to play football at the University of Montana. Brekke shredded the Braves with 202 yards on 12 carries a year ago when Capital beat Flathead 55-7. This year he ranks third in Class AA with 131.5 yards per game and averages 8.8 yards per carry.
“He’s really quick,” Flathead linebacker Jerum AuClaire said of Brekke. “He can come in and out of his cuts really good, but I think if we can break down and tackle we can stop him.
“We just want to be able to contain on the outside. Don’t let him get outside of us, and force everything in all the time.”
Capital lost starting quarterback Cale Jacobsen to a knee injury in last week’s loss to West, but whoever is under center, McCarvel said Flathead’s main focus is on stopping Brekke.
“Even when their quarterback was in there, you’ve got to stop Brekke, that’s the key,” he said. “We might play some gimmick defenses for him.”
Flathead also relies on its ground game, which ranks seventh in Class AA with 148 yards per game. Quarterback Matt Tokarz is the state’s ninth leading rusher with 79.8 yards per game while running back Austin Root averages 67.8 yards.
“It’s going to be a big challenge,” Root said. “We haven’t beat (Capital) since 2003, so hopefully we can change that up.”
Flathead should benefit from the return of senior linebacker/tight end Nick Iavicoli and senior defensive end Brett Handford from suspensions.
“That makes us better, especially special teams-wise and depth,” McCarvel said.
Today’s game kicks off at 7 p.m.