Winless Flathead still hoping to pick up a victory before season ends
The Flathead Braves haven’t given up on their season yet.
Despite being eliminated from playoff contention, the 0-8 Braves hope they have what it takes to pull a late-season upset.
“We never know when we’re going to get our first win,” Flathead offensive/defensive tackle Gage Marcum said.
“You never know when you could have a good game, you never know when the other team could have a bad game, so you’ve just got to keep fighting every week.”
Notching its first win will be a tough task today when Flathead heads to Great Falls to take on No. 4. C.M. Russell (6-2). After losing their opener to Butte, the Rustlers won six straight and ascended to No. 1 in the Class AA AP poll before suffering a 28-24 loss on the road against Billings West last week.
“We have nothing to lose,” Flathead quarterback Matt Tokarz said.
“We’ve just got to go down there and play the best game we possibly can. Right now we’re just trying to stick together as a team and just trying to get a win.”
CMR’s ground game could cause problems for the Flathead defense, which allowed 331 rushing yards in last week’s loss to Bozeman. The Rustlers feature a potent rushing attack led by running back Hunter Thomson, Class AA’s second-leading rusher with 152.9 yards per game. Quarterback Josh Horner is also a threat to run with 79.9 yards per game.
“They’re a great running team,” Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said of CMR. “We’re going to have to be sound against the run, no question. We’ve got to do a better job than we did last week against the run.”
McCarvel said the key to CMR’s success on the ground is its powerful offensive line, which means Marcum and fellow Flathead defensive tackle Axel Bladholm will have their hands full.
“It will be a huge challenge,” Marcum said.
“But I think me and Axel Bladholm, as long as we’re still fighting double-teams and everything, we can let our linebackers make lots of plays in the backfield. That will put more pressure on their passing game.”
CMR’s passing game is far less imposing, ranking 10th in Class AA with 116.5 yards per game.
Offensively, Flathead will be looking to get back on track after scoring just seven points against Bozeman.
“We have to make the right reads,” Tokarz said. “Some defenses come out different from what we expect and we just have to cope with that and do our best.”
Flathead turned the ball over three times last week and has a Class AA-worst minus-19 turnover margin on the season.
“We’ve got to protect the ball better,” McCarvel said. “The other thing is we’ve got to convert once we’re inside the 20 (yard line). We had two opportunities last week inside the 20 and didn’t cash in.”
In CMR, the Braves will be up against a 4-3 defense that is allowing 368.4 yards per game.
“They’re probably one of the more vanilla teams we play, and I mean that as a compliment because they’re so good,” McCarvel said. “They do their job and know their responsibilities. They’re never out of position and they’re one of the top tackling teams. You don’t see them missing tackles so although they stay in that base 4-3 a lot, they do such a good job doing what they’re supposed to.”
Today’s game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. in Great Falls.