Braves pick up first win, beat Hellgate on final play
Matt Tokarz hit Nick Iavicoli on a 37-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass with no time remaining, lifting Flathead to a 35-29 Class AA football victory over Missoula Hellgate on Friday night at Legends Stadium.
Flathead (1-9) missed a 42-yard field goal for the win seconds earlier. It had the distance, but was wide right by Dylan Torgerson.
Hellgate (1-9) then took over with 5.9 seconds left at its 25-yard line. On the next play, Jordan Korn intercepted Hellgate quarterback Luke Bewley’s pass in the flat, giving Flathead one more shot at the end zone.
“I told them all season long something good was going to happen,” Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said.
“I don’t know when it will be there, but it will happen.”
Tokarz had a brilliant game, passing for four touchdowns and rushing 54 yards for another. He was 18 of 25 passing for 170 yards. He rushed 20 times for 119 yards.
Trampus Barton was on the receiving end of three Tokarz TD passes — 7, 1 and 7 yards. He had 6 catches for 57 yards. Kevin Grosswiler had 7 receptions for 54 yards.
“I was just so happy for them,” McCarvel said of his players.“They have a memory for a lifetime.
“I’m also happy for the assistant coaches,” McCarvel added.
“They have worked so hard all season.”
Missoula Hellgate78015—29
Flathead78713—35
Hellgate — Luke Bewley 4 run (Bewley kick)
Flathead — Trampus Barton 7 pass from Matt Tokarz (Dylan Torgerson kick)
Hellgate — Bewley 15 run (Bewley run)
Flathead — Barton 1 pass from Tokarz (Nick Iavicoli pass from Tokarz)
Flathead — Barton 7 pass from Tokarz (Torgerson kick)
Hellgate — Andy Nemec 2 pass from Bewley (kick blocked)
Flathead — Tokarz 54 run (Torgerson kick)
Hellagate — John Dalpaiz 1 run (Kole Swartz pass from Bewley)
Flathead — Iavicoli 37 pass from Tokarz
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Individual Stats
Rushing — Hellgate, Luke Bewley 12-63, Hunter Mahlum 1-11, John Dalpaioz 20-85, Zach Bauer 8-50; Flathead, Matt Tokarz 20-119, Austin Root 15-94.
Passing — Hellgate, Bewley 6-12-1-99, Andy Nemec 0-1-0-0; Flathead, Tokarz 18-25-1-170, Kevin Grosswiler 1-0-1-0.
Receiving — Hellgate, Nemec 2-15, Hunter Mahlum 2-58, Dain Cowan 2-26. Flathead, Root 3-12, Jerum AuClaire 1-10, Trampus Barton 6-57, Grosswiler 7-54, Nick Iavicoli 1-37.