AA football: Braves beat Bison
GREAT FALLS — The Flathead Braves scored two touchdowns in the final 5 seconds to beat Great Falls High 20-7 in their season-opening Class AA football game Friday.
Quarterback Easton Johnson ran 3 yards on a keeper to break a 7-7 tie with 5 seconds remaining and safety Jess Beaman added an exclamation point by returning an interception for a touchdown as time expired.
Johnson’s touchdown was the culmination of a 92-yard drive.
“On that drive we just played a little cleaner,” Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said. “We had done a lot of little things to shoot ourselves in the foot throughout the game, but we finally just went a whole drive without any mistakes.”
McCarvel said conditioning was also a factor.
“They’ve worked really hard and it really paid off in the end. We looked a little fresher on the final drive, I thought,” he said.
While the last-second heroics put the points on the board, it was Flathead’s defense that kept the Braves in the game. Flathead (1-0) held the Bison to 72 passing yards and forced two turnovers.
“I think our defense was really stout,” McCarvel said. “Our kids played with a lot of poise. Our front seven, our secondary, they all played great. We played a lot of kids defensively and they all did a great job.”
Johnson punched a 1-yard run into the end zone in the first quarter to give Flathead a 7-0 lead. The Braves had gained possession at Great Falls’ 39-yard line after linebacker Caleb McCracken recovered a fumble. Johnson completed a pass to running back Brad Larkins on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive and Johnson reached the end zone four plays later.
In the second quarter, Great Falls’ Lance Massey intercepted Johnson in the end zone to set up Great Falls’ 80-yard touchdown drive, which ended with a 8-yard screen pass from quarterback Jordan Wilkins to receiver Kessler Leonard.
Johnson completed 13 of 23 passes for 138 yards and gained another 25 yards on the ground. Anthony Holm ran for 77 yards on 23 carries and Dillon Thomas caught six passes for 87 yards.
Great Falls running back Brad Humphreys ran for 131 yards on 25 carries.
Flathead’s sophomores were also winners on Friday, topping Great Falls 42-7.
The Braves will take the field in front of their home fans on Friday when they host Billings Skyview at 7 p.m. at Legends Stadium. Skyview (0-1) lost its opener 48-19 to Bozeman.
Flathead 7 0 0 13 — 20
Great Falls 0 7 0 0 — 7
First Quarter
Flathead — Easton Johnson 1 run (Alex Croymans kick)
Second Quarter
GFH — Kessler Leonard 8 pass from Jordan Wilkins (Brad Humphreys kick)
Fourth Quarter
Flathead — Johnson 2 run (Croymans kick)
Flathead — Jess Beaman 55 interception return (no kick)
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FHS GFH
Rushes-yards 41-129 30-160
Passing 138 71
Total yards 267 231
Att-Comps-INTs 13-23-1 9-23-1
Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1
Penalties-yards 5-35 9-80
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Individual Stats
Rushing — Flathead: Anthony Holm 23-77; Brad Larkins 3-8; Easton Johnson 11-25; Brady Galarza 4-19. GFH: Brad Humphreys 25-131; Randy Keesler 1-16; Jordan Wilkins 4-13
Passing — Flathead: Easton Johnson 13-23-1-138. GFH: Jordan Wilkins: 9-23-1-71.
Receiving — Flathead: Dillon Thomas 6-87; Cody Eacker 1-6; Alex Croymans 4-26; Larkins 1-15; Holm 1-4. GFH: Kessler Leonard 2-13; Walker Ferda 4-47; Dennis Berczyk 1-8; Humphreys 2-8.