C-Falls whips Polson; stays perfect

COLUMBIA FALLS — The third-ranked Columbia Falls Wildcats wrapped up their first unbeaten regular season since 1975 with a 42-5 win over Polson in a Class A football game Friday at Satterthwaite Field.

The win gives Columbia Falls (8-0 overall, 4-0 conference) its first Northwestern A conference title since 2010 and a first-round playoff bye. Polson (5-3, 2-2) had won the two previous conference titles.

“We’ve been working real hard for this,” Columbia Falls senior wide receiver/defensive back Alex Presnell said. “The past few years we haven’t had successful seasons and we’ve always been thinking about our senior year. To go 8-0, we knew we could do it, and to be conference champs, it’s just a great feeling.”

Columbia Falls quarterback Jared Trinastich was 12 of 13 for 220 yards in the first half, which helped the Wildcats build a 35-3 lead at the break. When given time in the pocket, Trinastich cut through the Polson defense with surgical precision. When he was forced to run, he kept eyes downfield and still managed to find an open man more often than not. The first touchdown was a 37-yard pass over the middle to a wide-open Presnell and the second an 8-yard slant to Trevor Houston.

“Jared’s just a really good quarterback,” Columbia Falls coach Jaxon Schweikert said. “With our quarterbacks we spend a lot of time in the classroom. We have quarterback school and we spend a lot of time with them and so no matter what coverage they show up in he’s pretty calm. He can check plays, check in and out and our receivers do a real good job. We work this stuff so much and he throws a lot of balls every day. He was just on the same page as the receivers and he did a great job.”

Trinastich wasn’t as sharp in the second half, but he still managed to finish 16 of 22 for 287 yards.

“We had a lot of film this week and we just prepared really well for what they were going to come with,” Trinastich said.

Columbia Falls marched 65 yards for a touchdown on its opening drive but Polson answered with a methodical 55-yard drive that ended with a 27-yard field goal by Brady Hislop. The Wildcats responded with a five-play touchdown drive near the end of the first quarter and had three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter, thanks in part to interceptions by Presnell and Justice McManus and the hard running of Zach Darling, who finished with 170 of Columbia Falls’ 190 rushing yards.

The Wildcats endured a scary moment in the third quarter when defensive back Josiah Osborne was taken off the field on a stretcher with a broken tibia, and Polson cut its deficit to 35-5 two minutes later when defensive pressure from Hislop forced an intentional grounding penalty on Trinastich in the end zone, which resulted in a safety.

Columbia Falls added its final touchdown with 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Trinastich found Presnell for a 14-yard score. Freshman kicker Maddy Snyder tacked on the extra point for her first varsity score.

The Wildcats’ defense held Polson to 212 total yards, 136 rushing and 76 passing.

“We’re not very big, but we’re really strong pound for pound and we play really fast,” Schweikert.

“Our two inside ’backers, Ike Schweikert and Connor Bowman, are just really physical. They play really fast, just get downhill and they fill holes really excellent. You always build it inside-out and front-to-back, and Spencer Ross is just a terrific nose guard.”

Columbia Falls is off next week and will host the winner between Havre and Miles City in a quarterfinal playoff game the following week.

“We had the goal all year to go 8-0 and win the conference,” Trinastich said.

“Now we’ve got to go on into the playoffs and keep this momentum going.”

Polson 3 0 2 0 — 5

Columbia Falls 14 21 7 0 — 42

First quarter

C - Alex Presnell 37 pass from Jared Trinastich (Presnell kick), 9:46

P - Brady Hislop 27 field goal, 2:23

C - Trevor Houston 8 pass from Trinastich (Presnell kick), 0:39

Second quarter

C - Zach Darling 1 run (Presnell kick), 7:12

C - Ty Morgan 3 pass from Trinastich (Presnell kick), 2:47

C - Darling 5 run (Presnell kick), 1:07

Third quarter

P - Columbia Falls safety, 7:48

C - Presnell 14 pass from Trinastich (Maddy Snyder kick), 0:28

Fourth quarter

No scoring