Skyview rips Flathead

The Billings Skyview ground game got rolling early and Flathead had no answer in a 44-13 loss at Legends Stadium in a Class AA football game Friday.

Led by speedy wingback Riley Barta and powerful fullback Alex Picicci, Skyview (1-1) sprinted to a 31-0 halftime lead and never looked back. The Falcons racked up 496 rushing yards and 572 total yards in the rout.

“That’s what they do and they’re good at it,” Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said of Skyview’s explosive running game. “I think we had a hard time adjusting to some of the things they were doing to us blocking-wise.

“And we’ve got to tackle better. I thought guys weren’t running through their tackles well enough.”

Picicci did the hard work between the tackles, leading Skyview with 208 yards on 26 carries. Barta, the wingback in Skyview’s Wing-T formation, ran for 138 yards on 12 carries while doing most of his damage on sweeps and counters.

“It’s a different offense that we’ve never seen before,” Flathead linebacker Caleb McCracken said.

The Falcons scored on all but one of their first-half possessions. Barta punctuated Skyview’s opening drive with an 8-yard touchdown run, Taylor Trollope intercepted Flathead quarterback Easton Johnson to set up a 30-yard field goal for kicker Reece Quade and Barta scampered 47 yards for his second touchdown to put the Falcons ahead 17-0 by the end of the first quarter. Picicci added two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.

Flathead (1-1) threatened to score in the second quarter when Jess Beaman returned a kickoff 49 yards to the Skyview 40-yard-line, but a bad snap on a 36-yard field goal attempt turned the ball over on downs.

Skyview extended its lead with a 51-yard touchdown drive on its first possession of the third quarter. Flathead answered with a 71-yard scoring drive, which ended when Johnson found Maverick Escalante for an 18-yard touchdown pass.

Skyview running back Justin Keeling broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and ran 60 yards for a touchdown with 1 minute, 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter and Anthony Holm finished Flathead’s final drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

“I thought offensively we put three decent drives together,” McCarvel said.

“Two of them we scored on. In our two games I think we’ve proven when we execute, we do just fine on offense. When we make a mistake and get into a second- or third-and-10, we struggle.”

Skyview’s win came on the heels of a 48-19 loss to Bozeman and coach Ron Lebsock said improved play from the offensive line was a big difference between that loss and the win against Flathead.

“Timing, pad level, finish, those are the kind of things that offensive linemen absolutely need to take care of if you’re going to have a good running game, and our guys did a lot better job of that tonight,” Lebsock said.

Holm led Flathead with 58 yards on 18 carries. Johnson ran for 51 yards on 11 carries and completed 15 of 25 passes for 166 yards.

Skyview quarterback Gus Schaff completed 6 of 8 passes for 76 yards.

Flathead will look to bounce back on Friday when it hosts Helena Capital (2-0).

Billings Skyview 17 14 13 0 — 44

Flathead 0 0 7 6 — 13

First Quarter

Sky - Riley Barta 8 run (Reece Quade kick), 9:27

Sky - Quade 30 field goal, 4:11

Sky - Barta 47 run (Quade kick), 3:01

Second Quarter

Sky - Alex Picicci 17 run (Quade kick), 9:44

Sky - Picicci 1 run (Quade kick), 4:02

Third Quarter

Sky - Picicci 5 pass from Gus Schaff (Quade kick), 6:11

Fla - Maverick Escalante 18 pass from Easton Johnson (Alex Croymans kick), 4:19

Sky - Justin Keeling 60 run (kick failed), 1:24

Fourth Quarter

Fla - Anthony Holm 2 run (kick failed), 2:41

———

Skyview Flathead

First downs 23 15

Total yards 572 298

Rushes-yards 54-496 33-131

Passing yards 76 167

Comp-Att-Int 7-9-0 16-27-1

Penalties-yards 5-35 6-25

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Skyview: Alex Picicci 26-208, Riley Barta 12-138, Justin Keeling 3-70, Nathan Borer 4-28, Chandler Hanson 4-27, Taylor Trollope 1-12, Tristan Stiffarm 3-7, Gus Schaff 1-6. Flathead: Anthony Holm 18-58, Easton Johnson 11-51, Walker Malmin 1-12, Dallas Grimes 1-7, Brady Galarza 1-3, Alex Croymans 1-0.

PASSING — Skyview: Gus Schaff 6-8-76-0, Kam Kemmis 1-1-0-0. Flathead: Easton Johnson 15-25-166-1, Dalton Manning 1-2-1-0.

RECEIVING — Skyview: Kendall Manuel 3-58, Clayton Schmaltz 1-8, Taylor Trollope 1-5, Alex Picicci 1-5. Flathead: Dillon Thomas 4-73, Alex Croymans 6-54, Maverick Escalante 5-32, Blaine Newman 1-12, Cody Eacker 1-4, Gavyn Wilson 1-1.

Friday’s Scores

Anaconda 28, Libby 0

Bigfork 26, Choteau 20

Billings Central 34, Belgrade 25

Billings Senior 31, Missoula Big Sky 13

Billings Skyview 44, Kalispell Flathead 13

Bozeman 34, Missoula Sentinel 0

Broadview-Lavina 16, Twin Bridges 14

Butte Central 40, Livingston 8

Charlo 60, Noxon 0

Clark County, Idaho 39, Lima 19

Colstrip 27, Plentywood 20

Columbia Falls 30, Hamilton 29

Conrad 34, Troy 13

Culbertson-Bainville 72, Scobey-Opheim 34

Cut Bank 40, Thompson Falls 0

Deer Lodge 30, Three Forks 21

Dillon 44, Polson 9

Drummond 50, Darby 14

Ennis 44, Harlowton-Ryegate 14

Eureka 24, Ronan 10

Fairview 42, Froid/Medicine Lake 32

Forsyth 12, Red Lodge 6

Frenchtown 58, Corvallis 33

Geraldine 59, Hot Springs 51

Glasgow -Nashua-Hinsdale 47, Glendive 14

Great Falls 17, Missoula Hellgate 0

Hardin 33, Lewistown (Fergus) 19

Helena 39, Billings West 21

Helena Capital 38, Butte 28

Huntley Project 14, Malta 8

Jefferson (Boulder) 49, Joliet 0

Laurel 33, Stevensville 0

Manhattan 61, Columbus 56

Park City 40, Sheridan 6

Power-Dutton-Brady 28, Sunburst 0

Roundup 14, Shepherd 7

Savage 56, Bridger 18

Seeley-Swan 40, Arlee 24

Shelby 54, Plains 34

Sidney 28, Williston, N.D. 6

Townsend 47, Florence 0

Westby-Grenora 62, Valier 12

Whitefish 45, Browning 14

Whitehall 51, St. Ignatius 0

POSTPONEMENTS/CANCELLATIONS

Belt vs. Simms, ppd. to Sep 9.

Miles City vs. Havre, ccd.

Missoula Loyola vs. Fairfield, ccd.