Football: Flathead looks to bounce back at Missoula Big Sky
After back-to-back losses at home to Billings Skyview and Helena Capital, the Flathead Braves hope to get back on track tonight when the play Big Sky in Missoula at 7 p.m.
While Big Sky (0-3) is winless, it nearly came up with its first victory last week when it scored 14 points in the fourth quarter against Missoula Sentinel, but its late push came up two points short.
Flathead (1-2) is looking at tonight’s game as an opportunity to pull back to .500, but the Braves aren’t taking Big Sky lightly.
“I don’t think their record can tell you too much,” Flathead quarterback Easton Johnson said. “They’re definitely a good football team. They’ve had a tough schedule. They’re big, so if we play physical and just try to outmatch them, then I think we’ll have a good chance. But I don’t think their record shows very much.”
Skyview and Capital beat Flathead with relentless running games, but Big Sky has shown more balance this season. The Eagles average 113.3 yards on the ground and 120.3 yards through the air, but Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said he expects Big Sky to try to establish its running game first.
“They really want to establish the run,” he said. “That’s their thing. They’ve probably ended up a little more 50-50, but they want to run the ball.”
Cory Diaz led the Eagles with 162 rushing yards through their first two games, but he missed last week’s contest against Sentinel so quarterback Jesson Preston picked up the slack with 71 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Most of Big Sky’s passing game goes through wide receiver Alex Mustard, who has 213 of the Eagles’ 361 receiving yards.
“He’s a talented guy,” McCarvel said of Mustard. “It just seems like every year Big Sky’s got one or two guys on the outside that are just big-time athletes. They’ve sent a lot of guys to the Griz that are out there wide and are big, tall, athletic guys. Alex Mustard reminds me a lot of those guys.”
Flathead’s pass defense ranks third in Class AA at 119 yards per game, but it hasn’t faced a receiver of Mustard’s caliber.
“He’s a good athlete, he’s fast,” Flathead safety Colton Wiley said. “We’ve got some stuff for him. I think we’re preparing ourselves pretty good and just doing what we can. I think it will be a pretty good matchup.”
The challenge for Flathead’s offense will be solving Big Sky’s 3-4 defense.
“They’re active on their linebacker positions, they’re big inside and they want to stop the run,” McCarvel said.
Anthony Holm leads Flathead’s running game with 78.7 yards per game. Dillon Thomas is the Braves’ leading receiver with 77.3 yards per game.