AA football: CMR crushes Flathead

Great Falls C.M. Russell spoiled Flathead’s homecoming by shutting out the Braves 52-0 in a Class AA football game Friday at Legends Stadium.

CMR (1-4) scored six touchdowns in the first half and its defense sacked Flathead quarterback Easton Johnson a total of seven times in a dominating performance on both sides of the ball.

“We got worked in every facet,” Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said. “It’s disappointing because we had such a good week of practice and I thought we were ready to play. They came out and took it to us early and often.”

CMR starting running back Andrew Grinde ran for 199 yards on 12 attempts, an average of 16.6 yards per carry, Torrey Hudspeth ran for 80 yards on 12 carries and the Rustlers totaled 404 yards on the ground. Quarterback Jayse McLean was efficient through the air, completing 9 of 11 passes for 123 yards.

“They got their game together tonight,” Flathead defensive tackle Axel Bladholm said of CMR.

“I think we probably could’ve stopped them, but I don’t know what happened.”

The Rustlers were picked to finish second in Class AA in the preseason coaches poll, but stumbled to an 0-4 start. CMR coach Jack Johnson said he isn’t sure why it took his team so long to gel, but he always thought he had a good football team.

“I guess things started clicking tonight,” Johnson said. “In the four previous games, we didn’t play anything close to the way we did tonight.

“I thought our offensive line maybe played its best game of the year. They did a good job of protecting our quarterback.”

Grinde ran for two touchdowns in the first quarter, including a 90-yarder that gave CMR a 21-0 lead. McLean found receiver Justin Pfennigs for a 10-yard touchdown on the Rustlers’ first possession of the second quarter and Pfennigs added a 31-yard touchdown run a minute and a half later to put CMR ahead 35-0. McLean added a rushing touchdown with 4:06 remaining in the half.

Flathead (2-3) drove into CMR territory on its opening possession of the second half, but stalled at the 19-yard line when Johnson was sacked on fourth down. The Rustlers took over on downs and drove 81 yards for a touchdown, with McLean finding Pfennigs for a 7-yard score.

CMR kicker Hakeem Samuels added a 32-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Johnson led Flathead with 82 rushing yards on 24 carries and completed 14 of 29 passes for 74 yards.

Flathead, which is unbeaten on the road, heads to Helena on Friday to take on the Bengals (5-0).

C.M. Russell 21 21 7 3 — 52

Flathead 0 0 0 0 — 0

First quarter

CMR - Andrew Grinde 1 run (Hakeem Samuels kick), 8:54

CMR - Karl Tucker 1 run (Samuels kick), 6:10

CMR - Grinde 90 run (Samuels kick), 3:12

Second quarter

CMR - Justin Pfennigs 10 pass from Jayse McLean (Samuels kick), 8:46

CMR - Pfennigs 31 run (Samuels kick), 7:06

CMR - McLean 1 run (Samuels kick), 4:06

Third quarter

CMR - Pfennigs 7 pass from McLean (Samuels kick), 5:46

Fourth quarter

CMR - Samuels 32 field goal, 8:42

———

CMR Flathead

First downs 18 12

Total yards 527 192

Rushes-yards 45-404 38-118

Passing yards 123 74

Comp-Att-Int 9-12-0 14-29-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 10-75 3-23

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INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING — CMR: Andrew Grinde 12-199, Torrey Hudspeth 12-80, Jayse McLean 8-62, Karl Tucker 7-37, Justin Pfennigs 2-29, Dallas Farren 2-2, Bryce Cuchine 1-(-2), Logan Benjamin 1-(-3). Flathead: Easton Johnson 24-82, Brad Larkins 7-33, Brady Galarza 1-4, Anthony Holm 6-(-1).

PASSING — CMR: Jayse McLean 9-11-123-0, Dallas Farren 0-1-0-0. Flathead: Easton Johnson 14-29-74-0.

RECEIVING — CMR: Torrey Hudspeth 2-43, Justin Pfennigs 3-34, Andrew Grinde 3-31, Karl Tucker 1-15. Flathead: Maverick Escalante 7-40, Walker Malmin 2-13, Brady Galarza 1-9, Dillon Thomas 1-5, Alex Croymans 2-4, Axel Bladholm 1-2.