Class B football playoffs: Bigfork manhandles Malta, 41-0

BIGFORK — Bigfork quarterback Josh Sandry rolled out left to pass, saw an opening in the Malta defense and broke through and housed it for a 71-yard touchdown run, breaking open the floodgates as Bigfork romped to a 41-0 victory in the Class B football quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.

Sandry carried the load for the Vikings, rushing eight times for 118 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown romp on the next drive.

After its first drive went three-and-out, Bigfork scored touchdowns on five of its next six possessions, building a 34-0 lead at halftime that put the game out of reach early.

“We got off to a slow start, a crawling start,” Bigfork coach Todd Emslie said. “But we got it going. [Sandry] is something special isn’t he?

“He can do that. He’s that kind of a player. When the ball is in his hands like that. You might get him a couple of times, but if he gets a crack, he’s special, he’s gone. That first touchdown was huge for us. It got us going.”

The Vikings defense dominated in the shutout, forcing three fumbles, recovering two, picking up three sacks and returning an interception for a touchdown. Bigfork held Malta to just 11 yards passing and 117 yards total.

“Our defensive line had a really good push,” Emslie said.

“It makes things difficult for a quarterback or a running back to get anything going in the backfield when you’ve got guys coming at you.”

Bigfork scored at will in the first half, with Vinny Quirk adding a 29-yard score after the first two from Sandry.

After a fumble recovery set them up deep in Malta territory, the Vikings even tacked on another when it looked like everything had gone wrong. With a Mustang defender wrapped around his ankles, Sandry heaved a prayer towards the end zone in the second quarter, only for Isaac Martel to come down with a touchdown.

“It was supposed to be quick slants and I missed him, it was too late,” Sandry said. “I tried throwing it out of bounds but Martel went up and made a pretty good play. It was pretty sweet. I was just trying to get rid of it.”

Forcing a fumble on the next drive, Quirk added his second score of the game from seven yards out to give Bigfork a 34-0 lead.

On Malta’s second drive of the third quarter, Adam Jordt intercepted a pass along the sideline and streaked 67 yards for a touchdown to put the running clock in effect.

Quirk had 10 rushes for 56 yards and led the team with 10 1/2 tackles on defense. Logan Mejak had a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for the Vikings.

Martel had a team-high three catches for 26 yards and Sandry passed 7 of 13 for 81 yards.

Quintan Boos led Malta with 29 rushes for 119 yards.

Bigfork will host Huntley Project in the next round following the Red Devils’ 21-7 win over top-ranked Fairfield. Conrad defeated Glasgow 32-27 in a thriller on the Hi-Line and Townsend topped Baker 45-0 in the other quarterfinal contests.

Malta 0 0 0 0 — 0

Bigfork 21 13 7 0 — 41

First quarter

B — Josh Sandry 71 run (Sandry kick), 5:47

B — Sandry 34 run (Sandry kick), 2:26

B — Vinny Quirk 29 run (Sandry kick), :13

Second quarter

B — Martel 13 pass from Sandry (kick failed), 7:26

B — Quirk 7 run (Sandry kick), 5:46

Third quarter

B — Adam Jordt 67 interception return (Sandry kick), 2:29

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Malta Bigfork

First downs 9 10

Total yards 117 284

Rushes-Yds 41-106 27-203

Passing Yds 11 81

Comp-Att-Int 7-18-1 7-14-1

Punts-Avg. 7-31.7 5-39.6

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 0-0

Penalties-Yards 3-25 3-35

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Individual Statistics

RUSHING — Malta, Quintan Boos 29-119, Collin Holman 3-9, Allen Williamson 1-(-2), Jase Galt 8-(-20). Bigfork, Josh Sandry 8-118, Vinny Quirk 10-56, Matthew Farrier 7-25, Isaac Martel 1-3, Jonathan Landon 1-1.

PASSING — Malta, Jase Galt 7-18-1-11. Bigfork, Josh Sandry 7-13-1-81, Jonathan Landon 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — Malta, Allen Williamson 2-11, Tyson Carney 1-9, Collin Holman 1-0, Quintan Boos 1-(-4), Jordan Pierce 2-(-5). Bigfork, Isaac Martel 3-26, Tyler Piazzola 1-23, Adam Jordt 1-16, Jonathan Landon 2-16.

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Leading tacklers — Malta, Quintan Boos 6.5 (3 solo, 7 asst). Bigfork, Vinny Quirk 10.5 (5-11), Logan Mejak forced recovered two fumbles, forced one and had two sacks.

Huntley Project 21, Fairfield 7

Fairfield 0 7 0 0 — 7

Huntley Project 7 0 7 7 — 21

HP — Kian Brown 10 run (Daylon Richard kick)

F — Christian Melo 33 pass from Dalton Palmer (Kyle Snyder kick)

HP — Brown 2 run (Richard kick)

HP — Michael Jobman 6 run (Richard kick)

Conrad 32, Glasgow 27

Conrad 6 14 6 6 — 32

Glasgow 0 13 7 7 — 27

C — Hunter Mycke 70 pass from Shane Larson (run failed)

C — Larson 7 run (kick failed)

G — Jason Thibault 10 run (kick failed)

C — Larson 8 run (Larson run)

G — Benji Phillips 50 pass from Thibault (Cache Younkin kick)

C — Larson 7 run (pass failed)

G — Tanner Roness 20 pass from Thibault (Younkin kick)

G — Keil Krumwiede 21 pass from Thibault (Younkin kick)

C — Larson 4 run (pass failed)

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C G

First Downs 23 14

Total Yds 440 380

Carries-Yds 62-317 42-208

Passing Yds 123 172

Pass C-A-I 5-8-1 11-18-0

Punts-Avg. 2-29.0 2-45.0

Fumbles-Lost 4-1 5-3

Penalties-Yds 7-51 4-30

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Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Conrad (Skeeter Underdahl 15-56, Larson 42-246, Mycke 4-15). Glasgow (Phillips 13-53, Thibault 13-66, Roness 16-89).

PASSING – Conrad (Larson 5-8-1-1-123). Glasgow (Thibault 11-18-0-3-172).

RECEIVING – Conrad (Mycke 1-70, Clark Judisch 2-15, Daylon Jay 1-33, Tristen Diedrich 1-5). Glasgow (Krumwiede 4-42, Phillips 3-70, Chase Fossum 1-0, Roness 1-20, Kyle Albus 1-10, Jake Page 1-15).

Townsend 45, Baker 0

Baker 0 0 0 0 — 0

Townsend 6 13 13 13 — 45

First quarter

T – Bryce Green 3 run (kick failed), 5:41

Second quarter

T – Jace Lewis 4 run (pass failed), 11:19

T – Lewis 1 run (kick good), 2:35 (kick good), 2:35

Third quarter

T – Lewis 3 run (kick failed), 9:43

T – Green 61 interception return (kick good), 7:35

Fourth quarter

T – Ryker Bair 3 run (kick good), 8:54

T – Cameron Mattson 2 run (kick good), 4:21

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T B

Total Yds 354 223

Carries-Yds 37-176 43-194

Passing Yds 178 40

Pass C-A-I 8-12-0 4-11-1

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Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Townsend, Green 18-94, Lewis 9-36, Bair 8-39, Mattson 2-7. Baker, Gonsioroski 23-137, Barkley 11-43, Fisher 9-14

PASSING – Townsend, Lewis 8-12-178-1. Baker, Gonsioroski 4-11-1-40

RECEIVING – Townsend, Wilbur 2-59, Sweat 2-34, LeLacheur 2-85. Baker, Fisher 3-30, Barkley 1-10.