Class A football semis: Fast start, bad ending for Whitefish
WHITEFISH — Things looked promising for Whitefish after the first play against Butte Central.
The Bulldogs, who beat the Maroons 43-12 in last season’s playoffs, scored on their first snap from scrimmage, Luke May pitching long down the left sidelines to a streaking Jack Streibich for a 72 yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Then Butte Central took over.
The Maroons rode running back Kyle Harrington for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns, while their defense held the Bulldogs to 119 yards for the rest of the game in a 37-13 win that advanced the Southwestern A champions to the state championship game.
“If we had a chance, we knew we’d have to go up top with it,” Whitefish coach Chad Ross said. “They seemed to take that away the rest of the game.
“They did a great job of responding ... We just offensively couldn’t get anything going.”
After giving up the touchdown, Butte Central scored on consecutive drives in the first quarter, feeding Harrington for a 7-yard touchdown and following the next drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Cole Harper on a fourth down conversion.
Early in the second quarter Harrington found room in the middle of the Whitefish defense, running 69 yards for his second score to give the Maroons a 21-7 lead.
Whitefish had been held to negative yards in the half after its first play when it finally found something that worked in the final minute of the second quarter.
Using quick passes and a faster tempo, the Bulldogs found a rhythm, driving 78 yards in nine plays. May capped the drive by finding Jed Nagler in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown to cut their deficit to one score with four seconds to play before halftime.
“That’s what we needed, the quick hitters,” Ross said.
Then, after a personal foul penalty gave the Bulldogs the kickoff at midfield, an onside kick went awry. After the kick attempt dribbled short, Whitefish’s defenders attempted to wait for the ball to roll past the 10-yard zone when the Maroons’ Tanner Kump scooped it up and ran in 60 yards for a touchdown to close the half, giving Butte Central a 28-13 lead at half.
“Jeez, you go down by seven, I don’t know if it would have been any different,” Ross said. “They totally outplayed us in the second half. It just changes teenagers’ mentalities coming into it.”
Even with the Whitefish defense performing well, forcing seven fumbles and recovering four, the Bulldogs couldn’t find space to move on offense, each drive ending in a punt or a turnover.
Harrington finished with 22 carries for 238 yards for the Maroons, despite leaving in the third quarter with an apparent knee injury. Butte Central led Whitefish 317-17 in rushing yards.
“We’ve said that all our lives,” Ross said. “If somebody gets us one dimensional we’re not a very good football team.”
May, who also left briefly with an injury, was 14 for 40 passing for 170 yards and two interceptions. Derek Kastella, who saw time under center in relief, was 4 for 9 for 37 yards and an interception.
Streibich had five catches for 117 yards to lead the Bulldogs in receiving.
“It’s a huge stepping stone for all of our guys,” Ross said of making it to the state semifinals for the first time in years. “They took a lot of pride in winning the conference. When we lost those two early a lot of people counted us out.”
Butte Central will host Southwestern rivals Dillon for the state championship. The Maroons won 31-27 in their game earlier this year.
“Our kids, all year long we’ve answered adversity,” Butte Central coach Don Peoples, Jr. said.
“We could’ve really got rattled, but I think we hung in there and found a way to come back. It took a lot of courage to come back and hang in there.”
Central 14 14 6 3 — 37
Whitefish 7 6 0 0 — 13
First quarter
W — Jack Streibich 72 pass from Luke May (Haley Nicholson kick), 11:41
BC — Kyle Harrington 7 run (kick failed), 5:17
BC — Cole Harper 26 pass from Danny Peoples (Harper pass from Peoples), 1:51
Second quarter
BC — Harrington 69 run (Peoples kick), 9:59
W — Jed Nagler 7 pass from May (kick blocked), 0:04
BC — Tanner Kump 60 kick return (Peoples kick), 0:00
Third quarter
BC — Harrington 50 run (kick failed), 1:43
Fourth quarter
BC — Peoples 22 field goal, 5:19
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Central Whitefish
First downs 16 11
Third downs 3-14 2-16
Fourth downs 1-1 0-3
Total yards 419 191
Rushes-Yds 49-317 14-17
Pass yards 102 174
Comp-Att-Int 8-15-0 18-49-3
Turnovers 4 3
Fumbles-lost 7-4 1-0
Punts-Avg 6-32.0 9-28.9
Penalties 11-126 6-48
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Central, Kyle Harrington 22-238, Kaemen Richards 9-41, Danny Peoples 16-39, Cole Peterson 1-3, Tanner Kump 1-(-4). Whitefish, Luke May 7-20, Brian FauntLeRoy 2-4, Chris Park 5-(-7).
PASSING — Central, Peoples 8-15 for 130 yards, Team for -28 yards. Whitefish, May 14-40-2 for 170 yards, Derek Kastella 4-9-1 for 37 yards, Team for -33 yards.
RECEIVING — Central, Dalton Sessions 2-54, Cole Harper 2-36, Chad Peterson 2-18, Kyle Schulte 1-11, Harrington 1-11. Whitefish, FauntLeRoy 6-28, Jack Streibich 5-117, Park 3-21, Jed Nagler 2-24, Luke Cardon 1-14, Kaleb Veneman 1-3.
Dillon 21, Billings Central 19
Billings Central 0 6 7 6 — 19
Dillon 7 8 6 0 — 21
D – Justin Ferris 15 pass from J.D. Ferris (Payton Lafrentz kick)
BC – Holden Ryan 16 run (kick missed)
D – J.D. Ferris 1 run (Justin Ferris from J.D. Ferris)
BC – Ryan 46 run (Benton Braesicke kick)
D – Jason Ferris 67 pass from J.D. Ferris (pass failed)
BC – Ryan 1 run (run failed)
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Dillon: Jason Ferris 8-53, Tyler Van Slyke 7-32; Billings Central: Holden Ryan 35-232, Michael Stanton 10-55
Passing – Dillon: J.D. Ferris 12-23-1-174; Billings Central Michael Stanton 6-8-0-93
Receiving – Dillon: Jason Ferris 4-89, Nate Simkins 5-31; Billings Central: Jacob Hadley 3-73, Holden Ryan 2-11