Football: Flathead falls to Skyview
BILLINGS — Despite a late surge, the Flathead Braves couldn’t overcome an early 20-point deficit as the Billings Skyview Falcons earned a 30-13 home victory on Friday night.
Flathead threatened the Falcons lead when Braves quarterback senior Easton Johnson connected with junior running back Josh McCracken for a 23-yard touchdown pass with just under eight minutes to play in the game.
Trailing 23-13, Flathead tried a two-point conversion to make it a one possession game, but the conversion failed and the Braves looked for a defensive stop to get the ball back for a chance to tie the contest.
Senior defensive end Aaron Siderius led the charge, stuffing the Falcons offense on their ensuing possesion, and Skyview was forced to punt.
On the following drive, Johnson threw his third interception of the night, giving Skyview a short field to work with, and senior Justin Keeling scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, sealing the victory for the Falcons.
McCracken scored both touchdowns for the Braves. His first of the night was a 15-yard run just before halftime. He finished with 34 yards rushing on 10 carries while adding a team-high 31 receiving yards on two receptions.
Johnson finished 9 of 29 passing for 111 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 38 yards on 15 carries.
Flathead plays at Helena Capital next Friday.
Flathead 0 7 0 6 — 13
Billings Skyview 13 7 3 7 — 30
First quarter
Sky – Rashawn Kroll 22 run (kick fail), 5:24.
Sky – Justin Keeling 2 run (Gabe Davis kick), 3:59.
Second quarter
Sky – Riley Barta 20 run (Davis kick), 6:07.
Fla – Josh McCracken 15run (Alex Croymans kick), 1:11.
Third quarter
Sky – Davis 26 field goal, 3:12.
Fourth quarter
Fla – McCracken 23 pass from Easton Johnson (pass fails), 7:54.
Sky – Keeling 4 run (Davis kick), 2:13.
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Team statistics
Fla Sky
First downs 14 13
Rushes-yards 33-77 42-188
Passing 9-29-3 7-16-0
Passing yards 111 81
Total offense 188 269
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 6-54 10-80
Individual statistics
RUSHING – Flathead: Easton Johnson 15-38, Josh McCracken 10-34, Payton Boyce 7-5, James Flannigan 1-0. Skyview: Riley Barta 9-83, Justin Keeling 18-64, Rashawn Kroll 8-48, Taylor Trollope 1-2, Logan Nelson 6-(minus 9).
PASSING – Flathead: Easton Johnson 9-29-111-3. Skyview: Logan Nelson7-16-81-0.
RECEIVING – Flathead: Josh McCracken 2-31, Tucker Cronk 2-20, Alex Croymans 2-15, Blake Wilson 2-13, Keaton Krantz 1-32. Skyview: Taylor Trollope 3-33, Kendal Manuel 2-42, Zane Guse 1-10, Riley Barta 1-(minus 4).