Class A Football: Unbeaten Miles City next test for Whitefish in semis
Back in the Class A state football semifinals for a second-straight season, Whitefish’s football team will be looking at a familiar foe when it kicks off today at 1 p.m. at Connors Stadium in Miles City.
Custer County, which has rolled to an undefeated 10-0 record this season, looks a lot like Whitefish on the field, relying on an athletic quarterback and a team of playmakers to lead its attack.
“They’re almost a mirror image of us,” Whitefish coach Chad Ross said.
Whitefish is familiar with the Cowboys, beating them in the state quarterfinals last season 34-29. The Bulldogs are 3-4 all time in the series between the schools.
This season’s Cowboys are led by quarterback Matt Blunt, who has run for a team-high 622 yards and is completing 62 percent of his passes for more than 2,000 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Running backs Jared Bartlett and Jacob Morris have combined for more than 1,110 yards on the ground and 15 touchdowns.
“They want to run the ball downhill,” Ross said.
“They have a great quarterback. Most of the offense goes through (Blunt).”
Likewise, Whitefish’s offense flows through senior quarterback Luke May, who has completed more than 70 percent of his passes for 1,564 yards and run for nearly 750 yards.
Running back Chris Park has eclipsed 1,000 yards on the ground and Jed Nagler, a Griz football commit, leads the team with 609 receiving yards, averaging nearly 20 yards per catch.
Staring at an offense that is nearly as potent as its own, the Whitefish defense will need to come up big again, after holding Eastern A team Sidney to 89 total yards in last week’s 24-0 quarterfinal win.
“We keep getting better, our defense is doing a great job,” Ross said.
“If our front seven can put pressure on Blunt, it’s going to give us a chance on offense.
“Everybody is getting better. We have lots of playmakers. It’s exciting that we’re not one dimensional.”
In addition to controlling Blunt, Ross said his team would have to control its emotions playing in the biggest game of their careers.
Miles City has ridden an emotional wave this season, losing head coach Dan Stanton to a battle with cancer on Sept. 13 at age 47, just days after a 54-28 win over Havre gave the Cowboys a 3-0 start to the season. The town still adorns signs and windows painted with ‘Stanton Strong’ for the departed coach, who won two state championships in his 11-year tenure at the school.
“Talking to the locals, they’re pretty fired up,” Ross said. “We’re just trying to get our guys to see past that.
“They’re a great football team and a great coaching staff. The community just loves football.”
To make the 621-mile trip to Miles City, the Bulldogs traveled to Butte on Thursday for a practice before making the rest of the trip Friday and getting in a walkthrough practice.
The winner of today’s game will advance to the state title game to play the winner of the Havre at Dillon matchup.
Whitefish is playing for its first trip to the state championship game since 2001 and its first state title since 1979.
“We can’t control anything outside of us, all we can control is our own preparation,” Ross said.