Class A football: Whitefish throttles rival Columbia Falls
COLUMBIA FALLS — Columbia Falls made it easy on the Whitefish Bulldogs in Friday night’s Northwestern A football game.
The Wildcats (2-3 overall, 0-1 Northwestern A) lost two fumbles, were hampered offensively by penalties along with a bad snap and gave the lethal Whitefish offense a short field to work with on way too many occasions in what turned into a 47-7 blowout for the visitors.
“We’ve have been our own worst enemy this year,” Columbia Falls coach Jackson Schweikert said.
“Whitefish is a very good football team, they are very talented. They flat out outplayed us.”
Whitefish, up 3-0 after the first period thanks to a 32-yard field goal by Haley Nicholson, exploded for five touchdowns in the second quarter for a 37-7 halftime lead.
Quarterback Luke May had touchdown runs of 1 and 8 yards and he connected with Tyler Cote on scoring passes for 8 and 46 yards.
May also hit Jed Nagler on a 20-yard touchdown pass during the scoring binge.
Whitefish’s scoring drives in the second quarter were: 3 plays for 55 yards, 5 plays for 37 yards, 3 plays for 45 yards, 8 plays for 38 yards and 2 plays for 57 yards.
Cote’s second touchdown pass came with 29 seconds left in the half to pretty much seal it.
“He (Columbia Falls defender) bit on the other side, so I was wide open,” Cote said.
So wide open Cote just focused on “catching the ball,” and not dropping it for his easy trip to the end zone.
Nagler’s scoring reception was a thing of beauty as he had to reach high in full stride to gather it in.
Cote capped his big night by ripping off a 68-yard touchdown run down the sideline with 3:29 to play.
“Not at all,” Cote said of being surprised by the outcome.
“We have a pretty good football team. We expected more of a battle though.”
Cote also figured in another score as he recovered a short kickoff after Whitefish (6-1, 2-0) went on top 10-0. That set up a short drive capped by May picking his way through the Columbia Falls defense for his 8-yard TD run.
“We’re a pretty skilled football team,” Cote said.
“We have a lot of seniors.”
He said his performance in this rivalry game was his best varsity showing ever.
“By a long shot,” he said.
“There were not cheap shots out there,” he added.
“It was a good, clean game ... good sportsmanship.”
May was sharp and composed as he completed 17 of 25 passes for 189 yards.
Speedy Whitefish back Chris Park ripped off 118 yards on eight carries to set up some scores.
Nicholson was five of six on PAT kicks and freshman Carver Gilman had plenty of leg on a 39-yard field goal in the third quarter.
“We have some weapons,” Whitefish coach Chad Ross said.
“We did a good job of spreading the ball around.”
Ross said this was the most physical game his squad has played since the Dillon contest back on Sept. 4.
“They hit hard,” he said of Columbia Falls.
“It made for a good game.
“Their turnovers hurt them,” he added.
“We capitalized on them.
“Our front seven played lights out.
“This put us in great position to win the conference,” he continued.
“It was a rivalry game and all that stuff. It was a good game.”
Whitefish continues with league play on Friday at home with Frenchtown.
Columbia Falls stays home to entertain Polson the same night in another Northwestern A matchup.
“We feel like we will get the ship righted,” Schweikert said.
“We feel like we’re a playoff team. We’re a young team getting better and better. Every game is experience for us and that’s what we need.”
Whitefish 3 34 3 7 — 47
C. Falls 0 0 0 7 — 7
W—Haley Nicholson 32 field goal
W—Tyler Cote 8 pass from Luke May (Nicholson kick)
W—May 8 run (Nicholson kick)
W—Jed Nagler 20 pass from May (kick blocked)
W—May 1 run (Nicholson kick)
W—Cote 46 pass from May (Nicholson kick)
W—Carver Gilman 39 field goal
CF—Bryce Fagerland 68 interception return (Brandon Karberg kick)
W—Cote 68 run (Nicholson kick)