TERRY COLUMN: Flathead Braves building a winner

Flathead has been in this position before.

The Braves, who have put up some impressive performances to start the football season 3-1, are starting to build momentum again. They enter Friday facing one of the weekend’s biggest games in Class AA, a showdown at Bozeman (3-1), a team with as much recent success as nearly any team in the state.

Flathead hasn’t had a start like this in 10 seasons, last posting a 3-1 record in 2006, Brock Osweiler’s sophomore year and the last before Kalispell opened a second high school.

On their long road back to title contention, the Braves have had early season success before. The trouble has been sustaining it over the full season.

Last season, the Braves won two of their first three, then didn’t get their third win until Week 8. It was a 2-2 start in 2013 that ended the same way.

In 2011, its last trip to the playoffs, Flathead began the year 3-2, but a poor final half of the regular season left the Braves with the eighth seed in the playoffs and an eight-hour drive to Billings to face top-seeded Billings West.

That trip to Billings is how the last four postseasons have ended for the Braves dating back to the semifinals in 2006.

The game this week in Bozeman can go a long way to ensuring another trip to the playoffs, and with a win, at least one home playoff game.

The Braves have been one of the more impressive teams in Class AA this season, opening with a road win at Great Falls C.M. Russell (3-1) and building up the third-best scoring offense in the state.

Bozeman has been equally impressive, riding its stable of backs to the best offensive output of the young season and holding opponents to 10 points per game.

Friday’s contest, along with a game between undefeated Billings Senior (4-0) and Helena Capital (3-1), should help clarify which teams belong in the conversation for the state title this season.

For its part, Flathead isn’t shying away from those expectations.

“Our expectations for us, in our program, haven’t changed,” Braves coach Kyle Samson said.

“We always want to have high expectations. But now I don’t think we’re going to sneak up on anybody. I know it sounds like coach-speak but we really want to take it week-by-week. Our kids have done a really great job of that. They’ve re-focused each week and I think it’s really showed in how much we’ve improved throughout the season so far.”

Samson, who personally ended Flathead’s run in the semifinals on his run to the state championship as a senior at Helena Capital in 2002, understands that a fast start to the season doesn’t necessarily translate into long-term success.

“No 3-1 team has ever done anything special,” Samson said. “There’s 10 games left in the season and we’re never going to do anything special without keeping winning.”

Bozeman remains one of the toughest teams left on the schedule for Flathead, along with games against Capital and Glacier. A win would likely put the Braves in position for a top-four finish and a home playoff game, if not proclaim they are “back” in contention for a state title.

“It would be a big road win,” Samson said.

“One game is one game, but at the same time for our program to go down there and compete against a very tough team like Bozeman at their place — it’s always tough to win on the road in the AA.”

For the first time in a long time, the spotlight is back on Flathead football.

They’ve been in this position before too. For many in Kalispell, it’s a welcome sight.

Joseph Terry is a sports reporter and columnist at the Daily Inter Lake. He can be contacted by phone at (406) 758-4463 or by email at jterry@dailyinterlake.com.