AA football: Braves stalled in Bozeman
BOZEMAN — For the first time all night, the Braves offense had found its footing.
Trailing 7-0, Flathead used the first possession after halftime to seamlessly mix run, pass and wildcat option to drive deep into Bozeman territory. When the drive stalled inside the Hawks’ 10-yard line, the Braves brought out their field goal unit to cut into the lead and build much-needed momentum for the final two quarters.
But when Flathead set up to kick, a hole opened in the middle of the Braves line and Payton O’Reilly came screaming through it. Justin Gardner’s boot had nowhere to go but into O’Reilly’s belly, and the Bozeman senior ran it back 92 yards for a backbreaking touchdown to help the Hawks blank Flathead, 23-0 Friday night.
“It was a game-changer,” Flathead coach Kyle Samson said of the botched field goal and long return. “It was a huge momentum swing after we had a great drive. I’ll have to look at the tape to see exactly what happened.”
Bozeman (4-1) muscled its way to the victory by controlling the running game, battering the Braves with a two-headed ground attack and completely shutting down Flathead’s usually stout rushers.
Flathead came in averaging 210 yards per game on the ground and 5.2 yards per carry, both among the best in Class AA. Friday, the Braves managed only 12 yards on the ground in the first half and 72 in the game on 33 attempts.
“I don’t think they overmatched us by any means, but they did a good job running the ball and they held us pretty good against the run,” Samson said. “(Running the ball) is what we do best and we didn’t do it well tonight.”
The Braves (3-2) came into the game as the third-highest scoring team in the state at 33.8 points per game, but failed to score for the first time since being blanked 52-0 by Great Falls C.M. Russell on Sept. 28, 2013.
After a scoreless first quarter, senior running back Balue Chapman got the hosts on the board on the second quarter’s first play, taking a toss and driving across the goal line from three yards out.
On the first Flathead possession after O’Reilly’s long return, Flathead quarterback Bridger Johnson fumbled and the Hawks converted the Braves’ only turnover into a 31-yard Connor Coles field goal.
Trace Bradshaw — the other half of Bozeman’s running back tandem — rounded out the scoring with a three-yard touchdown run of his own early in the fourth quarter.
“I give our kids credit, we played our butts off and we played really hard,” Samson said. “They’re a good football team and we made some mistakes tonight you can’t make against good football teams.”
Flathead actually out-gained the Hawks 241-224 yards and had four more first downs (15) than their opponent. Bozeman threw the ball only seven times, completing four passes for 65 yards.
Johnson faced heavy pressure from the Bozeman blitz but was still an efficient 18-for-28 passing for 169 yards. He did not throw an interception for the third time in five games as a starter.
“I thought (Johnson) played well,” Samson said. “He took some hits but made some good throws and some good checks. He’s getting better and better every week and it’s nice to see that.”
Flathead hits the road again next week to take on winless Missoula Hellgate at 7 p.m. The Knights were drubbed 77-8 by Glacier on Friday.
Flathead 0 0 0 0 — 0
Bozeman 0 7 10 6 — 23
Second quarter
BOZ — Balue Chapman 3 run (Connor Coles kick), 11:56
Third quarter
BOZ — Payton O’Reilly 92 blocked FG return (Coles kick), 6:45
BOZ — Coles 31 field goal, 3:42
Fourth quarter
BOZ — Trace Bradshaw 3 run (kick failed), 11:30
——————
FLA BOZ
First downs 15 11
Rushes-yards 33-72 31-159
Passing yards 169 65
Comp-Att-Int 18-28-0 4-7-0
Punts-avg 5-39.2 4-36.3
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-52 3-41