FOOTBALL: Whitefish's Luke May named MVP in Shrine Game rout

BUTTE — Luke May threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in his final prep football game, leading the West team to a 45-14 victory at the 70th Montana East-West Shrine Game on Saturday night at Alumni Coliseum on the campus of Montana Tech University.

The Whitefish quarterback was named the overall MVP of the annual all-star senior showcase, one of a handful of Northwest players that helped the West team in the rout.

May started quickly, leading the West to a touchdown on its first drive, finding Dillon receiver Nate Simkins leaking out in the flat for an easy 5-yard walk into the end zone and a 6-0 lead.

The East struggled moving the ball against a tough defensive front from the West, but got a gift on defense to get on the board. On the West’s second offensive possession, backed up to its own 5-yard line, a lateral pass from May to Simkins was dropped and ruled to have been backwards as Billings Senior’s Ed Baker fell on the ball in the end zone to score a touchdown, eventually giving the East a 7-6 lead.

May and the West took back the lead early in the second quarter, edging to the goal line with a 20-yard pass to Glacier’s Caleb Jones. Two plays later May punched in his first running touchdown of the game to put the West back ahead 12-7.

The East answered on its next possession with the highlight of its night. After meager production through seven plays of a drive, Billings Senior receiver Tyger Frye got behind the defense for 24 yards and on the next play, Senior running back Sam Sparks burst through the line of scrimmage only to bounce off one tackle and spin off another before sprinting to the corner of the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown and a 14-12 lead with 4:56 in the half.

After a pair of three-and-outs, the West got the ball back at its own 5-yard line with two minutes to play.

It didn’t need that much time.

Glacier quarterback Leif Ericksen found Simkins for 18 yards to get some breathing room, only to find Simkins again on the next play on a hitch to the flat, the Dillon receiver evading two tacklers on a curl to the sideline then sprinting 74 yards for a touchdown with only 42 seconds ticking off the clock.

The West got one more opportunity to score before half, taking advantage of the first of two bad punt snaps from the East to get possession in the red zone with 20 seconds to play, but a Ericksen interception ended the rush.

Back in at quarterback to start the third quarter, May drove the West inside the 10-yard line again, but the team missed a field goal from 27 yards out.

Ericksen drove the West to the 6-yard line on its next possession, at one point stealing a fumble away from an East defender, and May ran in his second touchdown for a 25-14 lead.

The East’s next possession ended with another high long snap on a punt, but with worse field position, this one rolled into the end zone for the West to fall on.

The East went three-and-out on its next possession and after a quick first down, Ericksen handed off to teammate Thomas Trefney, who ripped a seam up the middle of the defense for 45 yards and a touchdown. May capped the scoring the next time the West got the ball back, finding Twin Bridges’ Tracen Eggers for an 18-yard touchdown and 33 unanswered points.

Missoula Sentinel’s Alec Steele ended any hope of an East comeback, hauling in an interception to end the East’s final drive.

Simkins was named the West’s offensive MVP and Boulder’s Trase Letexier the defensive MVP. Billings Central’s Jacob Hadley was named the East offensive MVP and Fairfield’s Joel Beck the defensive MVP.

Ericksen, headed to play football at Whitworth University in Spokane, led the West in passing, going 11 for 15 for 204 yards. Trefney, headed to Carroll, had nine carries for 69 yards and Jones, also going to Whitworth, had six catches for 72 yards.

May, likely playing his last competitive game of football after committing to the University of Minnesota to throw the javelin, ran 16 times for 49 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Simkins had a team-high 108 yards receiving and five catches for the West. He will stay in Dillon in the fall to play for Montana Western.

Hadley, a Montana State signee, had seven catches for 124 yards and Sparks 20 rushes for 113 yards to lead the East.

This is the West’s first win since 2014, when Columbia Falls’ Jared Trinastich was named MVP. The East still leads the all-time series 38-32.

East 7 7 0 0 — 14

West 6 13 13 13 — 45

Scoring

W – Luke May 5 pass to Nate Simkins, kick blocked

E – Ed Baker fumble recovery in end zone, Ben Hardy kick

W – May 1 run, pass fail

E – Sam Sparks 37 run, Hardy kick

W – Leif Ericksen 74 pass to Simkins, Jered Padmos kick

W – May 6 run, kick blocked

W – Trase LeTexier fumble recovery in end zone, Padmos kick

W – Thomas Trefney 45 run, kick blocked

W – May 18 pass to Tracen Eggers, Padmos kick

Passing – East: Tanner Mayer 11-21-1-121; West: Leif Ericksen 11-15-2-204

Rushing - East: Sam Sparks 20-113, Conner Bokma 7-22; West: Thomas Trefney 9-69, Luke May 16-49.

Receiving – East: Jacob Hadley 7-124, Tyger Fyre 7-60; West: Nate Simkins 5-108, Caleb Jones 6-72.