Class B football playoffs: Eureka slams Shelby
EUREKA — Blemish repaired.
Eureka avenged its only loss of the football season on a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon by crushing Shelby 43-8 in quarterfinal Class B playoff action in Eureka.
Garrett Graves passed for two touchdowns, was on the receiving end of one and ran 1 yard for another as the Lions controlled play on both sides of the ball.
“It was a dominant victory,” Eureka coach Trevor Utter said.
“We were up 28-0 at the half. Our kids came out and put it on them from the get-go.”
Shelby and Eureka met back on Sept. 9, the third weekend of the regular season, in Missoula at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Shelby prevailed in that one 28-18.
Eureka has won seven straight since then.
“I didn’t figure we would shut them down to the degree we did,” Utter said.
“We knew we had a good shot of beating these guys, figured it would be a battle. Our defense did an amazing job of shutting them down. That was very impressive.”
Shelby finally put some points in the scoreboard with just over six minutes to play.
Eureka (9-1) had 403 (153 passing and 250 rushing) yards of total offense to 189 (120 and 69) for Shelby (7-3). The Lions averaged 7.1 yards per play to 3.7 for Shelby.
Graves completed 8 of 11 passes for 121 yards. He teamed up with James Dunn on scoring strikes of 8 and 7 yards.
Brenton Pluid connected with Graves for a 32-yard scoring pass in the third quarter.
The one-two punch of Matt Anderson and Cannan Smith combined for 157 rushing yards. Anderson had 85 on 14 attempts and Smith totaled 72 on 15 carries. Both ran for scores.
Graves added 58 yards on 10 rushes.
Austyn Sherwood had two receptions for 37 yards for Eureka.
Shelby quarterback Aaron White was 16 of 25 passing for 120 yards. He also rushed for 21 yards on 10 attempts.
Zach Torgerson had 38 yards on 10 carries for Shelby.
“An amazing game,” Utter said of Graves.
“That’s a pretty good game right there (figuring in fourth touchdowns). His interception down by the goal line in the second quarter was huge. That stopped a score.”
Shelby was at the Eureka 4-yard line when it turned the ball over.
Pluid also had an interception for Eureka.
Eureka will continue its postseason home playoff streak on Saturday, hosting Whitehall/Harrison (10-1) in a semifinal contest. Whitehall won at Ronan on Saturday.
Eureka’s last semifinal appearance was in 2008, a loss at Huntley Project.
In the other semifinal on Saturday, Fairfield plays at Missoula Loyola. That winner will also host the state championship game on Nov. 19.
Shelby 0 0 0 8 — 8
Eureka 14 14 15 0 — 43
First Quarter
E—Cannan Smith 17 run (run failed), 8:35
E—James Dunn 8 pass from Garrett Graves (Austyn Sherwood pass from Graves), 4:59
Second Quarter
E—Dunn 7 pass from Graves (run failed), 11:52
E—Graves 1 run (Jake Kindel run), 2:43
Third Quarter
E—Graves 32 pass from Brenton Pluid (pass failed), 10:07
E—Safety (Isaac Sturdevant tackle), n/a
E—Matt Anderson 1 run (Jacob Nowakowski kick), 1:45
Fourth Quarter
S—Zach Torgerson 3 run (Briton Bunnell pass from Aaron White), 6:09
Shelby Eureka
First Downs 14 20
Total yards 189 403
Rushes-Yds 26-69 45-250
Passing Yds 120 153
Comp-Att-Int 16-25-1 9-12-0
Punts-Avg 4-31.5 3-33.7
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds 1-5 9-77
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Shelby, Zach Torgerson 10-38, Aaron White 10-21, Wyatt Brusven 3-20, Damon Irvin 1-(-1), Colte Pederson 2-(-9). Eureka, Matt Anderson 14-85, Cannan Smith 15-72, Garrett Graves 10-58, Brenton Pluid 3-33, Jake Kindel 1-4, Chet McCully 2-(-2).
PASSING—Shelby, Aaron White 16-25-1-120. Eureka, Garrett Graves 8-11-0-121.
RECEIVING—Shelby, David Kelleher 2-34, Andrew Johnson 3-33, Logan Watson 5-26, Zach Torgerson 5-21, Briton Bunnel 1-6. Eureka, Jacob Nowakowski 1-38, Austyn Sherwood 2-37, Garrett Graves 1-32, Jmes Dunn 2-15, Matt Anderson 1-14, Cannan Smith 1-10, Quade Anderson 1-7.
At Ronan
Whitehall 14 14 0 12 — 40
Ronan 0 14 12 0 — 26
First Quarter
W — Wyatt Alexander 25 pass from Braden Larsen (kick failed)
W — Andrew Simon 29 pass from Larsen (Alexander from Larsen)
Second Quarter
W — Alexander 27 pass from Larsen (Simon kick)
W — Braden Smith 19 pass from Larsen (Simon kick)
R — 26 pass (kick failed)
R — 22 run (run)
Third Quarter
R — QB 1 run (kick failed)
R — 32 pass (run failed)
Fourth Quarter
W — Lane Buus 25 pass from Larsen (kick failed)
W — Simon 23 pass from Larsen (pass failed)
Other Quarterfinal Games Saturday
At Manhattan
Fairfield 19 12 14 3 — 48
Manhattan 20 3 7 0 — 30
First Quarter
F – Ryder Meyer 82 kickoff return (Cantor Coverdell kick), 11:42
M – Cole McCloud 5 pass from Kobe Grossman (Alpacan Oeztas kick), 10:03
F – Luke Batson 64 run (kick blocked), 9:42
F – Coverdell 28 pass from Batson (run failed), 7:22
M – McCloud 4 pass from Grossman (Oeztas kick), 3:41
M – McCloud 6 pass from Grossman (run failed), :46.4
Second Quarter
F – Batson 50 interception (run failed), 11:42
F – Batson 60 run (pass failed), 7:32
M – Oeztas 20 FG, :15
Third Quarter
F – Griffen Lee 3 run (Coverdell kick), 7:45
M – Michael Nehring 78 pass from Grossman (Oeztas kick), 7:24
F – Batson 3 run (Coverdell kick), 2:11
Fourth Quarter
F – Coverdell 25 FG, 9:41
At Missoula
Colstrip 7 7 7 14 — 35
Loyola 7 19 8 16 — 50
L — Joaquin Trevelline 4 run (Jacob Byrne kick)
C — Ben Galloway 1 run (Cody Blaede kick)
L — Kellen Round 10 run (kick failed)
C — Chadd Naillon 50 pass from Joel McRae (Blaede kick)
L — Cooper Waters 36 pass from Round (Byrne kick)
L — Brady Needles 10 run (run failed)
C — Brady Hanson 4 run (Blaede kick)
L — Needles 6 run (Jackson Maricelli pass from Round)
C —Naillon 64 pass from McRae (Blaede kick)
L — Round 1 run (pass failed)
C — Naillon 77 pass from McRae (Blaede kick)
L — David Koppang 38 pass from Round (Byrne kick)
L — Byrne 30 field goal