C-Falls looks to score first state football title

COLUMBIA FALLS — The Columbia Falls football team was trying to prove something the first time it faced Dillon. Now it’s trying to win the first state championship in school history.

The Wildcats (10-1) take on Dillon (9-1) today at 1 p.m. at Satterthwaite Field in the Class A state championship game. It is the second time Columbia Falls will host the Beavers this season, winning 28-21 on home soil on Sept. 30.

Columbia Falls started slow in that game, giving up a few early turnovers that put it down 14-0. The Wildcats answered with a fury, scoring 21 points in the second quarter to tie the game at half, then taking the lead for good after halftime while its defense limited Dillon to a handful of yards in the final three quarters.

“It was a good high school football game for sure,” Columbia Falls coach Jackson Schweikert said.

“They had the lead early and we fought back and played good defense for the second half.”

The big play was Braxton Reiten’s 87-yard kickoff return in the second quarter for Columbia Falls. That narrowed the Dillon lead to 21-14.

Reiten has returned three kickoffs for touchdowns this season.

“When that happened, a lot of momentum shifted our way,” Schweikert said.

“We’ve always said to our kids if you have a punt blocked, give up a kickoff return, your chances for winning go down dramatically. If you block a punt, return a kickoff, your chances go up dramatically.”

While the team is composed differently for this matchup, the results haven’t wavered for the record-setting Wildcats.

Columbia Falls has rolled to three straight victories in the playoffs, destroying wildcard Corvallis before running away with contests against Eastern champion Sidney 35-20 and Central champion Belgrade 38-7.

All the while, the Wildcats continue to torch defenses, led by quarterback Dakota Bridwell, who has thrown for 3,650 yards and completed nearly 62 percent of his passes. His 47 touchdown passes this season are an all-class state record. He has thrown for 15 touchdowns and run for one in the Wildcats’ three playoff games.

His targets have flourished as well, with senior receiver Reiten hauling in a state best 69 catches and 1,263 receiving yards, both school records. His 22 touchdowns this season far surpass the state record and put him near the top of the career marks for receiving touchdowns, set at 26 in 2014 by Wildcats receiver Ty Morgan.

Trevor Hoerner, a University of Montana commit, is averaging more than 15 yards per catch this season and has hauled in seven touchdowns. Sean Miller has hauled in eight touchdowns this year as another weapon on the outside. Since losing bruising running back Logan Kolodejchuk to injury late in the year, the Wildcats have turned to a committee for rushing yards, with Seth Gosset and Wyatt Green leading the charge.

The game is only the second state title game in school history for Columbia Falls, hosting Havre in a loss in 1970.

“I think they have improved as the year went along and I think we have improved,” Schweikert said. “If we are able to run the ball this time around against them, we’ll win the game.”

Schweikert said Dillon blew up the Columbia Falls ground game in the first meeting by blitzing 40 times in the first 60 plays.

“We were shocked at that,” he said.

“They are not a blitzing team. They caught us off guard.

“They didn’t hurt us bad in the pass game,” he continued.

“They blew up our run game. We’re ready (this time), much more prepared for getting the blitz and still being able to run the ball.”

The Beavers travel to the Flathead for the second straight season looking for a state title, their sixth consecutive championship game. Last season, Dillon lost at Whitefish 17-13 after winning the previous two state titles. Dillon has won seven state championships and played in 10 title games since 2000.

Dillon got to the state championship game by beating Eastern power Billings Central 33-14.

Beavers quarterback Troy Andersen, a Montana State commit, still carries the bulk of the offense, rushing for a team-high 145 yards and four touchdowns in the win last week. He was 8 of 9 passing for 88 yards in the run-heavy game. He has a team-best 777 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns this season and has tossed for 1,273 yards and 10 touchdowns with seven interceptions.

Graden Greenslade added 116 rushing yards for Dillon last week and the Beavers saw big performances from senior back R.J. Fitzgerald and senior receiver Gabe Hupp in the first contest.

This marks Schweikert’s fifth season as head coach. His Wildcats have advanced to postseason play every year. They reached the semifinals twice in the last four years.

“We feel we match up good with them,” Schweikert said.

“They are well coached, have good players and are a good team. They are use to winning, have tradition.”