TERRY COLUMN: Lions restoring their roar
A lot has changed in a year.
In the last game of the season in 2015, Eureka had a chance to make the playoffs and win District 7B with a victory. Hobbled and beat up, the Lions would need to beat Bigfork and get some help from other teams in the conference, but there was a chance.
Then, after leading 14-7 at half, Eureka fell victim to a trick play and Bigfork pulled away for 25 unanswered points in the final 24 minutes. A week later, Bigfork secured its sixth straight trip to the playoffs and kept Eureka home in the postseason for the first time since 2006.
Fast forward to this weekend and a similar opportunity presents itself, except this time with even more at stake.
Both teams are playing in their last game of the season and have already clinched a spot in the playoffs. The winner will take the 7B conference championship and a home game in the playoffs. The loser will have to travel to a treacherous matchup with one of the toughest teams in the state. The game is scheduled to kick at 7 p.m. on Friday in Eureka.
“The kids are extremely excited about this weekend,” Eureka coach Trevor Utter said. “We had hoped to put ourselves in the position to be in a true conference championship game.
“We’re playing for home-field advantage and a better draw in the playoffs. The kids are excited about it. They’ve worked hard and they’ve got themselves a good opportunity right now.”
The mood around Eureka is far different from the last few seasons. The Lions won only three games in each of the last two years, and while their playoff streak held firm until last season, it was tenuous at best.
This season Eureka is off to a 6-1 start, the best since a semifinal run in 2008, and a winning confidence has returned to the Lions. Fully healthy and led by a dozen seniors, there is a belief that for the first time in seven years the Lions can beat Bigfork and win the conference again.
“These kids kind of know this is an opportunity that they aren’t going to get back, so, they’re very focused on their goals,” Utter said.
“That senior leadership, there’s something about being a senior and knowing this is it. You don’t get another opportunity at this.”
For a former Eureka star that went on to play for the national champion Montana Grizzlies, getting the Lions back to prominence has been fun for Utter.
“It’s been a fun year,” Utter said. “I wouldn’t say the stress level is less because the expectations are high. When the expectations are high I think the stress level is the same.
“But, the enjoyment of the season — let’s face it, winning games is more fun than losing —being 6-1 instead of 2-3 or 3-3 is a great feeling and it’s very exciting to be a part of. It’s definitely an honor and a privilege to be able to coach these kids.”
Bigfork, on the other hand, has been here before. The Vikings have controlled the conference for the better part of the eight years they’ve been in Class B, missing the playoffs in their first year only to win the state championship the next and run off five straight conference titles.
The Vikings lost that title last year, losing to Thompson Falls by a touchdown in what turned out to be the deciding game.
In that time, Bigfork has only lost to Eureka once, a 62-26 loss in the Vikings first season in the conference. All of the Vikings wins have come by at least two touchdowns, many by much more.
That record isn’t lost on the Eureka staff, which knows that in order to get where it wants to be, it most likely has to go through Bigfork to get it.
“We are so anxious to get over that hump,” Utter said. “This is my fifth year of coaching and we have not beat Bigfork. They have beat us every year and most of the time they’ve been the conference champion. For us to try to get over that hump and win the conference is a goal of ours. Being in the playoffs is great, but we’re not content with being in the playoffs. We want the conference championship as well. The kids are very focused on that this week.”
The difference in a win or a loss is steep this time out. A win earns a host game against the second-place team from the 2B, likely a Malta or Glasgow team that has to make a 8-hour drive through a snowy mountain pass after a disappointing loss to its chief rival the week before. A loss earns a trip to the 1B champion, either Fairfield, the defending state champions, or a likely-undefeated Shelby, a team that handed Eureka its only loss this year.
“We’re tacking on a 4 1/2-, 5-hour trip to travel to Fairfield. Let’s face it, that’s a challenge,” Utter said. “They’re a great team. All playoff teams are good.”
“Hosting playoff games instead of traveling is huge. Getting a No. 1 seed to where you can host more than one playoff game is huge as well. Getting a No. 1 seed is definitely a big goal of ours. We understand what’s at stake here. So does Bigfork. It’s going to be a battle.”