Quick scores lift Braves over Butte

BIGFORK — Early in the third quarter, Taylor Morton raced down the sideline with his fist raised high to celebrate with wideout AJ Jones after a score.

Moments later, running back Jon Baker followed in Morton’s footsteps, tightroping the sideline on his way to another score.

The flurry of scoring early in the second half proved to be the difference, as Flathead held on to beat Butte 27-19 on Thursday night at Bigfork High School in the Class AA football season opener for both teams.

“We talked about it all week, about coming out of the locker room in that second half fast,” Flathead head coach Kyle Samson said. “We score, and then our defense gets a big turnover and we score again. We fed off each other.”

Morton, making his first varsity start, overcame a few hiccups to complete 14 of 20 passes for 180 and two touchdowns.

Jones was on the receiving end of both scores, one with seconds left in the first half and the other early in the third quarter.

Jaden MacNeil intercepted a Butte pass on its ensuing drive, setting up Baker’s run that provided the winning margin.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Morton tossed a pair of interceptions and fumbled in the second half when the ball slipped out of his hand during his throwing motion, but he piloted the offense to 398 total yards and 27 points, and that was plenty for Samson.

“He never gave up, didn’t hang his head,” the fourth-year coach said. “He led us to that win. He’s just going to keep getting better and better. ... I thought his positives definitely outweighed anything (wrong) he did. I’m definitely so proud of No. 5.”

Morton received plenty of help from his two counterparts in the backfield, Baker and Blake Counts, who rushed for 122 and 85 yards, respectively.

When the offense faltered, the defense was there to pick it up.

The Braves (1-0) held Butte to 265 yards, including just 70 on the ground.

The Bulldogs (0-1) marched down the field on a 16-play, 68-yard touchdown drive to open the game. After that, the Flathead defense allowed only one more touchdown, which came on the first play after Morton’s fumble.

“Our offense couldn’t get rolling in that second half, but our defense, they stepped up and did a great job stopping Butte’s offense,” Morton said.

At no time was that more important than in the final two minutes, when Butte had the ball with a chance to tie.

After three straight completions to open the drive, Bulldog quarterback Tommy Mellott dropped back to fire again.

He didn’t get the chance.

Defensive end Patrick Hammond came flying off the edge and laid a big hit on Mellott that jarred the ball loose.

Fellow defensive end Andrew Siderius was there to scoop it up and seal the game for the Braves.

“Early on, I thought our defense wasn’t as good as we could have been,” Samson said. “Our offense did a great job responding. I thought the defense did a heck of a job in the second half shutting them down.”

There were ups and downs for the Braves, inconsistency that is often seen in season openers. At the end of the day, though, Samson recognized the importance of starting the 2017 season with a win, no matter how it looked.

“It’s only one game, but it’s a huge one,” he said. “We always want to win that first game. I think it gives us confidence. There’s definitely a lot of things we need to work on, but it’s always nice to work on those things after you win.”

With the first step out of the way, Flathead now has its eyes set on bigger goals, namely making a run for the playoffs after missing them in 2016.

“Our hard work paid off in the offseason,” defensive back Trae Vasquez said. “Seeing that scoreboard in favor of the Braves is just awesome. We’ve been all waiting for this moment, especially after last season. We did get the win tonight, but we’re still hungry.”

Butte 6 6 7 0 — 19

Flathead 7 7 13 0 — 27

1st quarter

BHS -- Bo Mortenson 2 run (Tommy Mellott run fail), 6:50

FHS -- Austin Demars 5 pass from Taylor Morton (Alex Coulter kick), 1:04

2nd quarter

BHS -- Nate Ferguson 30 field goal, 10:29

BHS -- Ferguson 23 field goal, 4:44

FHS -- AJ Jones 6 pass from Morton (Coulter kick), 0:20

3rd quarter

FHS -- Jones 26 pass from Morton (Coulter kick), 8:10

FHS -- Jon Baker 24 run (Coulter kick fail), 5:42

BHS -- Ferguson 24 pass from Mellott (Ferguson kick), 2:16

Team

Butte Flathead

Rushing 69 218

Passing 16-31-1 14-20-2

Passing Yards 195 180

Total Offense 264 398

Fumbles 2-2 1-1

Penalties 5-32 11-72

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — Butte, Bo Mortenson 13-33, Tommy Mellott 7-36, Ty Peterson 1-0. Flathead, Blake Counts 23-122, Jon Baker 12-85, Jaden MacNeil 2-12, Taylor Morton 7-(-1).

PASSING — Butte, Tommy Mellott 16-29-1-195, Ty Peterson 0-2-0-0. Flathead, Tyler Morton 14-20-2-180.

RECEIVING — Butte, Nate Ferguson 3-101, Kash Kelly 4-44, Kaden Hanni 4-24, Bo Mortenson 1-18, Brady Deck 2-28, Josh Neil 1-0, Kody Keene 1-(-2). Flathead, Austin Demars 3-17, Blake Counts 3-41, Kaden Wills 2-30, AJ Jones 3-65, Bobby Lowry 1-8, Jon Baker 2-19.