Eureka hammers Manhattan
EUREKA — Eureka stormed over Manhattan 36-0 on Saturday afternoon to advance to the Class B football semifinals.
Lions senior quarterback Garrett Graves set the tone early, breaking free for a 48-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Graves ran for three first-half touchdowns in the rout and was 15 of 25 for 230 yards passing with 77 yards rushing in the game, also hauling in a pair of interceptions on defense.
Hank Dunn brought in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Graves early in the second half and the Lions capped the scoring in the fourth quarter, earning a safety after a Manhattan punt snap went out of the end zone then handing off to Chet McCully for a 5-yard score.
McCully had a game-high 88 yards rushing and Dunn caught three passes for 72 yards. Senior Brenton Pluid also had a pair of interceptions as the Lions defense forced five turnovers in the win.
“Our defense was phenomenal,” Eureka coach Trevor Utter said. “They held them to 109 yards and didn’t give up a score. There was a few drives where they started to move the ball and we had two huge interceptions in the red zone. Our defense, to pitch a shutout against a team that powerful is impressive.
“Offensively, we were probably slowed down a little bit because of footing, but for the most part to score 36 points in conditions like this, I’m pretty happy about that.”
Eureka will host Class B powerhouse Fairfield next week in a semifinal matchup of the last two state champions. Fairfield beat Huntley Project 36-21 on Saturday to advance.
“That will be a challenge for sure,” Utter said. “That will be the toughest game of our year. We’re excited for the challenge.”
Manhattan 0 0 0 0 — 0
Eureka 13 7 7 9 — 36
First Quarter
E — Garrett Graves 48 run (Simon Granberg kick), 9:07
E — Graves 1 run (kick failed), 1:15
Second Quarter
E — Graves 12 run (Granberg kick), 7:13
Third Quarter
E — Hank Dunn 20 pass from Graves (Granberg kick), 6:17
Fourth Quarter
E — Manhattan safety, 10:31
E — Chet McCully 5 run (Granberg kick), 4:55
Saturday’s Other Scores
Fairfield 36, Huntley Project 21
Huntley Project 0 7 6 8 — 21
Fairfield 14 15 0 7 — 36
First Quarter
F – Ethan Schenk 18 pass from Ryder Meyer (Keeley Bake kick), 6:38
F – Griffen Lee 1 run (Bake kick), 2:55
Second Quarter
F – Dawson Allen 38 run (Meyer run), 6:03
HP – Tylan Croy 1 run (Croy kick), 2:54
F – Meyer 3 run (Bake kick), :10
Third Quarter
HP – Keenan Reynolds 13 pass from Croy (pass failed), 6:17
Fourth Quarter
HP – Lane Sumner 50 run (Sumner run), 4:41
F – Kolbe Pitcher 35 interception return (Bake kick), 1:05
Missoula Loyola 27, Colstrip 18
Loyola 7 14 0 6 — 27
Colstrip 6 6 6 0 — 18
First Quarter
L — Ryan Tirrell 1 run (Austin Ogilvie kick good), 9:47
C — Chadd Naillon 99 run (two-point failed), 0:31
Second Quarter
L — David Koppang 10 pass from Scotty Twite (Ogilvie kick good), 10:37
C — Naillon 3 run (two-point failed), 5:33
L — Cooper Waters 6 pass from Twite (Ogilvie kick good), 1.9 forced to punt from end zone and they botched snap; bobbled snap and tried to run and sacked
Third Quarter
C — Naillon 70 run (two-point failed), 11:41
Fourth Quarter
L — Waters 25 pass from Twite (Ogilvie kick failed), 7:30
Shelby 16, Whitehall 13
Shelby 0 6 0 10 — 16
Whitehall 7 0 6 0 — 13
First Quarter
W – Sawyer Keener 2 run (Brandon Gipson kick)
Second Quarter
S – Wyatt Brusven 9 pass from Damon Irvin (kick failed)
Third Quarter
W – Max Feight 1 run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
S – Aaron White 4 run (Brusven kick)
S – Brusven 32 FG