Braves crush Helena Capital, 37-9
Flathead quarterback Jaden MacNeil looks for running room against Helena Capital at Legends Stadium on Friday night. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead running back Blake Counts lowers his shoulder into Helena Capital linebacker Zane McCormick at Legends Stadium on Friday night. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead rode another big offensive effort and relied on strong defensive play to pound Helena Capital 37-9 at Legends Stadium on Friday evening in Class AA football action.
Flathead (2-0) led 16-6 at the half and outscored the Bruins 21-3 in the second half.
“A great performance,” Flathead coach Kyle Samson said.
“I am real proud of our guys. They did a tremendous job. (Quarterback) Jaden (MacNeil) had a great game all-around.”
MacNeil was 8 of 17 passing for 75 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for 133 yards on 17 attempts. He had two 1-yard touchdown runs, passed 29 yards to Blake Counts for a score and hauled in a 5-yard TD pass from Logan Siblerud.
Eric Gardner booted a 33-yard field goal in the first quarter and Counts ended the scoring with a 23-yard TD burst in the fourth quarter.
Counts, who had 247 yards rushing last week at Butte, had 193 against Capital on 24 carries.
“Our wide receivers did a good job of blocking tonight and making big plays in the passing game on third down,” Samson said.
“It was a great win for our program against a program we have not beaten the last five times. This will give us a lot of confidence going forward.”
Flathead hosts Billings West on Friday at 4 p.m.
Helena Capital 0 6 3 0 — 9
Flathead 10 6 7 14 — 37
F — Jaden MacNeil 1 run (Anthony Jones kick)
F — Eric Gardner 33 field goal
F — MacNeil 5 pass from Logan Siblerud (kick blocked)
C — Brennan Casey 2 run (kick failed)
F — MacNeil 1 run (Gardner kick)
C — Brian Buschini 35 field goal
F — Blake Counts 29 pass from MacNeil (Gardner kick)
F — Counts 23 run (Gardner kick)
Team Statistics
HC F
Rushing-yards 22-92 52-380
Passing yards 62 80
Interceptions 0 0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Punts 6-232 0-0
Penalties 11-106 5-25
Individual Statistics
RUSHING — Capital, Bridger Grovom 8-81, Brennan Casey 10-35; Flathead, Blake Counts 24-193, JadenMacNeil 17-133.
PASSING — Capital, Dawson Ziegler 2-4 37-0; Grovom 6-14 25-0; Flathead, MacNeil 8-17 75-1.
RECEIVING — Capital, Brady Martin 3-12, Cy Millr 2-37, Kaelan Casey 2-11; Flathead, Anthony Jones 4-24.