Flathead falls to Hellgate 29-28

The Flathead Braves engaged the Hellgate Knights in a back and forth battle Friday night at Legends Stadium, with the Knights coming out on top 29-28 on a Leo Filardi 32-yard field goal as time expired.

The Knights overcame a penalty-ridden first half to take a 12-0 lead into halftime. Alden Hellum had a 53 yard touchdown run to start the scoring.

Some trickery led to a 59-yard touchdown run by Knights punter Parker Link, when Hellgate lined up to punt and Link sprinted down the Hellgate sidelines to the end zone.

Flathead's defense picked up the stop to start the second half and a Brody Thornsberry punt return set the Braves up at mid-field.

Gabe Lake rushed for a first down but the Knights defense prevailed once again. Special teams came up big for the Braves with Nate Skonard booting a punt that landed at the Hellgate 5-yard line and rolled to the one yard line forcing the Knights to go the entire length of the field.

The Braves defense capitalized when Hellgate tried a screen pass deep in their own end zone and a gang of Flathead defenders pounced on Mario Rosemond to force the safety and make the score 12-2.

“I was really proud of my guys after challenging them at halftime,” Braves head coach Caleb Aland said.

With the Braves retaining the ball, Thornsberry returned the ensuing safety kick to near midfield setting up Flathead's offense with a chance to lower the deficit.

Walker got things started with a first down completion to Thornsberry and then tucked the ball for consecutive quarterback sneaks to grab another first down and move the ball to the Knights 24.

Walker completed another pass to Thornsberry to keep the chains moving and set up first and goal from the ten. Walker kept the first down play for a draw up the middle to gain four.

That's when the Braves found the end zone with Walker rolling out to his left on a bootleg and hitting Gabe Sims who took a clear path straight to the end zone for the score. The Braves missed the extra point attempt, and the score sat at 12-8 halfway through three quarters.

“Great hands, big body, good speed… This past week he really took it personal, had a really good week of practice and he played a really good game,” Aland said of Sims' performance.

That set up a wild finish: Six touchdowns and the field goal came in the final 18 minutes.

The Knights offense retaliated with a scoring drive of their own when Hellgate's quarterback Rylan Davis converted a fourth and one at the Flathead four yard line, which set Davis up to pound the rock home when he found paydirt on a one yard quarterback sneak up the middle.

Walker quickly moved the Braves into scoring position after making multiple plays with his legs to set up the offense inside the Hellgate 10 yard line.

Joe Jones capped things off with a three yard rushing touchdown on third down to make it a one-possession game.

The Knights moved quickly, needing only 17 seconds to score after a 76-yard kick return by Link set them up deep in Braves territory. Hellum took a handoff to the end zone to make things 26-14 with 46 seconds to go in the third quarter.

The Braves offense was not done yet as Walker moved the offense past midfield and Thornsberry took a reverse play 40 yards to the Knights five yard line.

Walker then took the first play of the fourth quarter up the middle for a five yard touchdown run that made the score 26-20 with 11:55 left to play after Braves kicker Connor Skalsky nailed the extra point attempt.

The Flathead defense made a huge stop on the following possession with the Knights facing a third and one near midfield when a snap from the Hellgate center went over the quarterback's head allowing Braves defender Braden Auclaire to pick up the sack and force a punt.

Jones and Walker then kept the Braves rushing attack going with the duo rumbling for multiple first downs to set up first down near the Knights 20-yard line.

The Hellgate defense tightened up after that to put the Braves in a fourth and three situation inside the red zone. Walker faked the handoff to Jones and rolled out to his left side and finessed a push pass into the chest of Sims who picked up the first down by moving things to the Knights four. From there Walker took it himself with a quarterback run up the middle for his second touchdown of the night. Making things 28-26 Flathead after Skolsky made the extra point.

“He had a really good game on the ground,” Aland said of Walker's performance.

The Flathead defense kept momentum when the Knights fumbled the ball near midfield and the Braves came up with the football amidst a pile of bodies.

“I told the defense to get the ball back and bring it to me and they went out and got a fumble and brought the ball back to me,” Aland said.

The momentum would be short-lived though, as the Knights forced a fumble of their own on the ensuing possession to get the ball back at their own 27-yard line. A pass interference penalty against Flathead moved the Knights into Braves territory to the 42-yard line with 50 seconds to play.

Davis was called for an intentional grounding, moving the Knights back costing them a down.

Then on fourth-and-9 at the Flathead 41, Davis found an open target for an 11-yard completion.

A Hellgate injury then caused a lengthy pause in the action forcing both teams to fight off a brief adrenaline dump before the games final moments.

Finally, the Knights had first down with 25 seconds to play from the Braves 30. Incomplete passes by Davis set up third and 10 with 10.6 seconds to go. Stephen Riley intercepted the Davis pass, but a defensive holding penalty was called on the Braves. That gave the Knights one more shot at the end zone with 3.4 seconds to play at the Braves 15-yard line to set up the Filardi game winner.

Despite the loss Aland took note of the effort and fight his team displayed.

“Proud of those guys, man they really showed up,” said Aland.

Next week the Braves take on Missoula Sentinel, coming off its first loss of the season after falling to the Helena Bengals 35-7.

Hellgate 0 12 14 3 - 29

Flathead 0 0 14 14 - 28

H — Aiden Hellum 53 run (Link kick blocked) 9:04-2Q

H — Parker Link 59 (Two point conversation no good) 2:54-2Q

F — Safety 7:47-3Q

F — Gabe Sims 6 pass from Walker (Skalsky kick no good) 5:43- 3Q

H — Rylan Davis 1 run (Leo Filardi kick good) 2:36-3Q

F — Joe Jones 3 run (run failed) 1:01-3Q

M — Hellum run 12 (Filardi kick) 0:48-3Q

F — Jackson Walker 5 run (Skalsky kick) 11:55-4Q

F — Walker 2 run (Skalsky kick) 5:42-4Q

M — Filardi 32 yard field goal 00:01-4Q

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Hellgate (38-250) — Hellum 18-108, Link 3-80, Corbin Weltzein 8-36, Filardi 3-16, Davis 6-10. Flathead (42-279) — Walker 22-135, Jones 10-57, Brody Thornsberry 1-45, Gabe Lake 9-42.

PASSING: Hellgate — Davis 12-22-0 for 155 yards. Flathead — Walker 10-22-1 for 111 yards.

RECEIVING — Hellgate — Hellum 4-38, Filardi 3-69, Sam Swain 2-16, Asher Topp 2-12, Link 1-20. Flathead — Sims 5-59, Thornsberry 3-36, Jones 1-9, Williams 1-7.