Flathead, Glacier take to road with State at stake

Pass the jelly tree: While the Glacier Wolfpack gets to enjoy some home cooking this weekend, the football squads from Columbia Falls, Whitefish and Eureka are on the road.

Putting in the miles isn’t unusual in the A and B classifications at playoff time; not having much familiarity with your opponent is. 

Columbia Falls heads to Laurel with some film room time and little history. 

“Never in my career have we played the Locomotives,” Kelly Houle, in his first season as the Wildcats’ coach after several years as an assistant, said. “Twenty-one years. We’ve played Billings Central a lot, but not Laurel. It’s been a lot of film watching since last Friday.” 

The Locomotives employ a shotgun look on offense, with quarterback Krew Hunter and running back Curtis Fox. It’s straightforward but effective. 

“Trap, power, some zone,” Houle said. “They have a big physical line and they rely a lot on that. They have two good guards they try to pull and kick with and run underneath. 

Then they get guys open because you’re concentrating on the run so much. 

“One good thing is the defense they run is similar to Corvallis and Ronan.” 

The Wildcats have been a prolific passing team with Banyan Johnston at the controls, but senior Reggie Sapa, slowed by hip flexor this season, had a breakout game in their first-round win over Corvalis. 

Add that to a deep receiving crew and the Wildcats are quite balanced. 

“He’s starting to feel comfortable and making the cuts when he needs to make the cuts,” Houle said of Sapa. “It’s nice for him to be healed up his senior year.” 

Whitefish at Billings Central 

Like Columbia Falls, the Bulldogs have little history with the Rams. 

“Never,” Brett Bollweg, first-year coach for the Bulldogs, said. “My 18th year here and I have never coached against them. There’s only a few teams left, and they’re one of them.” 

The Rams are no secret: along with Dillon, they’ve been hanging around the top of the Class A heap a long time. They run a wing-T offense that in 2024 opens lanes for fullback Jack DeBourg and wing-back Ayden Salter. 

Quarterback Howie Martin triggers things and has a dangerous receiver in William Snell. 

“(DeBourg) is mostly a fullback but plays a couple different spots,” Bollweg said. “It’s a great challenge. It’s going to be a fun one.” 

The game is at 7 p.m. Saturday because Central plays its home games at Rocky Mountain College; the Battlin’ Bears have a Frontier Conference home game in the afternoon. 

Perhaps the outcome will be worth the wait for quarterback Carson Gulick, running back Riley Zetooney, receiver CJ Thew and the rest. 

“I think our guys are ready to go,” Bollweg said. “They’ve been up for every challenge this year — nothing is too big for them and this is no exception.” 

Eureka at Manhattan 

These guys have some history, as in three meetings from 2015-17. The Lions won two of them, including the 2017 state championship. 

Manhattan is unbeaten, and we can think of at least a couple reasons: Quarterback Michael Stewart is back from last year’s team that lost in the state championship (in overtime); running back George Sternberg also returned. 

The Tigers handled Missoula Loyola 39-0 early; the Rams later knocked off Eureka in Western B play. On the other hand, Eureka ran over Glasgow 35-14 in the first-round last week whereas on Sept. 20 Manhattan prevailed on the same windswept Scotties Field 8-6. 

“We feel like we have a good plan for them,” Eureka coach Trevor Utter said. “It will challenge our defense. They have a really good offensive line. They don’t have much for a weakness. We’re going to have to play one or our best games and physically handle the challenge.” 

Quarterback Rogan Lytle triggers a power run game that employs fullback Jesse Day and averages 6.8 yards a carry and 277 a game. 

“But we actually feel good about the challenge,” Utter said. “They have a good run game; so do we. They have a defense; so do we.” 

PLAYOFF CAPSULES

A: Columbia Falls (7-2) at Laurel (7-2) 

Saturday, 1 p.m.

Rushing: Columbia Falls — Reggie Sapa 98-422-6; Banyan Johnston 91-277-8. Laurel — Curtis Fox 185-945-14; Krew Hunter 57-380-8; Blaine Schwend 21-52-2. 

Passing: Columbia Falls —   Banyan Johnston 144-226-5 for 1428 yards, 15 TDs. Laurel — Krew Hunter 79-125-5-1375, 10 TDs.   

Receiving: Columbia Falls —   Easton Brooks 37-562-6; Cooper Ross 23-290-5; Jory Hill 23-245-1; Jett Pitts 25-246-1. Laurel — Bridger Burrows (20-573-4; Isaiah Burt 21-358-2.  

Notable: Sapa ran for 170 of his yards in C-Falls' playoff win over Corvallis last week, when his team ran for a season-best 266 ... Lane Voermans is a senior leader on the Cats offensive and defensive lines. ... Burrows averages 28.7 yards a reception for the Locomotives, whose losses came to Havre (27-20) and Billings Central (31-7). 

A: Whitefish (7-3) at Billings Central (9-0) 

Saturday, 7 p.m., Rocky Mountain College

Rushing: Whitefish — Riley Zetooney 84 carries-722 yards, 5 TDs; Carson Gulick 91-520-8; Cole Moses 50-241-2. Billings Central — Ayden Salter 76-502-3; Jack DeBourg 83-530-9; Evan Harrell 15-196-1; Layne Alexander 25-187-3. 

Passing: Whitefish — Carson Gulick 115-198-5-1582, 18 TDs. Billings Central — Howie Martin 71-96-3-1109, 16 TDs. 

Receiving: Whitefish — CJ Thew 42-624-12; Calvin Eisenbarth 24-335-1; Scotty Dalen 24-274-3. Bilings Central — William Snell 27-518-8. 

Notable: Snell is the only Ram with more than eight receptions and averages 19.2 yards per catch. ...  LB Layne Alexander leads the Rams with 63 tackles and he and LB Jett LaFontaine have combined for 15 TFLs. ... Whitefish’s 3 losses have come a total of 16 points. ... Thew had a 98-yard kickoff return for the Bulldogs against Bigfork on Oct. 4. 

B: Eureka (8-2) at Manhattan (10-0) 

Saturday, 1 p.m. at Tiger Coliseum

Rushing: Eureka — Rogan Lytle 136-995-13; Haiden Johnson 113-780-12; Josh Lambertsen 41-377-5; Jesse Day 54-271-7. Manhattan — George Sternberg.  

Passing: Eureka — Rogan Lytle 92-165-4-1185, 6 TDs. Manhattan — Michael Stewart.  

Receiving: Emmet McKim 24-245-2; Josh Lambertsen 24-315-2; Rowan Burrow 12-229-1; Haiden Johnson 19-242-1. Manhattan — Brayden Zikmund.  

Notable: Zikmund, son of Griz alum Rory Zikmund, has filled in for graduated All-State receiver Callin Fenno. ... Eureka last played Manhattan in the 2019 championship, a 20-6 Lions win. ... The Tigers are coming off a runner-up finish, losing to three-time champion Florence in overtime. ... McKim (88 tackles, 15 TFLs), Wes Banks (66 tackles, six sacks), Johnson and Day are defensive leaders.