Bengals play lights out, beat Braves

Flathead wide receiver Noah Sonju (8) catches a 93-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead quarterback Eli Coopman (6) throws a pass downfield in the second quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead defenders Lane Chivers (3) and Kohen Rilley (69) wrap up Helena running back Trygve Braun (15) in the first quarter at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead wide receiver Jack Blodgett (80) fights for extra yardage after a reception in the first quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead kick returner Lane Chivers (3) returns a kickoff in the second quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead defensive lineman Hudson Capser (60) hits Helena quarterback Mac Lundstrom (10) as he throws in the first quarter at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead kick returner Lane Chivers (3) returns a kickoff in the second quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead wide receiver Ben Bliven (2) fights for extra yardage after a reception in the second quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead wide receiver Noah Sonju (8) heads down the sideline on a 93-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead quarterback Eli Coopman (6) rolls out to pass in the first quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Referees walk across the field before power was restored to Legends Stadium before Flathead's game against Helena on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Helena defensive back Brady Swenson (6) deflects a pass intended for Flathead wide receiver Lane Chivers (3) in the first quarter at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

by JOSH AMICK
Reporter | October 5, 2024 12:00 AM

After high winds knocked out the power at Legends Stadium — delaying kickoff by 30 minutes, the Helena Bengals played lights out for four quarters in their 47-13 win over the Flathead Braves Friday.

Bengals’ quarterback Mac Lundstrom threw for 256 yards and four touchdowns — three of them to wide receiver Jaxan Lieberg, who finished the day with six grabs for 152 yards.

“We have done some good things all year but too many mistakes. Tonight, we got a lot of contributions from a lot of guys and kind of put it all together,” Bengals coach Dane Broadhead said.

After their 0-5 start, the Braves decided to give quarterback Eli Coopman his first start of the season to spark their offense.

“It was nothing our other quarterback (Brett Pesola) was or wasn’t doing, we made the change to see if we can be successful in another way,” Braves coach Caleb Aland said.

“It wasn’t the only change we made. We made some defensive scheme changes, personnel changes, play calling changes, we are looking for answers.”

Coopman flashed his throwing ability early in the second quarter when the Braves were backed into a long third-and-22 on their own 7.

Coopman dropped back and found wide receiver Noah Sonju sprinting down the seam and hit him in stride for a 93-yard touchdown, their only score of the half.

Helena answered right back with 66- and 67-yard touchdowns to Lieberg and running back Trygve Braun for a 33-7 lead.

One of Aland’s keys to this game was to eliminate turnovers and costly penalties. The Braves’ only turnover came on a pick-6 by Carter Petre that put the Bengals (2-4, 2-2 in league) up 40-7 with 32 seconds remaining in the first half.

“We wanted to eliminate false starts, offsides and take care of the ball. We had several of those tonight, so we have a lot of areas we have to clean up,” Aland said.

“We have to get the run game going with better push from the O-line. The majority of the yards came from Eli, so close to 20 rushing yards as a team is terrible for a Class AA program.”

Late in the fourth quarter, Coopman ran a quarterback keeper for 38 yards for the Braves’ second score. He accounted for 82 of the Braves 104 rushing yards.

“Our run game got shut down early and even trying to run inside zone we were losing two, three yards a pop and pushing us back into third and 16 where we have to throw the ball,” Aland said. “We weren’t clicking in the run game today, so we went to what Eli does really well which is throw the ball. I think he played a really solid game; we just have to do a better job at receiver and catching the ball.”

The Braves are hoping that their final touchdown drive can give them some momentum in a short week. They face the Glacier Wolfpack (5-1) in a crosstown matchup Thursday.

"The crosstown matchup is all about pride. Their record is the opposite of ours, so there won’t be the motivation of competing for a playoff spot,” Aland said. “A lot of these guys grew up together, went separate ways, it's just going to be a fistfight, and we are looking forward to it.”

Helena 20 20 7 0 — 47

Flathead 0 7 0 6 — 13

H — Jaxan Lieberg 29 pass from Mac Lundstrom (kick failed), 7:31-1Q

H — Trent Supalla 3 run (Drew Esponda kick), 2:50-1Q

H — Carter Petre 44 run (Trygve Braun kick), :29-1Q

F — Noah Sonju 93 pass from Eli Coopman (Will Hollensteiner kick), 11:03-2Q

H — Lieberg 66 pass from Lundstrom (kick failed), 9:41-2Q

H — Trygve Braun 67 pass from Lundstrom (Esponda kick), 5:41-2Q

H — Petre 25 interception return (Esponda kick), :32- 2Q

H — Lieberg 18 pass from Lundstrom (Esponda kick), 7:29-3Q

F — Coopman 38 run (pass failed), 1:38-4Q

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Helena (23-130) — Petre 1-44, Braun 8-38, Dylan Mosness 3-18, Lieberg 1-15, Lundstrom 2-12, Reese Silvonen 1-7, Trent Supalla 4-5, Titus Wetzel 2-0. Flathead (20-104) — Coopman 12-82, Lane Chivers 1-12, Ben Bliven 1-5, Tim Zundel 5-5, Kaleb Sims 1-0.

PASSING: Helena — Lundstrom 12-21-4 for 256 yards, Silvonen 2-2-0 for 18 yards. Flathead — Coopman 13-29-1 for 189 yards.

RECEIVING: Helena — Lieberg 6-152, Petre 3-23, Braun 1-67, Brady Swenson 1-10, Gracen Silvonen 1-9, Cam Bullock 1-9, Mosness 1-4. Flathead — Kaleb Sims 5-24, Bliven 4-45, Jack Blodgett 2-23, Sonju 1-93, Nolan Campbell 1-4.

Flathead quarterback Eli Coopman (6) throws a pass downfield in the second quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead kick returner Lane Chivers (3) returns a kickoff in the second quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead quarterback Eli Coopman (6) rolls out to pass in the first quarter against Helena at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Referees walk across the field before power was restored to Legends Stadium before Flathead's game against Helena on Friday, Oct. 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider