Big third quarter carries Bruins over Braves

HELENA — Cole Graham ran for three touchdowns, and Helena Capital used a huge third quarter to beat Flathead 57-17 and sew up the Western AA top seed Thursday.

Merek Mihelish threw for three touchdowns and ran for one for the Bruins (7-1 overall, 6-0 in the Western AA), who shook off a spate of turnovers to earn a bye into the AA quarterfinals. 

Mihelish was intercepted twice, and Flathead (0-6, 0-8) also recovered a fumble at Vigilante Stadium. The Braves cashed in the first interception for a 41-yard field goal by Will Hollensteiner. 

After Graham’s 3-yard touchdown run put Capital up 7-0 at 9:03 of the first quarter, Flathead answered with a 4-yard scoring run by quarterback Eli Coopman. 

Capital took the lead for good on a 20-yard run by Mihelish. He threw a pick on the Bruins’ next possession and Flathead drew to 14-10; the Braves then picked off another pass, but Graham’s strip-sack gave the ball right back to Capital. 

Graham then capped a drive with a 1-yard scoring run with 47 seconds left in the half, putting his team up 21-10. 

When Drew Almquist returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown, Capital was on its way.  

Mihelish hit Daniel Larson for a 20-yard touchdown and found Connor Toivonen for 33 yards and the score as the gap grew to 43-10 before the third quarter was four minutes old. 

Before the third quarter ended Graham had a 20-yard scoring run; in the fourth Mihelish found Almquist for a touchdown midway through the fourth period. 

Flathead got its final touchdown on a 45-yard pass from Coopman to Jack Blodgett.