Braves' rally comes up short against Hellgate

Flathead wide receiver Lane Chivers (3) picks up yardage on a reception in the fourth quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead wide receiver Jack Blodgett (80) catches a touchdown reception in the fourth quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead quarterback Eli Coopman (6) drops back to pass in the second quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead running back Tim Zundel (0) looks for running room in the first quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead defenders stops a run by Missoula Hellgate wide receiver Parker Link (3) in the first quarter at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead kick returner Dillon Wink (18) returns a kickoff in the third quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead wide receiver Jack Blodgett (80) hangs on to a reception in the fourth quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead quarterback Eli Coopman (6) picks up yardage on a run in the third quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead defensive backs Brett Pesola (4) and Cameron Wells (13) tackle Missoula Hellgate wide receiver Jacob Finch (11) in the third quarter at Legends Stadium on Friday, Oct. 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

by Daily Inter Lake
| October 26, 2024 12:00 AM

In a battle of winless teams, the Hellgate Knights held on for a close 21-14 victory over the Flathead Braves at Legends Stadium on Friday night to close out each of their seasons.

Running back Cole Ziegler starred for the Knights, running for 126 yards and two touchdowns while adding on 22 yards receiving. His 60-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was the start of 21 unanswered points.

Flathead had a chance to tie the game at 7 early in the second quarter when they had first and goal on the 6-yard line. On 3rd and goal, Parker Link intercepted the pass attempt, his first of three on the night to end the scoring threat.

“That interception in the redzone, it just can’t happen,” Braves coach Caleb Aland said. “We liked what we saw two plays prior, so we called the same play again, but had the wrong read and that’s on me, we should have called a different play.”

That interception was the first of four on the night for Hellgate and it proved costly as the Knights finished a 98-yard drive with a touchdown pass from Vince Paffhausen to Finn Kelly to take a 14-0 lead with 2:38 left in the first half.

Paffhausen finished with136 yards through the air, 88 yards rushing and accounted for two touchdowns.

After halftime, the Knights extended their lead on Zeigler’s 25-yard touchdown run, but the Braves responded.

Quarterback Eli Coopman got in a groove, converting a pair of long third downs before finishing an 87-yard drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jack Blodgett.

With 4:08 left in the game, Coopman found Blodgett again in the back of the endzone and Blodgett reeled in the pass after it was tipped to trim the lead to 21-14.

After an unsuccessful onside kick, the Braves defense forced a turnover on downs and had a chance to tie the game with 2:21 left.

A holding penalty put the Braves into 4th-and-18 before Coopman’s desperation attempt was intercepted again by Link. The Knights kneeled the clock out to end the game and stormed off the field celebrating their first win of the year.

“When we started off the year, I thought we were a middle of the road type of team and definitely not a team towards the bottom,” Aland said.

“In year three, this season did not go the way we expected but there is a lot of heart on this team, and I hope this is just the dip before the boom.”

In Aland’s first year the Braves won one game and improved in year two with wins over Belgrade and Hellgate, before finishing year three 0-9.

Aland said that this season was filled with adversity, with suspensions and injuries early on in the season that affected the team's start. He remains optimistic that the team will start seeing the results of four years together in this program.

“We started a lot of sophomores that I wish had a developmental year at JV, but this ended up being their developmental year and I think they will be big time contributors next season,” Aland said.

Among the underclassmen is junior quarterback Eli Coopman, who finished the game with 266 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Braves are losing nine senior starters, but Aland hopes that the players returning remember the feeling of a winless season.

“The hard part is keeping guys bought into the program and that will be the challenge of the offseason,” Aland said.

“I told the guys, whenever we get to those hard parts of the spring and the summer and I can’t motivate you anymore, remember this and let how you feel right now be your motivation.”

Hellgate 7 7 7 0 — 21

Flathead 0 0 7 7 — 14

H — Ziegler 60 run (Jaxon Mund kick)

H — Kelly 4 pass from Paffhausen (Mund kick)

H — Ziegler 25 run (Mund kick)

F — Blodgett 22 pass from Coopman (Will Hollensteiner kick)

F — Blodgett 11 pass from Coopman (Hollensteiner kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Hellgate (28-227) — Ziegler 6-126, Paffhausen 13-88, Kelly 1-2, Link 7-10, Evan Pyron 1-1. Flathead (28-125) — Tim Zundel 9-42, Coopman 10-39, Nolan Campbell 8-36, Lane Chivers 1-8.

PASSING: Hellgate — Paffhausen 15-22-1 for 136 yards. Flathead — Coopman 31-50 –2 for 266 yards.

RECEIVING: Hellgate — Ziegler 5-22, Jacob Finch 4-49, Pryor 2-31, Link 2-25, Sam Cohea 1-5, Kelly 1-4. Flathead — Chivers 9-76, Kaleb Sims 8-55, Blodgett 7-78, Noah Sonju 4-35, Ben Bliven 2-24.