Strikes Thrice: Lightning suspends Flathead-Hellgate game

Flathead wide receiver Oliver Rosenberg (5) holds on to a reception in the second quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead running back Nolan Campbell (24) heads to the end zone on a 48-yard touchdown run in the first quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead defensive back Leum Saisbury (2) returns an interception in the first quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead tight end Zander McLaughlin (85) scores a touchdown on a reception in the first quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead quarterback Eli Coopman (6) picks up yardage on a run in the first quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead defensive back Leum Saisbury (2) celebrates on the sideline after an interception in the first quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead tight end Zander McLaughlin (85) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown on a reception in the first quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead High School Assistant Principal and Activities Director Matt Allison checks his phone during a lightning delay in the first quarter of a game against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

by Daily Inter Lake
| September 13, 2025 1:10 AM

The skies remain unbeaten this fall.

Lightning reared its ugly head again as the Flathead Braves home matchup with the Hellgate Knights was suspended at 1 a.m. Saturday morning.

The game is scheduled to resume Saturday evening at 7, with Flathead leading 17-7 with 5:20 left in the third quarter.

“Our kids are resilient human beings, but it’s certainly not easy,” Flathead coach Mac Roche said. “I think they are handling that (the delays) really well and I don’t think that any of that had any effect on our execution.”

The 1-0 Braves started strong as Eli Coopman broke off a 27-yard run on their second possession. He followed that up with a touchdown pass to Zander McLaughlin from 10 yards out to put Flathead up 7-0.

“They were ready to roll tonight,” Roche said of his team’s start. “Second drive we went and we pounded it straight down and then we just have to make some adjustments, Hellgate has made some great adjustments and stopped us a few times.”

Then the lightning took hold for the first time. A two-hour, 41-minute stoppage sent the teams to their locker rooms.

“It’s really hard to keep the momentum going when you are waiting an hour and a half or two hours between quarters,” Coopman said. “I feel like we would have been up more without the delays, both times we had the momentum before both delays.

“We moved all the benches back and we stretched in there (the locker room) for a while, but we didn’t get that much time to warm up, so we had to prepare well.”

Hellgate put together a drive after the delay, moving down into the red zone before Knights (0-2) quarterback Vince Paffhausen was intercepted by Leum Saisbury, who returned the ball to the 49-yard line.

Two plays after the turnover, Flathead capitalized as Nolan Campbell got the edge and sprinted for a 48-yard touchdown to put Flathead up 14-0.

The Braves drove again and got to the Hellgate 25 before Coopman was intercepted by Sam Cohea, who returned the ball to the 43. After a penalty, Paffhausen found Parker Link on a screen and Link raced to the end zone to cut the Knights deficit in half.

Flathead responded with a long drive before the half — which was shortened to six minutes after the delay — but stalled at the 25-yard line. Brett Chivers booted a 42-yard field goal to put Flathead back up by double digits, 17-7.

Out of the half, Hellgate put together another long drive, but Jaxon Mund missed his kick from 37 yards as the lightning made an unfortunate return.

After another hour and 42-minute delay the game was suspended.

Flathead defensive back Leum Saisbury (2) returns an interception in the first quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead quarterback Eli Coopman (6) picks up yardage on a run in the first quarter against Missoula Hellgate at Legends Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider