BOTH POLSON AND CFALLS LOST

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Butte Central crushes C-Falls

Posted: Sunday, November 8, 2009 2:00 am | Updated: .

By DILLON TABISH The Daily Inter Lake

BUTTE - Butte Central's Andy Ritter joined close company after his historic day in Bulldog Memorial Stadium.

Unfortunately for the Columbia Falls football team, it had to come at its expense.

Central's junior quarterback totaled three touchdowns and a school-record 455 yards of total offense and the fifth-ranked Maroons scalded the Wildcats 49-13 in the Class A quarterfinals on Saturday.

Ritter's new single-game record eclipses the previous one held by his older brother Matt, who is the quarterback at Carroll College in Helena.

The Maroons (8-2) advance to the semifinals next weekend and will face second-ranked Frenchtown. Columbia Falls drops out of the quarterfinals for the second year in a row and finishes 7-4.

"Unfortunately, we just didn't show up today," Columbia Falls first-year head coach Bill Coleman said. "We started slow, we had difficulty responding and all the credit to (Butte Central). They played really well. The offensive output that they had speaks for itself. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time, all day long. And we couldn't just figure out how to get in the right place."

Central held a 21-13 lead at intermission and right from the opening kickoff in the second half, the momentum began tilting in Butte's favor.

The Maroons got the ball and converted three first downs in four plays and went on to score four plays later.

That turned out to be the beginning of the Butte avalanche. After the score, Ritter and Co. only had four plays to catch their breath as the Central defense forced Columbia Falls to a three and out. The 5-foot-11 Ritter didn't seem a bit winded, and went on to tally 150 yards in total offense in the third quarter alone. He scored the game's final three touchdowns and the Maroons finished with 479 yards of offense.

Overall, Butte Central converted 13 times on third and fourth downs.

"We just had a hard time getting (our defense) off the field and that's a credit to them," Coleman said.

"Their kids execute their offense really well and it's difficult to defend."

"In the second half we got that opening kickoff and I think that really got the momentum in our favor," said Don Peoples, Jr., in his 21st year as head coach at Butte Central.

"It seems like the first drive of the third quarter is always the pivotal one in a ballgame so our kids responded well and we're happy to get a win over a very good team. Give them a lot of credit, they're a very good team and we're excited to have the opportunity to move on."

Columbia Falls quarterback Mitchell Wassam kept the Wildcats in the game in the first half after Central jumped ahead 13-0.

In the second quarter, Wassam found teammate Kyle Howell crossing over the middle in stride and threw a dart 12 yards into Howell's arms. Without missing a step, Howell blazed down field another 59 yards for the revitalizing touchdown.

Wassam connected on another big play just before halftime when he passed to John Woody, who scored the 14-yard touchdown, making it 21-13.

Wassam finished with 193 yards passing. Woody totaled 52 yards on 12 runs and Nate Thompson had 38 yards on seven carries.

"We knew Columbia Falls was a very good team and their quarterback worried us some and he had a heckuva first half," Peoples, Jr., said.

"We didn't want their offense on with Woody and Kaleb Johnson and Wassam. They're all very good players, so that was really big that we were able to control the clock and move the ball."

Afterward, the Columbia Falls sideline felt a few degrees colder as the season came to an end; and Coleman, for the first time as Columbia Falls head coach, had to say goodbye to an outstanding senior class.

"We played with a lot of heart," Coleman said.

"I'm incredibly proud of this group of kids. They showed a lot of resiliency over the course of the year."

Columbia Falls 0 13 0 0 - 13

Butte Central 13 8 14 14 - 49

First quarter

BC - Jonathan Richards 3-run (Nathaniel Loomis kick), 2:57

BC - A. J. Acuna 12-run (kick blocked), :09

Second quarter

CF - Kyle Howell 71-pass from Mitchell Wassam (Wassam kick), 9:17

BC - Richards 3-pass from Andy Ritter (Richards pass), 3:57

CF - John Woody 14-pass from Wassam (kick failed), 1:49

Third quarter

BC - Richards 3-run (Loomis kick), 8:13

BC - Ritter 35-run (Loomis kick), 4:54

Fourth quarter

BC - Ritter 13-run (Loomis kick), 11: 54

BC - Ritter 4-run (Loomis kick), 7:30

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CF BC

First downs 8 20

Passing yards 193 226

Rushing yards 24-88 42-253

Passing (com/att/int) 7-20-2 16-25-0

Total offense 281 479

Penalties 2-6 5-42

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Punt returns 1-20 4-52

Punting 5-177 1-39

Kickoff returns 6-109 3-46

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Individual statistics

RUSHING - Columbia Falls, John Woody 12-52, Nate Thompson 7-38, Kaleb Johnson 1-1; Butte Central, Andy Ritter 20-202, A.J. Acuna 12-34, Jonathan Richards 6-24, Kevin Cox 2-3.

PASSING - Columbia Falls, Mitchell Wassam 7-20-193-2-2; Butte Central, Ritter 16-25-253-0-1

RECEIVING - Columbia Falls, Johnson 2-18, Woody 2-39, Kyle Howell 1-71, Devyn Rocker 1-43, Taylor Martinson 1-22; Butte, Phil Antonioli 8-134, Richards 5-43, Aschan Richards 3-49.

Polson's playoff woes continue

Posted: Sunday, November 8, 2009 2:00 am | Updated: .

By DIXIE KNUTSON The Daily Inter Lake

POLSON - Matt Thibault did it again - twice.

Belgrade's quarterback/kick return specialist carried the Panthers into the Class A football semifinals with two returns for touchdowns as the Panthers dropped Polson 18-16 in Saturday's quarterfinal.

The first return - of 84 yards - got Belgrade back in the game after Polson had built a 10-0 lead. The second - 92 yards - came with 2:17 left in the contest and put Belgrade on top to stay.

"We've had a special kickoff return all yearlong. He's just a special kid. He's a game-changer. That was a big difference in today's game," said Belgrade coach Eric Kinnaman.

"I knew we had to try to contain special teams. And you know what, we didn't get the job done. I made a bad decision. They had almost broken one, then they break one," said Polson coach Scott Wilson.

"That's just the way it goes. The kid made a few great runbacks and big plays and I give him all the credit," he said.

"I don't think our kids let up. I think that kid made a great play," he added.

The Pirates won the other aspects of the game - Tim Rausch and Joe Andrews each had 100 yard days running the football. They outran Belgrade 203 yards to 115 and had 287 total yards while holding Belgrade to 153 - but special teams made all the difference.

The Pirates were tough in the early going.

They opened the game with a defensive stop, then on Polson's first play from scrimmage Andrews busted a 46-yard run all the way to the Belgrade 22. Six plays later, he scored from six yards out.

Halfway through the first quarter, the Pirates were making it look easy.

It looked even better when Kyle Bagnell intercepted a Thibault pass and set the Pirates up on the Belgrade 39.

But somewhere in there, Polson suffered a big loss - quarterback Vince DiGiallonardo received a head injury and had to sit out the rest of the game.

Bagnell replaced him at quarterback and piloted the Pirate effort to the Panther 15. The drive stalled there, and Bagnell kicked a 32-yard field goal to put Polson up 10-0.

That was a scenario Kinnaman said he and the Panthers had talked about in pregame.

"If they go up 10-0 or if they go up 14-0, we have a good enough team to come back," he said.

"We didn't panic," Kinnaman said. "We've been in this situation a lot this year. It wasn't a stranger to us. We've seen it before.

"Our defense just didn't break. They held strong enough and our offense did just enough," he added.

"We returned the kick and we're right back in the game and we know that," he said.

That's exactly what happened. Thibault took the ensuing kickoff on his own 16, faked a hand off to Ryan Guenther, sprinted to his own sideline and headed upfield.

But the Polson defense hung in, even when the Pirate offense had difficulties.

"Offensively, we struggled a little bit and hurt ourselves a little bit," Wilson said.

The Pirates were without their regular center - broken hand earlier in the week - and twice they snapped the ball over Bagnell's head. One he recovered for a 14-yard loss. The other Belgrade picked up and returned to the Pirate two-yard line.

On that one, Belgrade ran three plays for a 5-yard loss and kicked a 24-yard field goal.

"Our defense played pretty dang well," Wilson said.

"We gave them the ball on the two and held them to a field goal. Then (in the third quarter) we gave them the ball on short yardage on a punt and held them to a field goal. Defensively, I was real pleased with our kids," the coach said.

Even with the difficulties, the heart never went out of the Pirate offense.

Trailing 12-10 with less than five minutes left in the game, Rausch caught a screen pass from Bagnell on third-and-11. He was dragged down 57 yards later on the Belgrade five. He got hurt on that effort, left the game for one play, then returned and scored on fourth and inches to give the Pirates a 16-12 lead with 2:34 to play.

"It was a tough decision - to go on fourth and inches or kick the field goal. But I had faith in those kids they could get the job done and they did," Wilson said.

Disaster struck seconds later. Thibault again faked the handoff (nobody went for that), but then he simply outran the coverage.

"Like I said, I made a bad choice in kicking it to that kid," Wilson said.

Belgrade 6 3 3 6 - 18

Polson 10 0 0 6 - 16

First Quarter

P - Joe Andrews 7 run (Kyle Bagnell kick), 5:53.

P - Bagnell 32 field goal, :43.

B - Matt Thibault 84 kickoff return (Kick blocked), :24.

Second Quarter

B - Kyle Hunter 24 field goal, 5:11.

Third Quarter

B - Hunter 31 field goal, 4:41.

Fourth Quarter

P - Tim Rausch 1 run (pass failed), 2:34.

B - Thibault 92 kickoff return (Kick failed), 2:17.

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B P

First downs 9 10

Total Net Yards 153 287

Rushes-yards 31-115 43-203

Passing 38 84

Punt Returns 1-10 1-12

Kickoff Returns 3- 1813-51

Interceptions Ret. 1-0 1-0

Comp-Att-Int 4-11-1 4-10-1

Punts 3-33.66 4-19

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards 7-55 6-40

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Belgrade, Ryan Guenther 19-54, Stephen McAdams 4-1, Matt Thibault 8-60. Polson, Tim Rausch 18-103, Joe Andrews 21-109, Vince DiGiallonardo 3-5, Kyle Bagnell 1-minus 14.

Passing - Belgrade, Matt Thibault 4-10-38-1-0, Talon Taylor 0-1-0-0-0; Polson, Vince DiGiallonardo 0-3-0-0-0, Kyle Bagnell 4-7-84-1-0.

RECEIVING-Belgrade, Ty Diebold2-25, McAdams 1-9, Tony Galahan 1-4; Polson, Joe Andrews 1-19, Tim Rausch 3-63.