COLUMBIA FALLS - Winning at home has not been an easy assignment for Columbia Falls this season.

The Wildcats have lost to Hamilton, Dillon and Polson.

But that all changed Friday night.

With playoff implications on the line, along with valley bragging rights, Columbia Falls (5-3 overall and 3-1 Northwestern A) closed out the regular season with an impressive 33-14 victory on its home turf over rival Whitefish (4-4 and 1-3).

"I was proud of the way they played tonight," Columbia Falls coach Bill Coleman said.

"They put together four quarters of solid football."

Columbia Falls quarterback Mitchell Wassam turned in a superb effort on a cold and rainy evening by passing for three touchdowns and running for another.

He directed three long scoring marches in the first half - 16 plays for 74 yards, 10 plays for 70 yards and eight plays for 93 yards, which included a 5-yard penalty - as Columbia Falls led 19-7.

Wassam (11-for-17 for 210 yards and one interception) was right on the mark with perfect touchdown strikes to Matt Triplett for 30 yards in the first half, which came on a fourth and six play, and to Kaleb Johnson for 26 yards in the fourth quarter.

Johnson then used a basketball-type effort, going up high to snag a pass away from a pair of Whitefish defenders, in the third period with 6:13 remaining. That resulted in a game-changing 60-yard touchdown reception.

It came at a very crucial time as Whitefish, led by the hard, bruising running of Daniel Simmons (17 carries for 164 yards), had just scored on a 10-yard pass from Mac Roche to Willie Roche to get within five points, 19-14.

"There were some really big plays," Whitefish coach Patrick Dryden said.

"That catch by Kaleb Johnson was a back-breaker."

Both teams controlled their own playoff destiny coming in. The winner earned the right to move on.

The victory gives Columbia Falls the No. 2 seed from Northwestern A. The Wildcats will host Hamilton in the opening round of the playoffs on Saturday.

"I felt like we had opportunities to make this game interesting," Dryden said.

"They are a better football team than we are, but we had opportunities to be right there."

Columbia Falls showed great balance with 242 yards rushing. Speedy John Woody (32 carries for 190 yards) powered the Wildcat ground game.

Defensively, it all starts up front for Columbia Falls with Mike Macijunas and Kelly Houle. Macijunas had several tackles for loss and recovered a fumble that thwarted a Whitefish scoring drive in the first half.

"He had a great game," Coleman said of Macijunas.

"He was drawing two on every play. He was being double-teamed."

Dryden called Macijunas and Houle "the best two tackles in the conference."

Simmons turned in an all-conference type performance also. He gave Whitefish excellent field position with his special team returns, in addition to some long gainers out of the backfield.

"I was really happy for him," Dryden said of Simmons.

"That's the hardest he's played all year. It was a great way for him to finish his high school career."

The victory over Whitefish was the third straight for Columbia Falls. The Wildcats also knocked Whitefish out of the playoff picture in 2005.

Whitefish is missing the postseason for just the second time in 20 years.

Whitefish, at one point in the rivalry, had won 16 straight versus Columbia Falls.

Whitefish 7 0 7 0 - 14

Columbia Falls 6 13 8 6 - 33

First Quarter

Whitefish - Tanner Benedict 60 run (Benedict kick), 10:17

Columbia Falls - Nate Thompson 2 run (pass failed), 4:08

Second Quarter

Columbia Falls - Mitchell Wassam 1 run (Wassam kick), 9:42

Columbia Falls - Matt Triplett 30 pass from Wassam (pass failed), 1:43

Third Quarter

Whitefish - Willie Roche 10 pass from Mac Roche (Benedict kick), 7:10

Columbia Falls - Kaleb Johnson 60 pass from Wassam (Kyle Howell pass from Wassam), 6:13

Fourth Quarter

Columbia Falls - Johnson 26 pass from Wassam (kick failed), 8:34

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W CF

First downs 7 15

Rushes-yards 29-230 46-242

Passing yards 69 210

Passing 6-18-0 11-17-1

Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0

Penalties 6-51 4-20

Time of possession 19:52 28:08

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Individual Stats

RUSHING - Whitefish, Daniel Simmons 17-164, Tanner Benedict 7-51; Columbia Falls, John Woody 32-190, Mitchell Wassam 6-24, Nate Thompson 5-11, Kaleb Johnson 3-17.

PASSING - Whitefish, Mac Roche 6-18-0-69; Columbia Falls, Wassam 11-17-1-210.

RECEIVING - Whitefish, Kalin Hale 2-32, Daniel Simmons, 2-29, Willie Roche 2-8; Columbia Falls - Kaleb Johnson 6-127, Matt Triplett 2-47, Nathan Thompson 2-15, John Woody 1-21.