The Columbia Falls football team racked up 468 yards in total offense against Livingston’s Park County High School last week but fell short to the Rangers 36-26 at home Sept. 29.

The Rangers played a ball-control run-offense and outweighed the Wildcats by at least 70 pounds per lineman, but the Cats’ defense still played an excellent game considering eight sophomores started.

The Cats had two red zone stops against the Rangers — one that forced a Ranger turnover, the other stopped on downs inside the 7-yard line.

On the offensive side, Jared Trinastich threw for two touchdowns and 352 yards, with 16-for-29 passing. Zach Darling ran for 79 yards and two touchdowns, and Josiah Osborne had an 88-yard touchdown reception. Alex Presnell hauled in a 36-yard touchdown catch as well.

But the Cats also had two picks in the end zone and some costly penalties that either killed an offensive drive or kept a Ranger drive alive.

Coach Jackson Schweikert looked at the nonconference game as a positive that the team can build on.

“Offensively, we played pretty well,” he said. “We made some mistakes.”

But he noted the team is starting to learn the offense and execute it.

“We changed formations every play. I don’t know if we ran the same play twice. They played it fast,” he said. “It sure helps if they can do things fast.”

The Rangers were a big, physical team and controlled the ball with a hard-nosed running game that kept the Cats’ offense off the field. Even so, the Rangers had 60 less offensive yards than Columbia Falls.

When the Cats had the ball, they utilized their speed to score and score quickly. The Rangers at one point led 30-12, but Columbia Falls never gave up. They just ran out of time.

Schweikert said the team hopes to take what they learned this week and apply it to the upcoming game against Whitefish away on Friday, a key conference matchup.

“The kids got a taste of it this week,” he said. “Now we need to take it another step forward.”

Park 8 6 16 6 — 36

Columbia Falls 6 0 12 8 — 26

Park — Jack Dowdell, 5 yard run

C. Falls — Zach Darling, 25-yard run

Park — Dowdell, 2 yard run

Park — Shanon Williams, 20 yard run

Columbia Falls — Josiah Osborne, 88 yard pass from Trinastich

Park — Williams, 14 yard run

Columbia Falls — Darling, 7 yard run

Park — Austin Carroll, 2 yard run

Columbia Falls — Alex Presnell, 36 yard reception from Trinastich