Mother Nature was not very kind to the Flathead Valley this week as the first cold snap of the fall has created some testy field conditions in Bigfork and Whitefish today for semifinal football playoff action.

Whitefish (8-2) entertains second-ranked Butte Central (9-1) at Memorial Field in a Class A matchup while second-ranked Huntley Project (11-0) visits fifth-ranked Bigfork (9-1) in a Class B clash. Both kickoffs are set for 1 p.m.

Whitefish and Bigfork are playing at home for the second straight Saturday.

“It’s pretty frozen, it’s bad,” Bigfork coach Todd Emslie said of the field.

“It’s slick in spots. Where snow was on the ground, they couldn’t get it off and it’s hard as a rock in other places. It is what it is. We’re not going to change anything we do because of the weather and the field.”

He expects Huntley Project to have the same attitude.

Memorial Field has the same issues.

“It’s a ice rink,” Whitefish coach Chad Ross said earlier in the week.

“It’s like playing on concrete.”

Ross said Chad Smith “did a great job getting the field ready to play. They raked the ice off the field, spent about eight hours (on it). They couldn’t paint, so they used baseball chalk.”

Ross has stressed playing conditions with his team all week.

“It’s more of an advantage for the defense,” he said.

“The cuts aren’t there, so it slows everybody down.

“The best athletes doesn’t win (in this situation), but the most controlled athletes do. So take smaller steps, don’t make fast cuts, but make good cuts.”

Whitefish is coming off a dramatic 34-29 quarterfinal victory over Miles City. The Bulldogs scored on fourth down and seven yards to go with 1:15 to play when quarterback Luke May hit Jed Nagler for a 35-yard touchdown pass.

“Determination and belief,” Ross said of what carried the team through. “We still believed we had a chance to win.

“We have a good mentality,” he added. “We feel we can compete with anybody.”

Whitefish and Butte Central both played Belgrade and Corvallis this fall. Butte Central lost to Belgrade 34-20 and beat Corvallis 42-12.

Whitefish lost to Belgrade 29-28 and Corvallis, 34-26.

The Bulldogs and Maroons both carry six-game win streaks into this contest.

“They have a good solid line, eight returners from last year,” Ross said of Butte Central. “They are well coached, a solid football team. We will have to play our best game to win.”

Butte Central stopped Laurel 27-12 last week to advance.

Both Bigfork and Huntley Project are coming off impressive victories.

Huntley Project dropped No. 1 Fairfield 21-0 at home while Bigfork rolled over Malta 41-0.

Both teams scored more than 40 points in their first-round victories over Boulder and Deer Lodge.

“Huntley is a very big, physical football team,” Emslie said.

“They’re huge in fact. They have some big boys, but we do too.”

Emslie said this will be one of those games were its either won, or lost, in the trenches.

“They can run the ball, we can run the ball,” he said.

“It will come down to offensive and defensive line play.”

Bigfork’s offensive line consists of junior center Russel Goeden, senior guards Tyler Iverson and Logan Mejak and junior tackles Austin Pacheco and Grant Ozegovich.

Most of those players are on the defensive line.

Bigfork is in the postseason for the fifth straight season. The Vikings have been in the semifinals three times.

This is the first time Bigfork and Huntley Project have met in football.