Bigfork fans filled the stands for Bigfork High School’s first football game of the season on Friday. Though Choteau walked away with the win 28-21 Bigfork rallied in the second half and threatened to turn the game.

Once again, Bigfork’s first matchup against Choteau almost didn’t happen. But unlike last year, when the game was delayed and almost cancelled because of lighting, this year the weather in Bigfork was great. The delay to kick off came from a referee shortage. Bigfork activities director David Creamer learned early Friday that they didn’t have officials for the game. Luckily Creamer managed to find some officials and the game was only slightly delayed, waiting for their arrival.

The game began moving in Choteau’s favor early on when a Bigfork snap went wide resulting in a safety, putting Choteau on the scoreboard with 2.

The score remained 2-0 for the first quarter, but Choteau’s Liam Breen got a quick start at the top of the second and ran for a 33-yard touchdown. Breen’s extra point was good bringing the score to 9-0.

Choteau continued to dominate, pushing toward the end zone and Derrek Durocher scoring with a three-yard run, with six minutes left in the half. A missed field goal brought the Choteau’s lead to 15-0.

Bigfork pushed back and Josh Sandry found the end zone on a 33-yard run with 19 seconds left in the half. Jon Landon scored the extra point putting Bigfork on the board 15-7.

The second half was hard fought. With three minutes left in the third quarter Choteau, at first and goal and scored on a seven-yard touchdown run by Steeler French. Breen again missed the extra point and the scoreboard changed 21-7.

Bigfork responded quickly with Landon breaking free and running for a 74-yard touchdown. He missed the extra kick, but the play brought the score up to 21-13.

With about nine minutes left in the game Choteau scored again with a pass from Breen to Dylan Pannabecker for a 16-yard touchdown. Breen’s extra point kick was good, sealing the Bulldog lead, 28-13.

Bigfork kept up the fight and pushed their way back to the end zone. Vinny Quirk ran the ball up the middle seven-yards for another Bigfork touchdown. Sandry then completed a pass to Landon for a two-point conversion, bringing the score to 28-21 with 2:12 minutes left in the game.

With the lead, Choteau ran down the clock to take the game.

“Choteau is a good team, and we knew that,” head coach Todd Emslie said. “We got beat by a good team.”

Emslie said the team has much work to do to prepare for Friday’s game in Florence.

“We’ll be able to correct a lot of the first-game mistakes,” he said.

Total offensive yards — Choteau 405, Bigfork 295

Number of plays — Choteau 78, Bigfork 44

Total passing yards — Choteau 118, Bigfork 137

Yards rushing — Choteau 287, Bigfork 158

Yards Receiving — Choteau 118, Bigfork 137

Turnovers — Choteau 1, Bigfork 1