HELENA — It was all but over for the Flathead Braves on Friday night.

After a failed onside kick attempt, the Capital Bruins needed one first down to ice the game and run out the clock.

Two plays later the Braves had their first lead of the evening with just under two minutes to play and they held on for a thrilling 21-17 Class AA road football victory at Vigilante Stadium.

With the Bruins ready to run out the clock, their first play of the drive was thwarted by Flathead linebacker Logan Wilson, who stripped the ball, causing the Bruins’ fourth turnover of the night.

On the next play from scrimmage, junior running back Josh McCracken broke free for a 50-yard touchdown run with 1:48 left on the clock that proved to be the game-winner.

In a contest featuring a combined seven lost fumbles, the Braves offense rushed for 309 yards.

“I thought we played very well, but we turned the ball over too many times,” Braves head coach Kyle Samson said.

“Our offensive line and our defensive line did a great job throughout the whole game controlling the line of scrimmage. Our kids played so hard. I can’t say enough about how tough they played.”

McCracken finished with 167 rushing yards on 18 carries while fellow junior Payton Boyce added 87 yards on 10 carries.

A week after throwing three interceptions, senior quarterback Easton Johnson was 4 of 11 for 77 yards through the air without throwing a pick. He connected with Keaton Krantz for a 21-yard touchdown strike with just four seconds left in the first half. The touchdown tied the game at seven.

“I thought Easton played great tonight,” Samson said.

“To comeback after last week and lead us the way he did tonight, I was so proud of the way he played.”

The Bruins scored 10 consecutive points in the second half highlighted by Will Hunthausen’s 88-yard run in the fourth quarter to give Capital a 17-7 lead.

But the Braves’ defense buckled down, stuffing the Bruins the rest of the quarter, allowing the offense to march down to the field to set up Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run moments before McCracken’s game-winning score.

“We kept telling our kids, ‘we’ve got eight minutes left. We’ve got to keep fighting,’” Samson said.

“That’s been our motto for this season, to keep fighting in the fourth quarter. They just really believe in each other and they played hard in that fourth quarter.”

While the Braves will entertain Missoula Big Sky next week for homecoming, the victory over Capital was a homecoming of sorts for Samson, who defeated his alma mater in his first visit back to Helena.

“With the respect that I have for that program and that coaching staff, to come back and win is really special,” Samson said.

“Yeah, it’s great for me personally, but I’m just so proud of our kids and our staff and they way they played out there.”

Flathead 0 7 0 14 — 21

Capital 7 0 3 7 — 17

First quarter

CAP – Walker Cozzie 1 run (Braxton Kent kick), 5:07

Second quarter

FLA – Keaton Krantz 21 pass from Easton Johnson (Alex Croymans kick), :04

Third quarter

CAP – Kent 23 field goal, 2:41

Fourth quarter

CAP – Will Hunthausen 88 run (Kent kick), 7:45

FLA – Easton Johnson 1 run (Croymans kick), 2:06

FLA – Josh McCracken 50 run (Crowymans kick), 1:48

FLA CAP

First downs 19 17

Rushing 50-309 29-143

Passing 4-11-0 16-27-0

Passing yards 77 173

Total offense 386 316

Fumbles-lost 5-3 5-4

Penalties 9-75 6-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Flathead: Easton Johnson 21-34, Payton Boyce 10-87, Josh McCracken 18-167, Jess Beaman 1-21. Capital: Ethan Askam 5-5, Gus Chancy 7-24, Will Hunthausen 2-89, Walker Cozzie 5-2, Josh Moore 2-2, Nick Wrigg 1-5, Mason Moe 3-5, Anthony Taylor 4-11.

PASSING – Flathead: Johnson 4-11-0-77. Capital: Chancy 15-26-0-168, Wrigg 1-1-0-5.

RECEIVING – Flathead: James Flannigan 1-22, Keaton Krantz 2-44, Alex Croymans 1-11. Capital: Nick Wrigg 3-25, Sean Mulcahy 7-71, Hunthausen 4-45, Askam 1-2, Sam Bryggman 1-11, Taylor 1-19.