The blocks were set up, the field was open, but the pass never made it.

Trailing by two points with 1:05 left to play, the Flathead Braves ran a screen pass from their own 38-yard line, but Missoula Big Sky defensive lineman Trevor Frandsen tipped Easton Johnson’s attempt and intercepted it as he was falling to the ground to seal a 25-23 road victory for the Eagles at Legends Stadium on Friday night.

It was a devastating end to a thrilling game that featured 27 combined points in the final quarter.

“I think we started off a little slow in the first half. Give credit to Big Sky. They’ve got two really great running backs. I thought their offensive line played hard,” Flathead coach Kyle Samson said.

“I was proud of our kids in the second half. The way they fought back, they put us in a position to win the game.”

Flathead (2-2) came out of the locker room at halftime with just two points on the scoreboard, coming from a second quarter safety when senior defensive back Jacob Link and a host of Braves swarmed Big Sky tight end Colin Bingham two-yards deep in the end zone.

The offense erupted in the second half, scoring on plays on 85, 66 and 58 yards.

In the third quarter, junior running back Josh McCracken took a handoff to the right side and cut back across the field on his way to a 85-yard touchdown run to cut Flathead’s deficit to 12-9.

“It was designed to go outside, but Easton (Johnson) told me to look for a cut back,” McCracken said.

“That’s what I did, and Easton gave me a great block on the left side.”

The teams traded punts before the Eagles marched down to the Flathead 3-yard line. That’s where Big Sky running back Cory Diaz plunged in on first and goal to take a 19-9 lead early in the fourth quarter.

But a heavy does of McCracken and junior Payton Boyce made the Eagles complacent. Easton Johnson faked to McCracken on a zone-read play and darted 66 yards down the right side for a touchdown.

Johnson finished with 118 yards on the ground while McCracken ran for 121.

Trailing by three, the next play from scrimmage shifted the momentum in favor of Flathead.

Junior linebacker Jacob Ridgeway stripped Big Sky running back Michael Banna of the ball and senior defensive end Aaron Siderius recovered the fumble at the Braves’ 40-yard line.

Three plays later, Flathead had its first lead of the night.

Johnson hit junior wideout Keaton Krantz on a 20-yard post pattern, but Krantz broke a tackle in the Eagles’ secondary and raced across the goal line for a 58-yard touchdown. The strike put the Braves in front 23-19.

“We wanted to fire our defense up and they responded. It was a big turnover,” Samson said.

“For us to score, we had some good momentum going there.”

Just over eight minutes remained on the clock, which proved to be plenty of time for Big Sky to score. On the ninth play of the Eagles’ drive, quarterback Luke Entzel heaved a deep ball to wideout Chance Maes, who hauled it in as a defending Brave lost his footing and fell to the ground.

It was Entzel’s third touchdown pass of the night and the second receiving score for Maes.

The 54-yard touchdown silenced the homecoming crowd at Legends Stadium and the Eagles thwarted the Flathead comeback attempt for the victory.

“We had our chances,” senior defensive back Walker Malmin said.

“They made one more play than us. It could have gone either way. We had a good game plan, stuff the box, make them throw the ball. They just made the big play in the end.”

Flathead finished with 392 yards of total offense to the Eagles 377. The Braves racked up 282 rushing yards, and threw for 110.

The Braves travel to Great Falls for a Week 5 matchup next Friday against C.M Russell at 7 p.m.

Big Sky 0 12 0 13 — 25

Flathead 0 2 7 14 — 23

2nd Quarter

BS — Seamus Lucostic 30 yard pass from Luke Entzel (kick failed), 9:14

F — Safety, 5:02

BS — Chance Maes 6 yard pass from Entzel (Enztel pass fail), 0:36

3rd Quarter

F — Josh McCracken 85 yard run (Alex Croymans kick), 2:48

4th Quarter

BS — Cory Diaz 3 yard run (Nick Wakai kick), 10:47

F — Easton Johnson 66 yard run (Croymans kick), 9:54

F — Keaton Krantz 58 yard pass from Johnson (Croymans kick), 8:12

BS — Maes 53 yards pass from Entzel (kick blocked), 3:58

————

Big Sky Flathead

Total Yards 377 392

Rushing Yards 215 282

Passing Yards 162 110

Total Plays 72 46

First Downs 17 9

Turnovers 1 2

Penalties 4 4

Penalty yards 25 41

————

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing — Big Sky (50-215): Cory Diaz 23-131, Michael Banna 15-54, Luke Entzel 12-30. Flathead (29-282): Josh McCracken 12-121, Easton Johnson 10-118, Payton Boyce 7-43.

Passing — Big Sky: Luke Entzel 13-22-0-162. Flathead: Easton Johnson 7-17-2-110.

Receiving — Big Sky: Chance Maes 4-72, Seamus Lucostic 5-63, Michael Banna 3-29, Colin Bingham 1-(-2). Flathead: Keaton Krantz 2-61, Andrew Obst 3-27, Josh McCracken 1-14, Blake Wilson 1-8.