MISSOULA — Josh McCracken was held to 26 yards rushing last week at Bozeman.

Friday, he ran for 45 yards — on the first drive.

McCracken scored three touchdowns and hammered his way to 186 yards on just 18 carries as Flathead demolished Hellgate, 63-6, at Missoula County Stadium.

“I was very proud of our kids,” Flathead coach Kyle Samson said. “We talked all week about starting fast and it was a big key for us to score on the first drive. I thought our execution levels were really good.”

The Braves ran the ball eight straight times on that opening drive, capped by a one-yard McCracken plunge, and the senior would add a 15- yard score and another one-yarder before the end of the first half.

Against a Hellgate team that surrendered 77 points a week ago and has lost 29 straight games, the Braves were hardly tested and led 49-6 at halftime.

“We got a chance to see if our technique and our fundamentals improved and I think they were,” Samson said. “I want to see the things we talk about and see improvement there and I think we will when we go back and watch the film.”

Flathead (4-2) wiped away any of the bitter taste of last week’s 23-0 loss with it’s fourth lopsided win of the season. The Braves four victories have come by 21, 29, 39 and 57 points, and they’ve scored an average of 46 points in those wins.

Getting to four wins also means the Braves are guaranteed to match their highest win total in the last seven years. The 2011 team went 4-7 and was also the last Flathead squad to make the Class AA playoffs.

“I don’t really get caught up in (getting to four wins) but it’s a good win,” Samson said. “We’re putting ourselves in a position now where I think we have a good shot (at making the playoffs). Our goal is to be 5-2 after next week.”

The Braves finished with 495 yards of total offense and got a second straight terrific performance from Bridger Johnson. The junior quarterback was 9-for-13 for 191 yards and three touchdowns, including a 33-yard strike to Keaton Krantz that made the score 14-0.

“Bridger did a really nice job throwing the ball, he was really accurate,” Samson said. “And James Flannigan had a huge night.”

Flannigan, a junior wide receiver, caught four passes for 121 yards, and that included a one-yard touchdown catch, his first of the season. Wyatt Smith also grabbed a six-yard score just before halftime.

Hellgate (0-6) kept the game interesting the very early going by spreading the field and slinging the football around on their first several drives. It was a dramatic shift in offensive strategy for the usually option-centric Knights, and something that forced the Braves to make adjustments.

“(Their offense) was something we haven’t seen,” Samson said. “We had to change our whole defensive game plan after that first series, but once we settled in we readjusted our scheme to fit the pass. Our kids and our coaches did a nice job adjusting to that.”

Flathead’s reserves played most of the final two quarters, with sophomore Taylor Morton seeing time at quarterback along with dozens of others across the field.

The Braves also blocked a pair of punts in the win, including one in the fourth quarter by Justin Mielke that was returned two yards for a touchdown by Tucker Nadeau.

“Every week we’ve had some sort of breakdown in special teams and this week it was nice to see us make a couple big plays,” Samson said.

The Braves will play each of their final four games of the regular season at Legends Stadium, starting Friday when they host Butte at 7 p.m. on homecoming.

Flathead 21 28 7 7 — 63

Hellgate 6 0 0 0 — 6

First quarter

FLT — Josh McCracken 1 run (Justin Gardner kick), 9:15

FLT — Keaton Krantz 33 pass from Bridger Johnson (Gardner kick), 4:57

HLG — Youbles 16 pass from Botsford (pass failed), 3:22

FLT — McCracken 15 run (Gardner kick), 1:01

Second quarter

FLT — McCracken 1 run (Gardner kick), 11:00

FLT — Ryan Skramovsky 1 run (Gardner kick), 4:53

FLT — James Flannigan 1 pass from Johnson (Gardner kick), 3:21

FLT — Wyatt Smith 6 pass from Johnson (Gardner kick), 0:16

Third quarter

FLT — Seth Adolph 2 run (Gardner kick), 4:37

Fourth quarter

FLT — Tucker Nadeau 2 punt block return (Gardner kick), 3:41

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — FLT: Josh McCracken 18-186, Seth Adolph 5-58, Bridger Johnson 3-20, Logan Thurston 4-13, Ryan Skramovsky 2-11, Payton Boyce 3-10, Josh Gruber 1-6. HGT: Botsford 16-50, Needles 12-25, Morrison 10-46, Kalm 3-11, Baker 4-8.

PASSING — FLT: Bridger Johnson 9-13-0-191. HGT: Botsford 10-23-2-70, C. Schenk 1-2-0-9.

RECEIVING — FLT: James Flannigan 4-121, Keaton Krantz 1-33, Ryan Skramovsky 1-21, Seth Adolph 1-10, Wyatt Smith 1-6. HGT: Youbles 6-79, Morrison 5-42.