Local football teams are on the downhill slide to the playoff season, with every game counting. Last week, Charlo and Arlee continued to win, while Ronan, Mission, and Polson lost tough match ups. 

RONAN 64

DEER LODGE 84

The Ronan Chiefs traveled to Deer Lodge on Friday night to play in what would becoming the unofficial highest scoring game in Montana football history. A few different records were broken that night, although none of them in favor of the Chiefs. In a game that would take three hours and thirty-eight minutes to complete, Ronan scored first on a 15-yard pass from Kasey Mock to Zeke Misa. The Wardens answered with two of their own scores before Mock threw another touchdown, this time to Aaron Misa. Mock would end up throwing four touchdowns before leaving the game with an injury in the second quarter. Part of the reason for the amount of yardage through the air was the loss of Ronan’s Josh Morgan in first quarter. He was injured on his third carry of the game. To end the second quarter, Zeke Misa scored on a 91-yard kickoff return that included two laterals to get him the ball. At halftime, the score was 49-32 in favor of Deer Lodge.

Things didn’t slow down in the second half. Deer Lodge’s John Bannon, who broke a state record for the most rushing yards in a game with 512, scored his second touchdown of the night for the first points of the third quarter. Then, Ronan’s Kade Schutzman, who came in as quarterback after Mock’s injury, ran back a kick from 72-yards out. Ronan struck again on a Schutzmann pass to Aaron Misa before Bannon scored his third touchdown to end the quarter. That made the score 63-46 in favor of the Wardens going into the fourth quarter. Scoring would go back and forth in the last quarter, and included three touchdown throws by Schutzman. The Chiefs were within two scores at one point, but couldn’t quite pull off the comeback win.

Chiefs’ coach Jim Benn said the team never gave up. “It was a lot closer than the score would indicate. It never felt out of reach,” he said. Deer Lodge ran 99 plays to Ronan’s 80 plays, 50 of which were passing plays. in the third, Ronan was down to their third string quarterback. Benn said at one point, he had nine underclassmen playing due to injuries.

Neither team’s defense played well, and Benn said the Chiefs didn’t tackle well. He said the game was one of the craziest things he’s ever been a part of. “It was as wild of a game as I’ve ever seen. At one point we scored on a hook and ladder. I’m proud of the kids for battling through.”

While the game wasn’t pretty, Benn said it was exciting to see how capable the offense is of scoring points. In the end, Ronan’s six turnovers would be the turning points, one of which came on an interception return for a touchdown that sealed the deal for the Wardens.

The Wardens finished with 690 total yards of rushing, 220 total yards of passing and 910 total yards of offense. Ronan had 547 yards through the air, 15 yards on the ground, and 562 yards of total offense. Kasey Mock completed 15 of 24 passes for 262 yards, four TD’s, three interceptions, and four rushes for 19 yards before he was hurt in the second quarter. Kade Schutzman came in for him and completed 10 of 24 passes for 253 yards, four TD’s, two interceptions, and two fumbles, including one that was lost. Zeke Misa had six receptions for 182 yds and three touchdowns and returned a kickoff for another. Brendon Blood had seven receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Misa had five receptions for 67 yards and two touchdowns.

Ronan- 18 14 14 18 - 64

Deer Lodge- 28 21 14 21 - 84

1st Quarter

R - Ezekial Misa 15 pass from Kasey Mock (kick failed)

D - Cade Benjamin 36 run (Koby Owens kick)

D - Mitch Odden 9 pass from Benjamin (Owens kick)

R - Aaron Misa 21 pass from Mock (pass failed)

D - Odden 54 pass from Benjamin (Owens kick)

R - E. Misa 26 pass from Mock (pass failed)

D - Colter Scully 21 pass from Benjamin (Owens kick)

2nd Quarter

D - Odden 60 pass from Benjamin (Owens kick)

D - John Bannon 3 run (Owens kick)

R - Tyler Houle 29 pass from Mock (pass good)

D - Odden 46 pass from Benjamin (Owens kick)

R - E. Misa 91 kick return (pass failed)

3rd Quarter

D - Bannon 20 run (Owens kick)

R - Kade Schutzman 72 kick return (A. Misa pass)

R - A. Misa 30 pass from Schutzman (pass failed)

D - Bannon 25 run (Owens kick)

4th Quarter

D - Greydon Nicholson 3 run (kick blocked)

R - Brendon Blood 47 pass from Schutzman (pass failed)

R - Chris Brooks 22 pass from Schutzman (pass failed)

D - Bannon 55 run (Nicholson run)

R - E. Misa 44 pass from Schutzman (run failed)

D - Scully 42 interception return (Owens kick)

POLSON 26

COLUMBIA FALLS 35

In Columbia Falls on Friday night, an exciting battle of Northwestern division teams took place. Columbia Falls would strike first on a nine-yard run. Polson’s Colton Cote answered that score with a six-yard scramble into the end zone during the second quarter. Matthew Rensvold caught a 10-yard pass from Tanner Wilson to put the Pirates up 14-6 at halftime. Polson then came out in the third quarter and scored again on a Wilson run, but Columbia Falls answered to make the score 20-13 Polson, after three. The fourth quarter was mostly Columbia Falls, who scored three touchdowns to Polson’s one. That TD came on a 43-yard run from Wilson, which put the Pirates up 26-19 before two scores by Columbia Falls sunk them.

Tanner Wilson rushed 23 times for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns in the loss. He was also 13-21 for 172 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception. Matthew Rensvold had four catches for 70 yards and one touchdown. Hudson Smith had five catches for 71 yards and Walter Wood had three catches for 32 yards. The defense was led by Rensvold, who had 10 tackles. Cameron Brown with five tackles and one sack, DE Isaiah Williams with five tackles and one sack and Wilson with six tackles.

Polson is 1-2 in conference and 3-4 overall. They host Havre on Friday night. That game will take place at 6 p.m.

Polson- 0 14 6 6 - 26

C. Falls- 6 0 7 22 - 35

CF - Trevor Hoerner 9 run (Brandon Karberg kick blocked)

P - Colton Cote 6 run (Cameron Brown kick)

P - Matt Rensvold 10 pass from Tanner Wilson (Brown kick)

P - Wilson 1 run (kick blocked)

CF - Dakota Bridwell 1 run (Karberg kick)

CF - Stephen Lindsey 4 run (kick failed)

P - Wilson 42 run (run failed)

CF - Bridwell 1 run (Lindsey pass from Bridwell)

CF - Lindsey 32 run (Bridwell run)

MISSION 7

LOYOLA 28

The Mission Bulldogs traveled to Missoula on Friday night to take on Loyola. In the lowest scoring game out of all Lake County games, they would fall to Loyola by 21 points. Loyola was led by Aiden Collins, who had two of Loyola’s four scores. Mission’s Nick Durglo would score the only touchdown of the night for the Bulldogs on a two yard run. Gus Bosley finished with 82 rushing yards and Israel Umphrey added another 51 yards on the ground. Bill von Holtum was Mission’s defensive leader with five solo tackles and five assists.

The Bulldogs drop to 1-6 overall. They take on Ronan at home this Friday night. This week is their senior night and homecoming week.

St. Ignatius- 0 0 0 7 - 7

Loyola- 7 14 0 7 - 28

L- Aidan Collins 24 run (Arthur Pettit kick)

L - Collins 13 run (Pettit kick)

L - Kellen Round 7 run (Pettit kick)

S - Nick Durglo 2 run (Emilio Bravo kick)

L - Strother Cooper 45 pass from Round (Pettit kick)

CHARLO 62

FLINT CREEK 54

On Friday, Charlo traveled to Phillipsburg to take on Flint Creek, a combination of Phillipsburg and Drummond. The winner of the game would most likely take the second seed in the Western division, which meant a home game in the first round.

Charlo got on the board first with a two-yard run by Jade Smith. Next, Flint Creek’s Mark Estes would run eight yards to score. Estes was all over the field during the game. He ran for three scores, threw for one, and had an interception just in the first half. Charlo’s Michael Delaney ran for a TD, then threw for another in the second quarter. Jared Doty ran one in from 35 yards in the second quarter. With a tie score at halftime, the Vikings came out strong in the third, scoring 28 points and shutting out Flint Creek. Jade Smith had a six-yard run for a TD, then Michael Delaney threw to Brady Fryberger before running one in himself. The last score of the third quarter came on a 12-yard pass from Delaney to Zane Hafliger. That put Charlo up 54-26 after three. Flint Creek made a furious comeback in the fourth, scoring four times on two runs from Brad Holland and two throws by Mark Estes. Charlo’s Jared Doty had the team’s only touchdown in the fourth, which came just 90 seconds after it began. The Vikings were able to hold off Flint Creek in the end, but unfortunately for them, lost Brady Fryberger to a severely broken arm.

Michael Delaney was 15-27 with 176 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. He also ran for two touchdowns. Jared Doty ran the ball 18 times for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Jade Smith ran the ball 22 times for 102 yards and also had two touchdowns. Zane Hafliger caught five balls for 91 yards and two touchdowns. Doty led the defense with 12 tackles.

Charlo has a bye next week, and should go into the playoffs in the second seed out of the Western division, which means they will get a home game in the first round against the third seed from the Southern division.

Charlo- 12 14 28 8 - 62

Drummond- 14 12 0 28 - 54

First Quarter

C- Jade Smith runs for 2 yards. (Two point conversion pass by #3 Michael Delaney to Team no good)

FC- Mark Estes runs for 8 yards. (Two point conversion run by #3 Mark Estes good)

C- Michael Delaney runs for 7 yards. (Two point conversion pass by #3 Michael Delaney to Team no good)

FC- Mark Estes runs for 45 yards. (Two point conversion pass by #3 Mark Estes to Team no good)

Second quarter

C- Michael Delaney pass complete to #53 Zane Hafliger for 33 yards. (Two point conversion run by #48 Jade Smith good)

C- Jared Doty runs for 35 yards. Two point conversion pass by #3 Michael Delaney to Team no good)

FC- Mark Estes runs for 11 yards. (Two point conversion pass by #3 Mark Estes to Team no good)

FC- Mark Estes pass complete to #23 Cade Estes for 44 yards. (Two point conversion run by #3 Mark Estes no good)

Third Quarter

C- Jade Smith runs for 6 yards. (Two point conversion pass by #3 Michael Delaney to #53 Zane Hafliger good)

C- Michael Delaney pass complete to #12 Brady Fryberger for 13 yards. (Two point conversion run by #48 Jade Smith no good)

C- Michael Delaney runs for 3 yards. (Two point conversion pass by #3 Michael Delaney to #15 Stetson Stipe good)

C- Michael Delaney pass complete to #53 Zane Hafliger for 12 yards. (Two point conversion pass good)

Fourth Quarter

FC- Mark Estes pass complete to #23 Cade Estes for 41 yards. (Two point conversion run by #3 Mark Estes no good)

C- Jared Doty runs for 36 yards. (Two point conversion run by #33 Toby Odom good)

FC- Brad Holland runs for 22 yards. (Two point conversion pass by #3 Mark Estes to #23 Cade Estes good)

FC- Mark Estes pass complete to #23 Cade Estes for 11 yards. (Two point conversion run by #21 Ethan Stephenson good)

FC- Brad Holland runs for 7 yards. (Two point conversion run by #3 Mark Estes no good)

ARLEE 58 NOXON 0

Arlee continued their win streak by shutting out Noxon on Friday night. The Warriors first scored on a defensive play when Brad Brazill put points up on his second touchdown in two weeks by recovering a fumble in the end zone. Next, Tyler Tanner would run 17 yards for a score, followed by a 68-yard run by Patrick BigSam to put Arlee up 20-0 after one quarter. BigSam had another 60-plus yard touchdown run in the second. Harold Yocum ran one in from 10 yards out, then Tanner caught a 46-yard pass from BigSam. After that, some new faces scored points for Arlee. Greg Whitesell ran for 12 yards to score, and Lane Schall went eight for the last score of the game.

The Warriors are 7-0 and host Darby in their last regular season game on Friday. The first round of playoff games start on October 31, when Arlee will host the fourth seed out of the Southern division.

Noxon- 0 0 0 0 - 0

Arlee- 20 24 8 6 - 58

A- Brad Brazil fumble recovery in end zone, (pass fail)

A - Tyler Tanner 17 run, (pass fail)

A - Pat BigSam 68 run (Big Sam run)

A - BigSam 65 run, (Greg Whitesell pass from Bigsam)

A - Harold Yocum 10 run, (Tanner run)

A - Tanner 46 pass from BigSam, (BigSam run)

A - Whitesell 12 run, (Chase Gardner run)

A - Lane Schall 8 run, (run fail)