COLUMBIA FALLS — In a battle of the final two unbeatens in Class A, Columbia Falls sent a message to the rest of the state in a 28-21 football victory over Dillon on homecoming night Thursday at Satterthwaite Field.

The Wildcats (5-0) bounced back from a sloppy start (4-1) to dominate Dillon the final three quarters, holding the Beavers to just 81 second-half yards in the win.

“The mental toughness that we showed coming back from a sluggish start,” Wildcats coach Jackson Schweikert said. “We were just wound up a little too much, doing some silly stuff. We settled down, started playing and it was a whole different team. We started playing fast and it was fun to watch.”

Columbia Falls began its comeback at the start of the second quarter, already trailing 14-0 with Dillon scoring on two of its first three drives. The Beavers needed just 11 yards to score its first touchdown after an early interception and converted three third downs on another drive to find a wide-open receiver on a broken play.

The Wildcats eased back into the game, taking small chunks each time on a 10-play drive to the Dillon 16-yard line.

Sean Miller got the Cats on the board one play later, hauling in an out-route from Dakota Bridwell at the 5-yard line before turning back infield and feinting past the only defender in front of him for a walk into the end zone.

Dillon answered later in the half with a touchdown to retake a 14-point advantage, but that momentum wouldn’t last long. Wildcats senior Braxton Reiten took back the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown, splitting the Beavers defense for his third return touchdown of the season.

A bad snap and a holding penalty put Dillon in a third-and-45 before it would eventually punt back to Columbia Falls with 55 seconds left in the half.

The Wildcats offense found its rhythm in the last-minute scenario, marching 73 yards in six plays, tying the game on a fade pass to Miller in the back corner of the end zone with 10 seconds to play.

With the juice back in the crowd, the Wildcats overwhelmed the Dillon offensive line at the start of the third quarter. On the Beavers first drive after halftime, Andersen, a Montana State commit, was nearly intercepted twice with a third pass batted down. Columbia Falls held the normally potent quarterback to three short runs on the next drive as it clearly began to show its strength.

After the two quick three-and-outs forced by the defense, Bridwell found Reiten on a post over the middle of the field, the speedy receiver nearly housing the ball once he got into the open field, only stopped by a shoestring tackle from Andersen at the Dillon 3-yard line. Bridwell punched in a touchdown on the next play to push Columbia Falls into the lead for the first time, 28-21.

The Wildcats forced a fumble on the next Dillon play, and once the Beavers got the ball back, forced two incompletions and sacked Andersen for a fourth time, causing him to spike the ball in frustration before yet another punt.

Meanwhile, Columbia Falls did its best to kill the clock, leaning on big running back Logan Kolodejchuk for 12 rushes in the second half.

Dillon got very little in the passing game in the second half, completing only 3 of 15 passes, and the Wildcat defense stiffened, allowing the Beavers past the Columbia Falls 40-yard line once in the second half, forcing two turnovers.

After the Beavers used their final timeout with 2:45 to play trying to preserve time for a game-tying drive, Columbia Falls nearly hit a dagger, Bridwell finding Trevor Hoerner for a 26-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4 with two minutes to play, only to have the play called back on illegal motion.

Columbia Falls had three consecutive motion penalties on fourth down of its final drive to open up space for a potential Dillon comeback, but the defense responded.

The Beavers got the ball back with 1:37 left on the clock, but dropped a first-down pass that would’ve gained big yards. Kolodejchuk got into the backfield on the next play, sacking Andersen for a 14-yard loss. One play later, Andersen threw a desperation pass over the middle of field that was intercepted by Hoerner, who ran into the open field before sliding down so his team could kneel out the clock on one of the biggest wins in decades.

“When we play fast — like we’re not thinking, we just play — we’re pretty good,” Schweikert said.

“That’s a quality team. It was a good slugfest.”

Bridwell was 20 for 31 passing for 266 yards and two touchdowns with a rushing touchdown. Reiten finished with seven catches for 130 yards and Hoerner added six catches for 67 yards to his game-sealing interception. Miller had three catches for 22 yards, two touchdowns and an interception of his own.

The defense held Andersen to 15 for 37 passing for 168 yards and two interceptions and 13 rushes for only 37 yards.

The win finishes off the nonconference season for the Wildcats, with a rivalry game at Whitefish (2-4) lined up next week. A matchup with Polson (4-1) in two weeks is another big test on the horizon.

“It’s still all preseason,” Schweikert said. “The real stuff begins now with conference play.”

Dillon 14 7 0 0 — 21

C. Falls 0 21 7 0 — 28

First Quarter

D—R.J. Fitzgerald 2 run (Todd Nordahl kick)

D—Gabe Hupp 4 pass from Troy Andersen (Nordahl kick)

Second Quarter

CF—Sean Miller 16 pass from Dakota Bridwell (Brandon Karberg kick)

D—Hupp 4 pass from Andersen (Nordahl kick)

CF—Braxton Reiten 87 kickoff return (Karberg kick)

CF—Miller 8 pass from Bridwell (Karberg kick)

Third Quarter

CF—Bridwell 3 run (Karberg kick)