It was an expected hurdle for the Thompson Falls High football team.

Not only were they moving up from 8-man football, where they were unbeaten state champs last year, but their opener in the 11-man ranks had them matched with a perennial state championship contender.

And after being stunned in the first half, the Blue Hawks regrouped and played even with Broadwater County (Townsend) in the second half.

Teams who win championships show this trait. Keep fighting to the end like T Falls did or give up and go home. Montana 8-man Coach of the Year Jared Koskela’s team kept fighting.

The Blue Hawks fell behind early when the visiting Bulldogs scored on a six-yard run. A successful point after touchdown, PAT, was good giving Townsend a 7-0 lead.

That lead evaporate a short time later when T Falls’ Bryson LeCoure plunged into the end zone on a one-yard run. The Hawks went for a two-point conversion and were successful, giving them an 8-7 lead.

However, the Bulldogs scoring twice more in the opening quarter, once on a three-yard keeper and later on a 10-yard touchdown pass. One of the two PAT kick attempts was good, putting Townsend up 20-8 by the end of quarter number one.

Townsend would score three more times in the second quarter, on a 20-yard run, a 14-yard pass and an eight-yard scamper, boosting their lead to a commanding 39-8 at halftime before a large crowd in T Falls.

The Bulldogs kept up the offensive pressure in the third quarter, scoring on a pair of one-yard plunges while their defense continued it’s stingy play from earlier in the game. One out of three PAT tries was good, putting the score at 52-8.

However, the Blue Hawks kept battling and before the third quarter came to an end Braxton Dorscher broke free on a 12-yard touchdown run for Thompson Falls. A successful two-point PAT run cut into the Bulldogs’s lead at 52-16.

In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Thompson Falls struck again, this time on a 15-yard TD pass from LeCoure. The Hawks again added a two-point conversion to pull within 52-24.

Townsend would add one last touchdown in the late stages of the game to produce the final 58-24 score.

Next up for the Blue Hawks is a game this Friday against Three Forks. After that the Hawks travel to Butte to take on Shepherd on Friday, September 9 on a neutral field.

Can you add this to the end of the T Falls story? Thanks!

After the loss, Coach Koskela remained upbeat, looking forward to the next chance to play.

"We put too much pressure on ourselves after the state title run we had last year," he said. "We have to calm down and play to our identity, we did not do that Friday. The transition from eight to 11 was thought to be hard, but it was harder than we thought. This week will be different. We will be another team with less mistakes and less pressure."