It was the game and the result Hot Springs Coach Jim Lawson and his staff had been looking for in the early going of the 2022 Montana 6-man football season.

The Savage Heat appeared to have turned the corner in a positive way this past Friday when they hosted and beat Twin Bridges 40-6 in Hot Springs.

After losing to 32-18 on the road in their season opener, the Heat were looking to get things even last week when they hosted Valier.

But a heart-breaking last minute loss to Valier dropped Hot Springs to 0-2 on the new season as the coaching staff worked hard with a group of juniors and sophomores to get things heading in the right direction.

Senior Garth Parker continued his dominating season as usual running, blocking, tackling and kicking, but most importantly leading the youngsters into battle.

Those efforts paid off in a big way Friday night against Twin Bridges, a perennially strong program from Southwest Montana.

A blocked punt attempt that was recovered in the end zone by legacy sophomore Weston Slonaker led to an early two-point safety that got the Heat on the scoreboard first. When Hot Springs got the ball back as part of the safety, they wasted no time adding to their early lead.

With 6:23 remaining in the first quarter, sophomore quarterback Nick McAllister flipped a 20-yard touchdown pass to junior Jody Page. The extra point kick, good for two points at the six-man level, gave Hot Springs a 10-0 lead and they would never trail the rest of the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, Parker boomed another ball into the end zone for a touch back, a feat he accomplished throughout the game and which kept Twin Bridges with poor field possession after each Heat score.

When the Falcons could not advance, they were forced to punt, and the ball was returned to the Twin Bridges 15 yard line. A Parker run took the ball to the two-yard line, where, on second and goal, sophomore running back Johnny Waterbury plunged over the goal line for a 16-0 Heat lead with 3:26 left in the first quarter.

The swarming Hot Springs defense held on the next Twin Bridges drive, allowing the Heat to get the ball back on downs near midfield. Several plays later, McAllister found junior wide out Quincy Styles-Depot open and the subsequent sprint to the end zone resulted in a 55-yard TD with 6:24 left in the first half.

That catch by Styles-Depot, who missed the Twin Bridges game a week earlier due to concussion protocol, upped the Hot Springs advantage to 22-0.

The following kickoff was fumbled by Twin Bridges and recovered by the Heat’s David Chapman at the Falcons 10 yard line.

Parker bulled into the end zone a play later, giving Hot Springs a commanding 28-0 lead with 2:11 to go until halftime.

Things continued to go bad for the visitors on their next possession when they attempted a roll-out lateral that was fumbled and recovered by the Heat.

A steady, if not penalty plagued Hot Springs drive, including a 28-yard Waterbury run, moved the ball to the Falcons 10. A short time later Styles-Depot caught his second TD pass of the game, a short toss from McAllister. That put the score at 34-0 Hot Springs as time ran out in the first half.

Twin Bridges forced the Heat to punt on their first drive of the second half, then moved steadily downfield in a drive that was capped by a 29-yard touchdown throw, cutting the Hot Springs lead to 34-6.

Both teams had trouble holding onto the ball the rest of the third quarter with the score remaining 34-6 heading into the final 10 minutes of play. Hot Springs opened the fourth quarter with possession of the ball which led to a touchdown pass to Waterbury, closing out the game scoring at 40-6.

The win moved Hot Springs to 1-2 on the year. Next up for the Heat is a pair of road games, beginning this Friday night in White Sulphur Springs. Hot Springs stays on the road the following week with a game in Gardiner before returning home to take on Noxon, Friday, Sept. 30 in their Homecoming game.