Add to the list of six-player football teams to watch in the rapidly approaching Montana high school playoffs, as usual, the Hot Springs Savage Heat.

Hot Springs put a stamp on that thought with a 51-8 win over Western 6-Player conference foe Twin Bridges Friday night on the Falcons home field.

The win boosted Hot Springs to 7-0 on the year, good for first place in the current Western 6-player conference standings. The Savage Heat will conclude their regular season schedule this coming Friday night when they venture to Sanders County rival Noxon for a game with the second-place Red Devils.

Hot Springs got on the board early and often in the opening quarter versus the Falcons, beginning when junior running back Johnny Waterbury broke free on a 41-yard sprint to the end zone that put the Heat up 6-0 in the opening minutes of the game. Quincy Styles-Depoe kicked the point after touchdown (two points under six-player rules) and the visitors had a quick 8-0 lead.

A short time later in the first quarter of play, junior tight end David Chapman hauled in a 21-yard receiving touchdown pass from junior QB Nick McAllister, pumping the Hot Springs lead to 14-0 when the PAT kick failed.

Before the first quarter came to an end, Waterbury broke loose on a 65-yard TD run that, with a successful Styles-Depoe PAT kick, gave the visitors a 22-0 lead.

In the opening minutes of the second quarter the lead increased to 24-0 when the Falcons blocked a punt from the Twin Bridges endzone. Twin Bridges got on the scoreboard when they scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass play. The PAT kick was no good, leaving the score at 30-8 in favor of Hot Springs. That score stood up as the first half came to an end.

Hot Springs came out in the second half and put six more points on the board in the third quarter when Waterbury scored his second TD of the game on a six yard frun. The PAT was no good. At that point, Hot Springs held a 36-8 lead.

Chapman added to the Savage Heat later in the third quarter when he capped a Hot Springs drive with a three-yard TD plunge that put Hot Springs ahead 44-8.

The Savage Heat defense posted a second half shutout while the Heat offense added one more TD, a five-yard run my McAllister in the fourth quarter. The successful PAT run, good for one point in six-player world, gave the Savage Heat a 51-8 lead, which then became the final score.

Waterbury had an outstanding game for Hot Springs, accumulating 182 yards rushing on 10 carries, a staggering 18.2 yard per carry average. He also had three receptions for 50 yards. McAllister also had a solid game, throwing for 130 yards on 7-for-11 passing, and picked up 38 yards rushing on four carries.

The loss left Twin Bridges with a 4-4 season record and a 3-4 West 6-player conference mark.