Down 28-0 in the third quarter, the Columbia Falls football team battled back to make a game of it against Laurel in the quarterfinals of the playoffs, falling just short, 35-28.

The Wildcats were down 21-0 at the break after Laurel dominated with a running attack. The Locomotives chewed through the clock as well, and the Wildcats defense was on the field way more than it wanted to be, only possessing the ball three or four minutes the entire first half, coach Kelly Houle said.

Houle said the Wildcats had a few jitters in the beginning of the game, but the Cats calmly went over what they needed to do to get back into it at the half.

“There wasn’t any screaming and hollering,” Houle said.

Laurel responded with another touchdown early in the third to go up 28-0.

The Cats would not go down easy.

Reggie Sapa got the Cats on the board with a short touchdown run to make it 7-0 after the Cooper Ross point after. Then sophomore quarterback Banyan Johnston hit Jett Pitts on a 33-yard run with 2:14 in the third to make it 28-14.

Laurel added a touchdown to make it 35-14, but the Cats made stops on defense and Johnston kept on scoring, running in two more TDs to bring the Cats within a TD with about 5 minutes remaining.

Jory Hill then picked off a Laurel pass in the end zone and the Cats had one last shot to tie it, but Johnston threw a pick with a little over a minute to play to end the Cats’ chances of a colossal comeback.

“We came back and showed resilience, resistance and response to adversity,” coach Kelly Houle said. “... It was fun to watch in the second half.”

Houle said he was proud of the team and thanked his coaching staff for all of its support this season.

This was a learning experience for the young team. While the Cats lose 10 seniors, including stellar linemen Lane Voermans, Carson Reid and Rowdy Crump along with Ross and Sapa,  they retain Johnston and a host of skilled players, like Trip Ross, Cooper’s younger brother, Easton Brooks, Hill and Pitts, just to name a few.

In other words, they’re not rebuilding next year, they’re picking up where they left off.

“I’m looking forward to it already,” Houle said.

The Cats ended the season at 7-3 overall and won six in a row before the Laurel loss.

Laurel goes onto play Havre in the semifinals, as the Blue Ponies beat Frenchtown in an upset. The team to beat certainly is Billings Central, who are undefeated and have clobbered the competition all season long. They beat Whitefish in the quarterfinals 55-21.