Long bus rides and fierce matchups feature in the Class A soccer semifinals Saturday.

Columbia Falls sends both the boys and girls teams to square off with Billings Central, while the Whitefish girls head to Laurel and the Bulldog boys go to Stevensville.

The Wildcats (12-0-1) and Rams (13-0-0) are the last unbeatens on the boys side of Class A and feature some of the top players in the state. 

“For a team that has to pack our bags and jump on a bus for a 10-hour road trip to play an opponent that is still undefeated, some coaches may not be excited, but we are.” Wildcats coach O’Brien Byrd said.

Columbia Falls defeated Polson 3-0 at home in the quarterfinals, while Billings Central topped Hamilton 3-1. 

Maxwell Everett leads Columbia Falls with 32 goals — a number that surpasses the all-class record held by Missoula Sentinel’s Kyle Sillars, but is only good for second in Class A this season (Stevensville’s David Beames sits at 35).

River Wolford leads the Wildcats with 20 assists; that's best in Class A and equal to Missoula Hellgate’s Brady Reed for tops among all classes. 

Cole Bland tops the Rams with 12 goals and eight assists.

“You know that it is going to be a toe-to-toe battle,” Byrd said. “We are going to play to dominate and to win.” 

In the other boys semifinal, Whitefish takes on Stevensville down in the Bitterroot Valley.

Bulldogs coach Eric Sawtelle knows this will be a tough battle for his team but hopes they can play their brand of soccer. 

“We are going to play our game, we’re a possession-based team,” Sawtelle said. “Get back defensively and shut down the lanes, prevent the direct balls.” 

The Yellowjackets feature the state’s leading scorer in Beames, who has 18 assists to go with his 35 goals.

Whitefish’s Kyler Jonson leads his team in scoring with 14 goals and 11 assists.

The two teams met earlier in the season with Whitefish taking the victory 5-4.

As for the girls, Columbia Falls and Billings Central both come off big wins in their quarterfinals — the Wildkats 10-0 over Missoula Loyola and the Rams 8-0 over Polson.

“Billings is historically a strong program,” Columbia Falls coach Thomas Clark said. “They have a lot of talent and they can cause problems.” 

The Wildkats will rely on their defense to keep a potent Rams offense with two double digit goal scorers — Amaya Lorash and Emerson Dull — off the board.

“We have got a fantastic backline, goalkeeper has been locked in,” Clark said. “I think it's the best backline in the state.”

Just down the road in Laurel, Whitefish takes on the Locomotives in the other girls semifinal.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 1-0 win over Hamilton in the quarterfinals, while Laurel defeated Bigfork 3-0.

Whitefish coach Kelly Ordway has her team practicing in Laurel Friday to prepare for the turf field.

“The turf field is really fast, so we’re working on pacing of passes,” Ordway said. “The bounces are stronger on turf also.”

Ordway notes that Laurel’s attack can succeed from all parts of the field and that their players are good at using either foot.

Darby Boehler is second in the state with 23 goals for Laurel and eighth grader Abigail Sparks scored twice for the Locomotives in their quarterfinal win over Bigfork. She has 16 tallies this season.

Delaney Smith leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 18 goals, Charlize Ullrich scored the lone goal from the penalty spot in their win over Hamilton. 

Class A playoffs 

Boys 

Quarterfinals 

Oct. 19 

Billings Central 3, Hamilton 1 

Columbia Falls 3, Polson 0 

Stevensville 4, Libby 1 

Whitefish 3, Lone Peak 1 

Semifinals 

Saturday, Oct. 26 

Columbia Falls (12-0-1) at Billings Central (13-0-0) noon 

Whitefish (10-2-1) at Stevensville (12-1-0) 2 p.m. 

Girls 

First Round 

Oct. 14 

Laurel 4, Lone Peak 1 2OT 

Quarterfinals 

Oct. 19 

Billings Central 8, Polson 0 

Columbia Falls 10, Missoula Loyola 0 

Whitefish 1, Hamilton 0 

Laurel 3, Bigfork 0 

Semifinals 

Saturday, Oct. 26 

Columbia Falls (10-2-1) at Billings Central (11-0-2) 10 a.m. 

Whitefish (9-3-1) at Laurel (10-0-4) noon