Columbia Falls barely topped Whitefish 3-0 in a defensive battle during the annual Dog-Cat football game Friday in Columbia Falls.

“Defensively it was a good game by both teams. They did a nice job and played solid on the front. On the flip side, our team responded well. We had a couple of red zone stops that kept us in the game. But at the end of the day, they made a few more plays, had a couple of first downs and got a few more points,” said Brett Bollweg, Whitefish head coach.  

The Wildcats limited Whitefish quarterback Carson Gulick to a 6 of 23 passing performance for 51 yards, and 29 rushing yards on 13 carries.  

Bulldog C.J. Thew had four catches for 42 yards. 

Whitefish fell to 2-2 overall and 2-1 in league. 

The only points of the game came from Wildcat Cooper Ross’ 41-yard field goal in the second quarter. Ross also intercepted a Whitefish pass with 25 seconds left in the game, effectively holding off the Bulldogs. 

Whitefish last faced off against Columbia Falls Oct. 27, 2023, where they had a season-ending loss of 42-0 in the first round of State A playoffs. In regular season play nearly one year ago on Sept. 13, 2023, the Bulldogs won 20-14 in overtime. 

“The big picture is that it’s fun to play Columbia Falls every year. Going into it is a big deal, but we try not to linger on stuff in the past. We’re a completely new team from last year, and so are they,” Bollweg said. 

The team has a fresh outlook for the rest of the season.  

“We’re only at the halfway point and we don’t have anything that we can’t accomplish yet. We continue to get better and make improvements,” Bollweg said.  

Whitefish plays Dillon at home this Friday at 6 p.m. Next week on Oct. 4 will be the homecoming game against Bigfork at 7 p.m.