The Whitefish Bulldogs will have to rise to the occasion to continue their playoff run, as they face the dominant Laurel Locomotives in the quarterfinals Friday.  

The Bulldogs (7-2, 4-1), the second seed in Northwest A, will travel to Laurel to play the Locomotives, (8-1, 5-0), the top Central A seed. The Bulldogs will depart on Thursday to arrive in time for Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff.  

The Locomotives are a disciplined team with a high-powered offense, only losing to Billings Central this season. They come to the game fresh, having last played Oct. 24 in a regular season victory over Havre.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, will look to roll on their momentum from last week’s 52-6 quarterfinal win over Butte Central.  

Throughout the season, the Bulldogs have showed grit and resilience in powering through to victory in close games, and in learning from tough losses – while also building a strong team unity throughout.  

“Our guys have played hard all year, and on Friday, we played with passion,” Whitefish Coach Brett Bollweg about the win over Butte Central. “That’s a huge step in the right direction for us... it can make a really good thing, a great thing.”  

The biggest challenge on Friday for the Bulldogs will be slowing down the Locomotives’ offensive engine. 

“We need to neutralize what they do offensively, and put ourselves in position to put them in long yardage situations,” said Bollweg. 

The victors of Friday’s match will play the winner of the Lewistown-Frenchtown game for the Class A semifinal.