The Whitefish Bulldogs triumphed over the Locomotives in Laurel Friday in the State A Quarterfinals. The Bulldogs 27-20 victory advances them to their first semifinals opportunity since 2015.  

Bulldog Luke Dalen, junior quarterback, steamrolled the Locomotives, racking up 155 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, including one that tipped a 20-20 tie into the Bulldogs’ favor. His leadership was no doubt a proponent of the Dogs' thrilling upset.  

“Luke’s growth as a player has been a huge highlight throughout the season,” said Whitefish Coach Brett Bollweg. “He’s getting better every week, and that says a lot. His maturity, understanding, and leadership puts him above. His play on the field speaks for itself, but more than that, his understanding of the position, and the responsibility that comes with it, is something that he has owned.”  

Above all, the most exciting part of Friday’s victory was that it gives the Bulldogs the gift of one more week, playing together.  

“They want to practice on Monday again, they want to go on the bus again. They just love it, together,” Bollweg said.

Dalen isn’t the only superb leader on the field. There is a big number of players putting in the work to make the team successful, guiding them to victory, said Bollweg. That includes seniors John McLaughlin, Joey Priegel, Landon Norberg, Walker Williams, Connor Cornutt, Cole Moses, Colt Moss, Jordan Harmon, Cooper Akey, Tait Orme, Sam Nissen, Aaron Anderson, Johnny Calles, Sam Akey, Creed Scott and Anderson Barrile, who get the privilege of another game together.    

The Bulldogs’ focus wasn’t shaken with bus troubles en route to Laurel Thursday – they had a couple hours of delay near Whitehall before moving along, unphased. By time 7 p.m. on Friday came, they were dialed in. Dalen nabbed the first score of the game from 1-yard out in the first quarter, and then in the second quarter he had a 12-yard scoring run to bring the Bulldogs to an early 13-0 lead. 

Laurel's Isaiah Burt pulled through for the Locomotives, nabbing their first touchdown with 2:25 left before halftime.  

In the third quarter, Laurel fumbled, Bulldog Bear Barker recovered, and then Bulldog Vlad Shestak had a 38-yard TD run to bring Whitefish into the lead, 20-6.  

The Locomotives kept pace; Burt made a 44-yard catch that would bring the score to 20-13. Burt then picked off a Dalen pass at 3:18 of the third quarter, and the Locomotives made a 50-yard run that resulted in a touchdown for Curtis Fox. The game was 20-20 with 11:56 remaining on the clock.  

Whitefish made a 66-yard drive and the momentum was again in Dogs’ favor. Dalen ran four times for 33 yards, scoring a touchdown from 12 yards out with 7:43 in the game. 

The Dogs would total 300 yards on the ground by games end. Moses ran for 83 yards on 14 carries and Shestak ran for 61 on 3. 

The Bulldogs are on the road again this week. On Friday, they play Frenchtown for the Class A semifinals. Frenchtown is 9-1 overall, 5-0 in Southwest, and won 25-20 over Lewistown in their quarterfinal.