The Hawks aren’t singing the blues; they want to rock and roll.

The Thompson Falls Blue Hawks fell 19-8 in a hard-fought game at Whitehall and will complete their non-conference football schedule with a contest against Colstrip at Bob Green Field in Butte Friday. Both teams will enter the fray at 0-2 as Colstrip lost 28-6 to Wolf Point last week.

Blue Hawk coach Jared Koskela finds hope in his young team, in their attitudes and in the improvement they have shown on the field these first few weeks.

“I am encouraged by this group,” Koskela said. "We played better this week, took a step up.

“We saw a lot of positives, made some mistakes but are learning from them,” he added. “These kids want it, everybody’s upbeat, they want to compete and get better. I think we are going to be just fine.”

Koskela said the Colstrip game represents an opportunity. “We are hoping to rebound, to gain some momentum heading into our homecoming game with Anaconda (September 19),” he said.

Koskela said it’s an identity issue as the Hawks move forward this season. “We’re still trying to find ourselves a little bit, still trying to figure out who fits best where,” he said. "And it really helps with these kids being so coachable. We look to keep building as we go.”

Quarterback Brylon VanElswyk scored Thompson Falls’ touchdown on a one-yard sneak in the third quarter in Whitehall, and then passed to Michael Koskela for the two-point conversion for the Hawks’ scoring against the Trojans Friday.

Van Elswyk finished with 11 pass completions for 109 yards, with Michael Koskela catching six of those passes for 66 yards, Jason Myers snagging three for 33 yards, Liam Pallister catching one for eight yards and Alex Newman one for two yards.

Mason Parks picked up 18 yards rushing and Michael K 17.

Park pulled down 10 total tackles including two unassisted, Michael had nine tackles with three solo and two for a loss, Carson Kenney had eight stops with one solo, Myers added seven tackles and VanElswyk five, with one unassisted.