It was a tale of two days and two different performances for the Flathead Braves.

Flathead fell to the Missoula Hellgate Knights 24-17 in a weather-delayed game Saturday that started Friday evening at Legends Stadium. 

Vince Paffhausen’s 74-yard touchdown run put the Knights ahead for good. They scored the final 17 points. 

“We made too many mistakes in all aspects of the game,” Braves coach Mac Roche said. “Blown assignments on defense, offensively turning the ball over and not being characteristic of who we are. In special teams we couldn’t flip the field and gave them good position on every one of their drives.” 

The Braves (1-1 overall, 0-1 in Western AA games) went into the delay last night with a 17-7 lead thanks to touchdowns from Zander McLaughlin and Nolan Campbell. 

Campbell did not play Saturday after suffering an elbow injury Friday.  

The defense started hot as Dillon Wink sacked Vince Paffhausen on the first play out of the stoppage. 

Things went south when Flathead took possession. Eli Coopman’s pass over the middle was tipped and intercepted by Sam Cohea, who returned the ball 28 yards to move Hellgate (1-2, 1-0) within three, 17-14. 

Flathead found some offensive rhythm as Coopman hit Deme Holman down the sideline for a 29-yard gain. Next play, Coopman rushed for 15 yards to put Flathead down to Hellgate’s 35, but the Braves stalled there and were forced to punt. 

After the teams traded a few short possessions, Coopman looked to run but the Knights forced a fumble and recovered at the Braves’ 32. Hellgate stalled and called on Jaxon Bund, who was true on a 43-yard field goal to tie the game. 

Flathead pushed into Hellgate territory on its next drive but again punted. 

Two plays into the ensuing drive, Paffhausen found the edge and sprinted home for the go-ahead score. 

“It comes down to execution and we didn’t execute, and when you don’t execute good things don’t happen,” Roche said. 

Flathead got to midfield in hopes to tie the game, but Cohea intercepted Coopman for a third time in the game on a ball intended for Holman and the Knights escaped Kalispell with the victory.  

Hellgate    0    7    7    10    -    24 

Flathead    14    3    0    0    -    17 

F — Zander McLaughlin 9 pass from Eli Coopman (Brett Chivers kick), 8:53 1Q 

F — Nolan Campbell 48 run (Chivers kick), :36 1Q 

HG — Parker Link 62 pass from Vince Paffhausen (Jaxon Mund kick), 4:49 2Q 

F — Chivers 42 kick, :07 2Q 

HG — Sam Cohea 28 interception return (Mund kick), 1:31 3Q 

HG — Mund 43 kick, 3:38 4Q 

HG — Paffhausen 74 run (Mund kick), :56 4Q 

Individual Statistics 

RUSHING: Missoula Hellgate (22-164) — Vince Paffhausen 10-136, Finn Kelly 6-25, William Warden 4-3, Parker Link 1-0. Flathead (40-222) — Eli Coopman 24-119, Nolan Campbell 10-97, Leum Saisbury 6-6. 

PASSING: Missoula Hellgate — Vince Paffhausen 15-33-1 for 194 yards. Flathead — Eli Coopman 9-21-1 for 120 yards. 

RECEIVING: Missoula Hellgate — Parker Link 5-75, Everett Robers 4-86, William Petrino 4-22, Finn Kelly 2-11. Flathead — Oliver Rosenberg 2-50, Deme Holman 2-42, Zander McLaughlin 1-9, Boston Case 1-7, Nolan Campbell 1-6, Dillon Wink 1-6, Tim Zundel 1-0.