WHITEFISH — In a game dominated by defense, the Whitefish Bulldogs found a way to win after a pair of late interceptions, including a pick-6, to seal a 14-7 non-league football victory over the Eureka Lions on Friday night.  

“It’s always fun to win a tough one like that,” said Whitefish coach Brett Bollweg. “It showed resilience and toughness. I’m proud of them.” 

Both teams traded early stops in the first quarter with Whitefish’s offense unable to create anything down field and Class B Eureka (2-1) missing a 35-yard field goal attempt.  

The Class A Bulldogs (2-1) broke through late in the second quarter after a Sam Rainford interception that gave them the ball at midfield. Luke Dalen punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to put the first points on the board with 2:24 remaining in the first half.   

Eureka responded quickly. Quarterback Rogan Lytle marched the Lions 65 yards down the field and connected with Emmet McKim on a 5-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 7-7 with 20 seconds left in the half.  

The defensive battle carried into the second half with both teams exchanging punts and ending drives with costly penalties. Eureka missed its second field goal of the night from 33 yards to keep the game tied heading into the fourth quarter.  

Vlad Shestak made the play of the game to give Whitefish the lead back with 7:45 remaining: He jumped a route, made the pick, broke a tackle and returned the ball 35 yards for a touchdown, sending the Bulldogs’ sideline into celebration.  

“He did exactly what he was supposed to do, stepped in front and made a great play,” said Bollweg. “When he has the ball in his hands, he’s electric.” 

Eureka still had life, moving into Whitefish territory on its final drive. With 1:56 remaining, Lytle was able to find McKim for 40 yards down field to quiet the Bulldogs crowd. Just when the Lions were knocking on the door, Whitefish linebacker Jordan Harmon sealed the victory with another interception.  

Eureka had four turnovers, three of them interceptions.  

While the win snapped a two-year losing streak against the Lions, the Bulldogs know there is still work to do on offense.  

“We’ve got to clean things up, we’re still a young team. Games like this give us experience and these tough wins are the ones that matter when November comes,” said Bollweg. 

Dalen was 6 of 16 passing for 42 yards and netted 5 yards on the ground. Cole Moses ran 14 times for 58 yards; the Bulldogs gained just 108 yards of offense. 

Unofficially, Lytle was 7 of 18 passing for 70 yards for the Lions. 

Whitefish will host Ronan next Friday, while Eureka travels to Western B foe Anaconda. 

Eureka        0    7    0    0    -    7 

Whitefish     0    7    0    7    -    14 

W — Luke Dalen 1 run (Tait Orme kick), 2:24 2Q 

E — Emmet McKim 5 pass from Rogan Lytle (Grant Brown kick), :20 2Q 

W — Vlad Shestak 35 interception return (Orme kick), 7:45 4Q