BIGFORK — The Vikings opened their season with a tough test from Frenchtown right out of the gate on Friday night. 

Bigfork (0-1) fell 38-0 to the defending state champion Broncs in a Class A non-conference matchup. 

“We knew we were a young team going into tonight,” Bigfork coach Hunter Johnson said. “They are the champs, but we'll go into the film, we'll get better.” 

On the fourth play from scrimmage, Bigfork fumbled and Frenchtown took advantage with a 2-yard touchdown run from Jake Forthofer to take the lead 7-0. 

The Vikings responded with their best drive of the first half. 

Senior quarterback Alex Ochs connected with sophomore Cooper Porrovecchio for a 40-yard gain to move into the Broncs territory. But the Vikings couldn't finish it off, turning the ball over on downs four plays later. 

The Broncs responded with another long drive. On fourth-and-3 just past midfield, Cody Forthofer connected with Cooper Michaud for 33 yards before finding him again two plays later for a 3-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead. 

Frenchtown stretched the lead to 24-0 by halftime behind Brett Kleinsmith's 42-yard field goal and a 1-yard touchdown run from Cole Pfahler. 

The Broncs then opened the second half with the biggest play of the night. Eli Nahapetian took the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, and Frenchtown added another score after David Brant intercepted Ochs and returned it to the Bigfork 10-yard line. 

Porrovecchio continued to give Bigfork a spark. The sophomore finished with four catches for 74 yards, including two 17-yard grabs, and accounted for most of the Vikings' passing yards. 

“We knew going into the season that he was going to be a big part of our offense, and we knew that a lot of people didn't really know about him yet,” Johnson said. “We got two other senior receivers who are good and then add him as a sophomore receiver. We're going to be pretty loaded going forward.” 

Ochs finished 8 of 17 for 95 yards for Bigfork, while Ryeln Rodriguez led the Vikings on the ground with 29 yards on four carries. 

“We didn't give up,” Johnson said. “We're a pretty resilient group, and I know that they're just going to put it behind them and look to next week.” 

Bigfork travels to Corvallis next Friday, while Frenchtown stays on the road against Columbia Falls.  

Frenchtown    14    10    14    0    -    38 

Bigfork    0    0    0    0    -    0 

F — Jake Forthofer 2 run (Brett Kleinsmith kick), 8:45 1Q 

F — Cooper Michaud 3 pass from Cody Forthofer (Kleinsmith kick), 1:18 1Q 

F — Kleinsmith 42 field goal, 10:24 2Q 

F — Cole Pfahler 1 run (Kleinsmith kick), 7:09 2Q 

F — Eli Nahapetian 80 kickoff return (Kleinsmith kick), 3Q 

F — Ean Johnson 2 run (Kleinsmith kick), 3Q 

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Bigfork (21-51) — Ryeln Rodriguez 4-29, Michael Farrier 11-19, Wyatt Hickey 1-2, Alex Ochs 5-1. Frenchtown (33-222) — Jake Forthofer 9-72, Ean Johnson 6-50, Cody Forthofer 7-43, Carter Campbell 1-16, Cooper Hardy 2-15, Tristan Palmer 2-12, David Brant 2-12, Cole Pfahler 2-5, Cash Schuster 1-0. 

PASSING: Bigfork — Alex Ochs 8-17-1 for 95 yards. Frenchtown — Cody Forthofer 4-8-0 for 49 yards. 

RECEIVING: Bigfork — Cooper Porrovecchio 4-74, Cavin Wiest 2-7, Ryeln Rodriguez 1-7, Michael Farrier 1-7. Frenchtown — Cooper Michaud 2-36, Cooper Hardy 2-13.