West wins 6th straight Shrine Game, Knopik is MVP

BUTTE — Glacier High product Asher Knopik rumbled for 99 rushing yards, Rudy Hess had a game-clinching pick-6 and the West All-Stars won their sixth straight Montana East-West Shrine game, 20-6 over the East Saturday.

McCoy Townsend of Darby hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Missoula Hellgate’s Vince Paffhausen for the West’s other TD, which made it 10-0 at 9:40 to the third quarter.  Pauffhausen was West’s offensive MVP, while Hess — the Missoula Sentinel graduate’s 47-yard interception return capped the scoring with 3:19 left — was defensive MVP. 

The game’s Most Valuable Player was Knopik, who had 22 carries at Naranche Stadium. He ran 10 times for 49 yards on one West drive that resulted in a 26-yard field goal from Missoula Big Sky’s Cal Marceau, with 2:08 left in the first half. West took a 3-0 lead into intermission. 

After East closed to 10-6 with an 11-yard TD from Martin to Billings West’s Ellis Bonner, West recovered the ensuing onside kick with 11:25 left in the game. Knopik ran the ball six times for 23 yards, helping the West All-Stars reach the East 30-yard line. Marceau then drilled a 48-yard field goal for a 13-6 lead with 4:45 left. 

Billings Central’s Layne Alexander, who put a big hit on Paffhausen and recovered the ball to set up Bonner’s TD catch, was the East defensive MVP. Martin was his team’s offensive MVP. The Billings Central product played almost every snap at QB — Lewistown’s McKay Shobe ran one Wildcat play and fumbled, with Big Sky’s Brady Williams recovering to set up Towsend’s TD.  

Martin also had a 27-yard scramble and finished with 148 yards of offense, but was also intercepted twice by Hess in the fourth quarter. The first came right before Alexander’s takeaway at the West 22. 

West’s win streak matches the record of six by the East from 1973-78. 

East    0    0    0    6    -    6 

West    0    3    7    10    -    20 

West — Cal Marceau 26 field goal, 2:08-2Q 

West — McCoy Townsend 13 pass from Vince Paffhausen (Cal Marceau kick), 9:40-3Q. 

EAST — Elias Bonner 11 pass from Howie Martin (pass failed), 11:31-4Q 

West — Cal Marceau 48 field goal, 4:45-4Q 

West — Rudy Hess 47 interception return (Cal Marceau kick), 3:19-4Q 

Individual Statistics 

RUSHING – West: Knopik 22-99, Paffhausen 9-41, Lorenz 7-46, Moses 4-14, Peoples 3-17, Paddock 1-(-1); East: Martin 10-33, Shobe 2-7, Ehret 2-3, Lehfeldt 1-3, Bonner 2-4 

PASSING – West: Peoples 5-10-7-0, Paffhausen 2-4-39-0; East: Martin 15-33-115-2 

RECEIVING – Galle 1-26, Townsend 1-13, Duchien 1-6, Robinson 1-2, Schulte 1-1, Paddick 1-(-1), Moses 1-(-1). East: Aldrich 4-31, Snell 4-26, Bonner 3-22, Fisher 2-18, Ehret 1-9, Etcheberry 1-6, Fox 1-3.