East Helena shuts down Whitefish in quarterfinals
Daily Inter Lake | Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 37 minutes AGO
EAST HELENA — The Vigilantes are tough.
Leo Longcake ran for 181 yards and four touchdowns, Bearek Shuman ran for two more scores and East Helena defeated Whitefish 41-20 in a Class A football quarterfinal game Friday.
The win put the Vigilantes (8-1) into the semifinals for a second straight year; they lost to Billings Central a year ago. They'll face Hamilton on the road Friday night. The Broncs beat Central 16-0 in another quarterfinal.
Whitefish, also in the semifinals a year ago, committed four turnovers and ended up 9-2. Luke Dalen threw for 157 yards and a touchdown, completing 17 of 37 passes with two interceptions. His previous high for pass attempts was 22, as East Helena made Whitefish a little more of a throwing team.
Sam Rainford had 59 rushing yards on three carries for the Bulldogs, including a 49-yard burst that cut an early 14-0 deficit to 14-6. Whitefish got no closer as Shuman's 2-yard run put East Helena up 21-6 at halftime, and Longcake's third TD — a 1-yard run at 5:49 of the third quarter — made it 27-6.
Dalen hit Jayke Thew with a 17-yard touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter and had an 11-yard TD run in the fourth. The cut the gap to 34-20 and Whitefish tried an onside kick that East Helena recovered.
The Vigilantes then drove to Shuman's second TD, a 10-yard run, with 3:51 left.
Shuman, who also intercepted two passes, had 84 rushing yards on 17 carries. He had a 39-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter, and also was 2 of 8 passing for 59 yards. He fumbled once.
In Friday's other Class A games, Columbia Falls beat Hardin 35-22 and Sidney thumped defending state champion Frenchtown 33-7. Sidney will host C-Falls in Friday's other semifinal game.
Whitefish 6 0 7 7 - 20
East Helena 14 7 6 14 - 41
EH — Leo Longcake 1 run (Aiden Dalton kick), 7:16-1Q
EH — Longcake 3 run (Dalton kick), 3:33-1Q
WF — Sam Rainford 49 run (kick failed), :59-1Q
EH — Bearek Shuman 2 run (Dalton kick), 10:08-2Q
EH — Longcake 1 run (kick failed), 5:49-3Q
WF — Jayke Thew 17 pass from Luke Dalen (Owen Aldridge kick), :16-3Q
EH — Shuman 39 run (Dalton kick), 9:37-4Q
WF — Dalen 11 run (Aldridge kick), 7:35-4Q
EH — Shuman 10 run (Dalton kick), 3:51-4Q