Thompson Falls’ great football season didn’t just come out of the blue, the feisty, hard-working Blue Hawks created it, made it happen in 2026.

Coach Jared Koskela’s Hawks enjoyed a banner season in earning the school’s first State B 11-Man playoff game since 2007 this fall. The Hawks finished with an impressive 8-2 record with those only two losses to teams that were both still playing in last week’s quarterfinal playoff round.

What’s more, the Hawks started the season with four straight wins, and after a road loss to powerful Florence, finished up the regular season with four more straight wins, coming from behind in four of those victories.

Statistics released by the team last week reveal the names behind the Hawks’ impressive wins and equally impressive numbers this fall. Here are the men behind Thompson Falls’ magic season.

Emerging as one of the top offensive threats in Montana 11-Man this season, junior Carson Kenney rushed for 1,129 yards on 195 carries to lead the Hawk ground game, averaging 5.8 yards per carry and scoring 16 touchdowns, adding another 27 yards and a touchdown on three pass receptions.

One of the top tacklers in Montana all season, senior Michael Koskela led the Hawk defense and completed his bone-crunching season with 117 total tackles, including 58 unassisted stops, 22 tackles for loss of yardage, seven and a-half quarterback sacks and three pass interceptions.

Kenney also played an integral role on defense, pulling down 72 total tackles with 28 unassisted (with nine of those for loss) and two interceptions.

Koskela counted 248 yards receiving, 173 yards receiving and scored eight touchdowns on offense from his fullback position.

Senior quarterback Brylon VanElswyk completed 57 passes for 900 yards and seven touchdowns and rushed for another 429 yards and eight touchdowns on the offensive side in addition to piling up 29 tackles and picking off three passes on defense.

Another senior Jason Myers accumulated 430 yards receiving, 98 rushing and 560 returning kicks on his way to seven touchdowns scored for the season, and had 55 tackles including 35 solo stops and three interceptions on defense.

Landon Baird had 111 yards receiving, 78 rushing and scored two touchdowns, besides being the team’s consistent placekicker, converting 24 of 28 extra-point kicks this season.

Alex Newman added 132 yards and a touchdown rushing and 92 yards receiving, Gage Park 17 yards rushing and Dean Williams 21 yards receiving.

Williams finished the season with 47 total tackles with 20 unassisted, eight for loss and five and a-half sacks, Owen Franck made 56 tackles with 22 solo, 12 for loss, five QB sacks and an interception, Jesse Buchanan had 40 tackles with 11 solo and nine for loss and four and a-half sacks, and Jacobe Wood made 31 tackles with 13 solo stops and 10 tackles for loss, including a team-high eight quarterback sacks.

Tristan Kelly ended up with 22 total tackles with 10 unassisted, a tackle for loss and a pass interception, Baird added 16 tackles with 12 unassisted and a team-best five interceptions, Easton Deal had 13 tackles with nine solo and two for loss, and Newman added nine tackles with seven solo and a pass interception.

Riley Reum put down a team-high 26 pancake blocks on offense while adding 36 total tackles with eight unassisted stops and seven tackles for loss.

Michale Koskela and Wood each had 14 pancake blocks.

    THOMPSON FALLS SENIOR Landin Baird joined the Hawks this fall and became a key player for the team. Baird, besides playing receiver and defensive back, was Thompson Falls’ placekicker and converted 24 of 28 extra point kicks this fall. (John Hamilton/vp-mi)