Columbia Falls will host the state A championship football game Nov. 20. The Wildcats downed the Sidney Eagles 34-13 on the road in the semifinals Friday.

Sidney would score on its opening drive that featured 10 runs and a 21-yard TD throw.

But it was pretty much all Wildcats after that. 

Trip Ross had a 32-yard TD run to the put the Cats on the board as time expired in the first quarter, then Banyan Johnston picked off an Aiden Anderson pass on the Eagles’ next possession.

The Cats converted the turnover to a score as Ross ran in from 33 yards out. His PAT kicks were all good on the night and the Cats were up 14-7.

Jory Hill then picked off another Anderson pass in the second quarter and Johnston ran it in from 4 yards out on the Cats next drive.

Cats 21, Eagles 7 with about 3:33 left in the half.

But the Cats weren’t done.

They’d get the ball back after Sidney couldn’t convert on downs and with 7 second left in the half, Hill got behind the Eagles' defense for a 44 yard TD catch and the Cats went to the locker room up 28-7 at the break.

Sidney would get a little momentum with a 49-yard TD pass by Anderson to Brody Keysor with 19 seconds left in the third, but the Cats answered with a 5-yard TD run by Johnston to make it 34-13. The two-point conversion failed.

The Cats defense did a great job in the final 6 minutes of squashing any chance of a comeback by the Eagles. They held the Eagles, which ran over teams all season long and were undefeated heading into the semifinal, to just 10 yards rushing in the second half.

The Cats meanwhile racked up more than 400 yards offense. Johnston was 11 of 21 passing for 252 yards and rushed for 87 yards according to KOFI radio and Ross had 173 yards rushing as well as key tackles down the stretch.

East Helena beat Hamilton 28-14 to advance to the title game as well. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20.