COLUMBIA FALLS — Ninety yards stood between Columbia Falls and a Cat-Dog victory on Friday night.

Trailing Whitefish by four points with just over six minutes remaining, the Wildcats turned to their ground game one more time. 

Trip Ross and Banyan Johnston moved the chains before Johnston found Jory Hill for a 10-yard touchdown with 33 seconds left, lifting Columbia Falls (5-1 overall, 3-0 Northwest A) to a 34-31 victory over the Bulldogs in a battle of conference unbeatens. 

"Holy smokes. I'm not a spring chicken anymore, and that's kind of fun, isn't it?" Columbia Falls coach Kelly Houle said. "Wasn't that kind of fun to watch?" 

Whitefish (6-1,2-1) quarterback Luke Dalen gave the Wildcats plenty to handle. 

On Whitefish’s first offensive play, quarterback Dalen broke loose for a 64-yard touchdown. Dalen finished with 170 yards and three touchdowns rushing while adding 184 yards and another score through the air. 

Columbia Falls had an answer of its own. 

Ross broke off several runs on the ensuing drive before punching in a 1-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7. Ross finished with 181 yards and three scores, while Johnston added 117 yards on 13 carries.  

The Wildcats rushed for 300 yards and piled up 396 yards of offense. 

“We’re physical, we’re violent, and we just love to hand the ball to number 30 (Ross),” said Houle. 

Whitefish kicker Owen Aldridge connected on a 21-yard field goal to put the Bulldogs ahead 10-7 before Johnston found Hill for a 10-yard touchdown and a 14-10 C-Falls lead early in the second quarter. 

Dalen put Whitefish back in front with a 5-yard touchdown run, before Ross answered from 4 yards out. The Bulldogs then converted a fake punt to set up Dalen's 23-yard touchdown pass to Jayke Thew with 21 seconds left, taking a 24-21 lead into halftime. 

Neither team scored in the third quarter, and Hill helped keep it that way with a crucial third-down pass breakup that forced a Bulldogs punt. 

Ross scored his third touchdown on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter, but the extra point was blocked. Dalen answered with a 15-yard touchdown run on fourth down, putting Whitefish ahead 31-27 with 6:27 remaining — the sixth lead change of the game. 

Then came the Wildcats’ final drive. 

Starting at his own 10, Ross repeatedly moved the chains while Johnston also picked up yards with his legs. Hill hauled in a 20-yard reception as Columbia Falls worked its way downfield. 

Houle wanted to keep the ball moving without giving Whitefish another chance to score. 

“Dalen’s dangerous, you saw it,” Houle said. “We didn’t want to give him much time left on the clock.” 

Johnston said the Wildcats never doubted they could finish the drive. 

“We weren't nervous,” Johnston said. “We knew we had it, we’ve done it before and we can do it again.” 

Rolling to his right, Johnston found Hill in the end zone. The senior receiver jumped up with two Bulldogs in coverage and came down with the winning TD. 

"He made an amazing catch," Johnston said. "A little bit of double coverage there, went up, got it, fell to the ground with it. It was amazing.” 

Hill finished with six catches for 69 yards and two scores, but it was the final one that left him searching for words. 

"Oh, man, I can't even think straight right now," said Hill. 

The senior had little doubt about where the night ranked in his favorite moments as a Wildcat. 

"I'll never forget this in my life," Hill said. "Top moment, as of right now, but there's more to come.” 

Whitefish    10    14    0    7    -    31 

Columbia Falls    7    14    0    13    -    34 

W — Luke Dalen 64 run (Owen Aldridge kick), 10:14 1Q 

CF — Trip Ross 1 run (Ross kick), 8:39 1Q 

W — Aldridge 21 FG, 4:45 1Q 

CF — Jory Hill 10 pass from Banyan Johnston (Ross kick), 11:55 2Q 

W — Dalen 5 run (Aldridge kick), 4:25 2Q 

CF — Ross 4 run (Ross kick), 1:30 2Q 

W — Jayke Thew 23 pass from Dalen (Aldridge kick), :21 2Q 

CF — Ross 1 run (Ross kick blocked), 10:56 4Q 

W — Dalen 15 run (Aldridge kick), 6:27 4Q 

CF — Hill 10 pass from Johnston (Ross kick), :33 4Q 

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Whitefish (34-224) — Luke Dalen 24-170, Vance Schwaiger 5-34, Vlad Sestak 1-13, Sam Rainford 2-7. Columbia Falls (44-300) — Trip Ross 30-181, Banyan Johnston 13-117, Jory Hill 1-2. 

PASSING: Whitefish — Luke Dalen 8-18-0 for 184 yards. Columbia Falls — Banyan Johnston 10-18-0 for 96 yards. 

RECEIVING: Whitefish — Shestak 4-91, Brody Forthofer 1-31, Jayke Thew 1-23, Austin Alton 1-21, Rainford 1-18. Columbia Falls — Jory Hill 6-69, Hayden Strandberg 2-19, Trip Ross 2-8.