THOMPSON FALLS – The Silence of the Rams sounds like a good title for this football horror story.

The living nightmare for the Loyola Rams, aptly starring an opposing player named Jason, turned into a happy ending for the Blue Hawks and their fans at Previs Field in Thompson Falls Friday.

Behind a career game from senior Jason Myers and a great team effort otherwise, the Hawks registered an exciting 48-36 win over Loyola to improve to 3-1 in Western B play and 7-1 overall and clinch a berth into the rapidly approaching State B football playoffs.

Though the win over the Rams is sweet the Hawks have precious little time to savor it as one big game leads to another, this one with Eureka, again in Thompson Falls Friday, with the No. 2 seed from the west and a home playoff game up for grabs.

If the Hawks defeat Eureka, Thompson Falls will host a playoff game Oct. 31. If the Hawks lose they will likely be on the road for the first round.

With the pressure of making the playoffs now off, coach Jared Koskela said he and his Hawks are eager to play their best against Eureka and see where the cards fall.

“We look forward to playing Eureka, expect a very tough game from them,” he said. “But I have to admit, I am pretty proud of these guys already. Making the big plays when we needed them and beating Loyola, qualifying for the playoffs, improving our record to 7-1 – these guys have done everything we asked of them.”

Thanks to a nightmare starring Blue Hawks Myers, Carson Kenney, Brylon VanElswyk, Brandin Laird and Michael Koskela to name only a few, the Loyola Rams may never forget that 2026 October night in Thompson Falls when they could not escape, and were eventually sent packing back to Missoula with the costly conference loss.

It was a wild, back-and-forth contest from the start at Previs Field last Friday.

Behind the productive passing and running of quarterback Andrew Richardson and the receiving and shifty running of Ethan Lamb, the Rams moved the ball effectively all night.

Richardson threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 134 yards and another score to lead the Rams and Lamb caught 11 passes for an amazing 307 yards receiving, scoring two touchdowns.

For good measure, on an option play, Lamb even completed a 28-yard pass to Richardson.

The things that hurt the Rams were the turnovers the opportunistic Hawk defense created, and the fact that they kept kicking the ball to Myers, who made them pay time and time again. Richardson ended up throwing four costly interceptions, all at seemingly key times.

Loyola scored first on a Richardson run and he then hit Ashton Kuiken for the two-point conversion pass to put the Rams ahead 8-0.

Late in the first quarter, Kenney ripped off a series of runs to get the Hawks in close and eventually scored the touchdown to draw the Hawks to within two at 8-6 after the two-point conversion try failed.

That set up a wild second quarter sequence that saw the Hawks outscore the Rams 29-12 to take a 35-20 lead into halftime.

Myers got the Hawks rolling first. After Richardson hooked up with Lamb for a 77 yard touchdown pass to give Loyola a 14-6 lead, Myers took the ensuing kickoff and rocketed right through the middle of the Ram defense for an exciting 88-yard return for a touchdown, and Kenney added the two-point conversion run to tie things up at 14-14.

Less than 30 seconds of game time later, Baird intercepted a Loyola pass at the 20 and streamed down the sideline for the touchdown, adding the one-point conversion kick to suddenly put the Hawks up 21-14 with 9:34 left in the first half.

Myers had a few more tricks up his sleeve before halftime, first intercepting a Richardson pass to give the Hawks the ball back, then catching a 41-yard bomb to put Thompson Falls back in scoring position after that.

With 1:56 left in the half, Myers took an end-around play 20 yards for touchdown and Laird added the point after to make the score 28-14.

Remarkably, Loyola answered that score in record time with Richardson connecting with Lamb on another long pass and Richardson scoring on a short run to make the score 28-20.

Again, Myers hurt the Rams with another kick return after that, getting about 40 yards to get the Hawks back in scoring position. After Kenney gained 15 yards to get the Hawks even closer at the Loyola 25, Thompson Falls was down to 12 seconds to play. During a timeout, the Hawks drew up one more play for Myers.

Catching VanElswyk’s pass on the right sideline at about the 10, Myers did a spin into and around the Loyola defense diving into the end zone for the dramatic touchdown as the halftime gun sounded.

Loyola closed to within 35-28 midway through the third quarter but again inexplicably kicked the ball to the dangerous Myers and again paid the price as the Rams’ nightmare named Jason again took the kickoff right through the middle of the Loyola defense for an 82-yard touchdown return to put the Hawks up 42-28.

Senior captain Michael Koskela pretty much sealed the win for the Hawks with his interception at the goal line, which ended a long fruitless drive for Loyola, late in the third quarter.

Kenney scored the Hawks’ final touchdown after a long ball-possessing drive in the fourth period and Loyola scored a meaningless TD on a Richardson to Lamb pass in the closing seconds.

Myers finished his unholy day of terror unleashed on Loyola with four touchdowns and over 300 total yards, including 246 on kick returns, 64 on pass receptions and 20 on rushing, not to mention his pass interception and 11 tackles (including seven unassisted) on defense.

Kenney crossed the century mark again in leading the Hawk ground attack, picking up 135 yards on 25 carries and catching a pass for another eight yards and Van Elswyk was Blue Hawk golden for 96 yards passing and 28 rushing.

Alex Newman surprised Loyola carrying the ball for 31 yards on the first two plays of the game after taking shotgun snaps, Baird caught a pass for 15 yards and Michael Koskela caught one pass for nine yards.

Captain Michael Koskela led the Hawk defense with the huge interception, 11 total tackles, including seven unassisted, with two for loss, Van Elswyk and Kenney added six stops each with three for loss, Riley Reum six with three solo and one for loss, and Jesse Buchanan four with one unassisted and one for a loss.

Newman had three unassisted tackles and Jacobe Wood two, with one for a loss.

Baird made two unassisted tackles, had two interceptions and was four for four on extra-point kicks.

    A BLUE BLUR to the Rams Friday, Hawk senior Jason Myers scored four touchdowns and totaled more than 300 yards on kick returns and offensive plays for Thompson Falls in the Hawks’ 48-36 win over Loyola. (John Hamilton/vp-mi)
  

    TIMEOUT – Blue Hawk head coach Jared Koskela meets with his team on the sidelines during the Hawks’ exciting game with the Loyola Rams in Thompson Falls Friday. Thompson Falls won 48-36 to clinch a State 11-Man playoff berth. (John Hamilton/vp-mi)