An 11th-hour switch gave the Columbia Falls a leg up last Friday, in the Wildcats’ 38-35 win at East Helena in a non-conference football game.

Until last week Trip Ross had been the “short-snapper,” hiking the ball back to holder Banyan Johnston on Wildcat field goals and PATs. Kyler Voermans was handling the kicks, and then the clock struck 11. 

“We had (Ross) line up on Wednesday — special teams day — to kick a field goal,” Columbia Falls coach Kelly Houle said this week. “And he made it. And there you go.” 

Which set the stage for the host Vigilantes to absolutely run away from the Wildcats. 

We’re kidding, though the halftime score, 35-19 in favor of East Helena, was not promising. 

“We needed to make a change on defense,” Ross said Wednesday. “The inside linebackers were getting reached by their guards and tackles. We made the change on the defensive line and just rallied, I guess.” 

Ross is one of those inside backers; Jaxson Cadwell is the other.  They helped hold the Vigilantes scoreless the second half. Then with the clock winding down Voermans, who was already the Cats’ long-snapper, hiked the ball and Ross hit the game-winning, 36-yard field goal. 

Before we get into the superlatives — he’d dreamt of this moment his whole week — know that the 185-pound Ross is pretty no-nonsense. 

“I saw it center, but was hoping it was far enough,” he said of his kick. “It was.” 

“He’s just so calm,” Houle said. “He’s a kid you want in that position because of his calmness. I had all the confidence in the world in him. 

“We scored 38 points and he scored 32 of them.” 

Full disclosure: Ross missed a PAT kick Friday. He also ran for 197 yards and four touchdowns.  

And he had help, of course. Johnston’s 12-yard touchdown run allowed the Wildcats to knot the score at 35-all. Then Cadwell forced an East Helena fumble. 

“It was on a reverse and we blitzed Jackson and it was perfect timing,” Ross said. “Banyan got on it.” 

Two summers ago Ross and his family moved from Colorado to Columbia Falls; the brood numbers five and Trip, holder of a 4.0 grade-point average, is the second-oldest. He got his name from a character in the 2005 movie “Supercross.”  

“Kind of lame,” he said.  

He is getting attention from colleges but plans to go on a two-year LDS mission after high school first.  

And right now the Wildcats are 2-1 heading into their Northwest A opener at Bigfork Friday. The Vikings are the next thing on the agenda, but following up a tough loss to defending State A champion Frenchtown with a win like Friday — it brings out the superlatives after all. 

“I don’t know if we’ve ever played as a team like that,” Ross said. “We all just played for each other. You know when you say the game’s never over? It wasn’t actually over. Even though we were down quite a bit.” 

Sports Editor Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 406-758-4463 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.