Wildcats earn football playoff berth

By JOE SOVA - Hungry Horse News

Home field in the first round of the Class A football state playoffs is at stake when Columbia Falls hosts rival Whitefish in the regular-season finale on Friday night (Oct. 19) at Satterthwaite Field.

Both the Cats and Dogs picked up wins last week to remain tied for second in the Northwestern A behind league champ Libby. And the winner of Friday's CFHS-WHS contest will host the No. 3 team from the Southwestern A on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. The loser goes on the road to face No. 2 from the Southwestern A that afternoon.

Dillon plays Hamilton this week and if Dillon wins, it has the No. 1 Southerwestern seed. If Hamilton comes out on top, then those teams and Frenchtown would finish in a three-way tie for first in the league — playoff seeding coming down to tie-breakers. In head-to-head, Frenchtown has the advantage over Hamilton.

It's been a very long time since Columbia Falls has hosted a playoff game. The last time the Cats played in the postseason was in 2004, when CFHS lost at Sidney. The Cats have been in the playoffs only once in the last 16 years.

"It's been a good season so far," fifth-year head coach John Thompson said. "It would certainly be nice to get that second place and host a playoff game."

"A Cats-Dogs game is always big," CFHS senior Chase Fairbank said after the Cats' 33-8 win over Bigfork last Friday. "We'll have to put a playoff effort into it."

"We've got to execute better [than against Bigfork]," Cats junior quarterback Mackey Nolan said after Friday's win, speaking of the Whitefish game. "Execution, that's what it's going to come down to. It shapes up to be a good game."

Thompson said that Whitefish runs the ball well and also has the ability to throw effectively.

"Whitefish runs out of multiple formations," Thompson said. "Their line has always come off the ball real well. Our line has come a long way over the year as well."

The Cats lead the Northwestern A in team rushing, averaging 248 yards a game — with 1,738 yards. Josh Wilson is fourth in the league with 741 yards, averaging 6.3 yards a carry. Nolan, Fairbank, Michael Hader, Scott Palmer, Steven Brennan and David Wilson give the Cats a very diversified rushing attack.

The Bulldogs are fourth in the conference in rushing defense, allowing an average of 205 yards a game. CFHS is third in that area, giving up 165 yards a game.

Matt Starr leads WHS in rushing and is sixth in the league. Aaron Tkachyk leads the league in rushing average at 7.4 yards a carry.

CFHS and WHS are both in the middle of the league in passing. Nolan and Dogs quarterback Alex Elespuru have both completed about 45 percent of their passes.

There is a disparity in scoring average, however. The Cats are averaging 30 points per game and the Dogs only 14 per outing. But the teams are very similar in points allowed, with the Cats giving up about 20 points a game and the Dogs about 23 a contest.

"They've been very explosive offensively," Whitefish coach Patrick Dryden said, "and we haven't been able to match that.

"They have such great quickness. We've got to try to contain them," the coach added.

CFHS has a slight edge in special teams, as Nolan is leading the Northwest A in punting with an average of 41 yards a punt. Whitefish is right behind as Byron Whitcomb is netting about 39 yards a punt. Whitcomb is third in the league in punting and leads in punt returns with about 25 yards a return. He's returned a couple of punts for touchdowns this season.

Palmer is the conference leader in kickoff returns, bringing back 11 kicks for 339 yards — two of them for touchdowns — for an average of 31 yards. Whitcomb is right behind at 29 yards a return.

While the CFHS defense has intercepted 12 passes, four by Tanner Perry, the Dogs have picked off six aerials.

"Fourth-down plays are going to be huge," Dryden said. "We've got to get tough in the red zone [inside the 20-yard line]."

"First downs will be crucial," Thompson said. "We have to stay out of second and third and long [yardage]."

Takeaways and giveaways will likely be a key.

"We've done a pretty good job of taking care of the ball all year," Thompson said.

Whitefish has had some turnovers, but had none in the win over Polson.

"That's always a good place to start," Dryden said.

CFHS senior tight end/defensive end Chase Grilley suffered an ankle sprain late in the Cats' win over Bigfork and his status was uncertain.

"Chase is a tough kid and very valuable to us," Thompson said.

CFHS rolls to 33-8 win over Bigfork

By JOE SOVA

Hungry Horse News

Scoring three touchdowns in the second half, Columbia Falls earned a state playoff berth with a 33-8 Northwestern A Conference football victory over the Vikings on Friday night (Oct. 12) in Bigfork.

The Wildcats tote a 3-1 lead mark into Friday's final home game, against Whitefish, also 3-1 in the league. CFHS is 5-2 overall.

A key for the Cats was a touchdown drive in the closing minutes of the first half. Stephen Baumgartner intercepted a Carson Sneed pass deep in Cats territory. On penalty on the play, after the pickoff, moved the ball back to the CFHS 25-yard line with 2:42 to go in the half.

The Cats ran a true two-minute drill, driving 75 yards for a touchdown in just 1:58. The score came when Chase Grilley caught an on-target pass from Mackey Nolan at the 5-yard line and bulled his way into the end zone. Nolan's kick gave the Cats a 13-0 halftime lead.

On the Cats' first possession of the game and facing a third-and-21, Nolan hit Steven Brennan in stride over the middle — the play resulting in a 54-yard gain. Two plays later, Nolan scored from two yards out.

The pass play came on the heels of a long run by Josh Wilson that was called back due to a holding penalty. That was one of seven CFHS penalties in the first half.

"Two penalties cost us 77 yards," lamented Cats coach John Thompson. "Those are hard to overcome."

While Bigfork played very well defensively early in the second half, the Vikings offense used a solid ground game to chew up yardage. The Cats held inside their 30-yard line, but Brad Bell stepped up to pick off a Nolan pass.

Facing a third-and-8 at the Cats 18-yard line, Andrew Whitaker used his speed to get to the end zone. The two-point conversion during a botched kick attempt pulled the Vikes to within 13-8.

Perhaps the key play in the game came on the Cats' next possession. Nolan was just able to pull down a high shotgun snap, handing the ball to motion man Chase Fairbank. It was off to the end zone, as Fairbank raced 65 yards for a Cats touchdown.

After a very short Bigfork punt, CFHS marched 39 yards for another touchdown as Scott Palmer caught a quick pass from Nolan, broke a tackle and completed a 12-yard scoring play. Nolan's kick gave the Cats a 26-8 lead.

Fairbank scored again on a 25-yard run midway through the fourth quarter on a buck sweep, thanks to a great downfield block by Brennan.

Thompson had praise for Fairbank, who rushed for 108 yards and the pair of touchdowns on only three carries. Wilson added 86 yards, and David Wilson had 40 on two carries.

Nolan was 4-for-8 for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

"My line gave me all the time in the world," Nolan said after the game. "The receivers ran great routes."

Fairbank was also a leader on the Cats defense.

"We shut them down the second half," Fairbank said.

Whitaker and Bell combined for 179 yards rushing, most of it in the first half. Whitaker had 97 and Bell 82 as the Vikes ran effectively out of a wing-T.

"That wing-T is tough to defend," Thompson said. "I thought they [Bigfork] ran the offense pretty darn well. We never did adjust to it.

"Hats off to Bigfork. They played a good game. Their improvement over the season has been tremendous," Thompson added.

Columbia Falls 6 7 6 14 — 33

Bigfork 0 0 8 0 — 8

CF — Nolan 2 run (kick failed)

CF — Grilley 15 pass from Nolan (Nolan kick)

BF — Whitaker 18 run (Whitaker run)

CF — Fairbank 65 run (pass failed)

CF — Palmer 12 pass from Nolan (Nolan kick)

CF — Fairbank 25 run (Nolan kick)

Kat spikers face tough competition at Missoula Invite

By JOE SOVA

Hungry Horse News

Columbia Falls came within one win of playing in the third-place match in the consolation bracket of the Missoula Invitational on the volleyball court last weekend. A majority of the games that the Wildkats were unable to win were against Class AA teams.

The Kats won four of 14 games in pool play on Friday (Oct. 12), highlighted by a sweep of Bigfork and split with defending state champion Whitefish.

In the consolation bracket, Helena defeated the Kats, 26-24, 25-15. The Kats rebounded with a 25-20, 25-23 victory over Polson. CFHS was eliminated by Anaconda, which posted a 25-12, 25-17 win. Anaconda went on to rally past Bigfork 22-25, 25-22, 15-6 for third place in the consolation bracket. Hellgate topped Great Falls for the consolation championship.

Big Sky won the tournament championship, rallying for a 17-25, 25-12, 15-10 win over Libby. Flathead beat Great Falls Russell in the third-place match.

CFHS opened play in the Sentinel Pool with a 10-20, 11-20 loss to Sentinel, then Glacier took a 20-11, 20-15 win over the Kats. The Kats followed with a 20-12, 20-11 sweep of Bigfork before a 15-20, 12-20 loss to Big Sky. CFHS split with Capital, 8-20, 20-19 and lost to two close games to Great Falls Russell, 19-20, 19-20. To cap pool play, the Kats split with Whitefish, losing the first game 20-14 and winning the second, 20-18.

"We had some really great moments," Kats coach Addy Hines said. "Taking a game from Whitefish was good for our ego.

"In the games we won we really meshed well," the coach added. "But we still have a long way to go in three weeks."

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Kats are second in the Northwestern A Conference in team serving with a mark of 87.7 percent efficiency. Alyssa Ladenburg is ninth, individually, at 93.3 percent. Ladenburg is fifth in digs per game (2.76).

Sarah Marcille is second in the league in assists per game (5.05). Staci Pence ranks third in receiving ratio. She has been "on target" with 150 of her 258 passes. Pence is fourth in digs per game (3.05). Brooke Cady is third in blocks per game (0.68).

CFHS plays Friday (Oct. 19) at Stevensville and Saturday (Oct. 20) at Dillon. Next Thursday, Oct. 25 is Senior Night as the Kats host Whitefish in their final home match of the season.