Cats rally past Libby; face Polson

By JOE SOVA / Hungry Horse News

Coming from behind in the fourth quarter of a football game is a daunting task — especially on the opponent's home field — but Columbia Falls was up to the challenge in a key Northwestern A Conference contest against Libby on Friday night.

The Wildcats scored on touchdown runs by Stephen Baumgartner and John Woody in the final 6 minutes, 16 seconds and earned a 20-12 victory. That moved the Cats to 2-0 in the conference going into Friday's league game at Polson. CFHS is 3-2 overall.

"We took advantage of a couple of key turnovers and good field position," explained Cats head coach John Thompson. "We were on their side of the 50 (yard line) most of the second half. That was due to turnovers and good defensive play."

Libby took a 6-0 lead on an 11-yard pass from Joel Fuller to T.J. Benson in the first quarter, but the Loggers missed the conversion. The Loggers could have doubled their lead in the final minutes of the first half, but the Cats held on fourth-and-1 at the CFHS 11-yard line with 1:54 to go before halftime.

Sparked by that defensive stand, the Cats responded with a touchdown drive in the third period — scoring on a one-yard keeper by quarterback Mitchell Wassam and Mackey Nolan's conversion kick.

Early in the final period, Libby moved the ball downfield. Faced with a third-and-goal at the CFHS 9-yard line, the Loggers took the lead on a Fuller quarterback draw. The conversion pass was incomplete, but Libby led, 12-7.

It was all Cats after that.

After a 50-yard touchdown run was called back due to a penalty, the Cats converted a fourth-and-1 at the Libby 38. Then CFHS reclaimed the lead when Baumgartner raced down the sideline on a 33-yard scoring run with 6:16 remaining. That capped a 70-yard drive. Nolan's kick made it a 14-12 Cats lead.

Each team punted, and when Libby was forced to punt again the kick was short and the Cats took over at the Logger 20-yard line. A few plays later, Woody bolted 10 yards for a touchdown with just 1:33 to go. The conversion kick was blocked, but the Cats led 20-12.

Libby gave the ball back on downs near midfield, and CFHS ran out the final seconds of the contest.

"I thought we did a real good job of containing their quarterback (Fuller)," Thompson said, as the Cats defense held the Loggers to their lowest offensive output of the season — despite Fuller throwing 46 passes. "It's a huge credit to our defense."

Thompson talked after the win about the defensive scheme.

"We tried to make sure we were playing some good coverage over the top," he explained. "We had to contain the quarterback. He's a very dangerous player. I'm real happy with our coverage, our defensive linemen and our linebackers. Overall it was a great defensive effort, especially in the second half."

Fuller was 19-for-46 passing for 150 yards with one interception, by Chris King in the first half. Libby had just 68 yards rushing. The Loggers lost two fumbles — one forced by Baumgartner and the other recovered by Mike Macijunas. CFHS had just one turnover, an interception.

The Cats, who lead the Northwestern A in rushing at 242 yards a game, had 183 yards on the ground. Nolan led the way with 74 yards. Baumgartner added 53 and Woody 43. Wassam was 5-13-1 passing for 68 yards.

Thompson said Polson, this week's foe, does a nice job of mixing the pass and run, and the Pirates will cause the Cats some problems. Senior quarterback Craig Bagnell has thrown for 10 touchdowns and is completing 50 percent of his passes. Tim Rausch leads a solid running game as Polson runs out of the double wing or wing-T.

"They like to power the ball up front," Thompson said of the Pirates.

The Cats have been taking care of the football well, and that will be critical in upcoming games, according to Thompson.

"It's always important to minimize mistakes," the coach said.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Polson.

Columbia Falls 0 0 7 13 — 20

Libby 6 0 0 6 — 12

Libby — Benson 11 pass from Fuller (kick failed)

CF — Wassam 1 run (Nolan kick)

Libby — Fuller 9 run (pass failed)

CF — Baumgartner 33 run (Nolan kick)

CF — Woody 10 run (kick blocked)

Spikers fall to Whitefish

Columbia Falls came alive with a strong third game against rival Whitefish on Friday, but the Bulldogs made it a 25-18, 25-16, 28-26 sweep in Northwestern A Conference volleyball action. The Wildkats dropped to 1-4 in league matches.

A bright spot for the Kats was at the net, where they had 23 kills. Brooke Cady led the way with nine, and Amanda Milliard added five. Cady had three service aces. Cassidee Skiles dished out 20 assists, and Alyssa Ladenburg had 11 digs.

In a non-conference road match Saturday, Frenchtown posted a 25-23, 25-5, 25-15 win over the Kats. Ladenburg had six kills and 14 digs. Skiles had 11 assists, and Cady served three aces.

CFHS plays today (Thursday) at Polson.