Rangers turn away Cats' comeback bid

At least they made it close. The Columbia Falls Wildcat football team mounted a rally in the fourth quarter against Park County High School in Livingston on Sept. 30 but fell short, 19-14.

Park rumbled to a 19-0 lead in the first half. The Cats offense continued to sputter with seven punts in the half. No one scored in the third quarter, but then the Cats rallied in the fourth when Brendan Windauer scored on a three-yard run and quarterback Austin Barth hit Colin King on a 39-yard pass a few minutes later. The two-point conversion was good and the Cats found themselves down by five.

After a Park County punt, the Cats once again put on a nice drive down the Ranger's five-yard line. But with fourth and goal to go, Barth's pass was incomplete with 2:42 left to play.

Columbia Falls had one more chance after a Park County punt put the ball on the Ranger's 36-yard line with 1:43 left to play. Barth hit Windauer for a four-yard gain to make it second and six. In the next two possessions, however, Barth threw incomplete passes. On fourth down with a minute to go, Barth's pass was intercepted, and the Rangers took over on their own 29-yard line and ran out the clock.

The Cats were missing two key players - senior running back Daniel Jones is out with an injury, and senior wide receiver Parker Johnson was competing at the state golf tournament.

After a rough first half, Barth had a better second half, passing 10-for-17 for 159 yards. Cody Wiebelhaus had an excellent game defensively, making some key tackles to keep the Cats in the contest.

The Cats (2-3) now face Whitefish at home Friday night in a key conference match-up. Whitefish is coming off a 53-32 loss to Polson. For the Cats, a win is crucial for the team to stay in the playoff hunt, and a win would even their conference record at 1-1.

Columbia Falls 0 0 0 14 - 14

Livingston 6 13 0 0 - 19

Livingston - Landon Willyerd 1 run (kick blocked)

Livingston - Braeden Greathouse 45 pass from Willyerd (pass failed)

Livingston - Brandon Ramirez 60 pass from Willyerd (Chris Emter kick)

Columbia Falls - Brendan Windauer 3 run (kick blocked)

Columbia Falls - Colin King 39 pass from Austin Barth (Dyllon Parker from Barth)