Vikings topple Choteau 26-20 in the rain

It was an unusual game that Bigfork is fortunate to have played.

The Bigfork High football team traveled to Choteau Friday and came away with a 26-20 victory.

That was quite a bit of drama involved, however.

“It was great that we got the game in,” coach Todd Emslie said. “They wanted to call it at 8:30, but we didn’t want to come back Saturday or Sunday.”

The game was delayed two hours because of lightning and started at 9 p.m. It rained for much of the first half. “I can’t explain how hard it was raining,” Emslie said.

Bigfork scored twice in the first quarter on a two-yard run by Boyd Rieke and an 89-yard pass play from Josh Sandry to Cameron Nissen. The speedy tight end caught a play action pass over the middle ran it in for the score.

The Bulldogs came back with a touchdown in the second period, and scored two more in the third quarter to tie it. Jake French accounted for all of Choteau’s points, scoring on runs of 2, 1 and 1 yards. Choteau’s third period scores were sandwiched around a 20-year interception return for a touchdown by Sandry.

Bigfork pulled it out in the fourth period thanks to a one-yard run by Rieke.

There were lots of mistakes in the game, Emslie said. Bigfork had 10 penalties for 95 yards. Choteau had six for 50.

“We had a lot of big plays,” Emslie said. Some of them were called back due to penalties. Some of the penalties were backbreakers, he added.

Emslie credited Sandry for playing well on both sides of the football. “He made good decisions, and our blocking got better as the game wore on.”

Sandry completed six of 13 passes and ran 11 times for 15 yards. Rieke totaled 70 yards on 22 carries, while Vinny Quirk added 28 yards on seven totes. Nissen caught four passes for 144 yards. Rieke had two catches for two yards. Sandry was not sacked once.

Bigfork totaled 120 rushing yards to 157 for Choteau. The Vikings had 146 yards through the air compared to only 55 for the Bulldogs.

Defensively, Quirk led the Vikes with 11 tackles, while Sandry had 7.5 and Nissen 5.5. Nissen combined with Logan Mejak for a sack.

In the kicking game, Jon Landon converted two of four extra-point tries, while Sandry averaged 48 yards on three punts.

French was Choteau’s leading ground gainer, totaling 52 yards on 18 carries. He also completed three of seven passes attempted with one interception.

Florence up next

The Vikings do not have any injuries, and will host the Florence Falcons at 7 p.m. Friday in another non-conference game.

Florence lost 47-0 to Townsend last week, but are a well coached team, Emslie said.

The Falcons pass quite a bit out of a “pistol” or shotgun formation.

Defensively, they use a four-man front and use three or four linebackers. Occasionally they will go to a five-man front.