Cats wallop Blue Devils in opener
Braxton Reiten runs a kickoff back for a touchdown against Corvallis Friday.
It took them awhile to get going, but once they did, it was all over. The Columbia Falls football team hammered Corvallis at home Friday night, 48-14.
The Cats scored 41 points in the second quarter alone.
The Cats offense sputtered in the first quarter, with a couple of drives killed by holding penalties and other miscues.
But in the second, the scoring onslaught began when quarterback Dakota Bridwell connected with Sean Miller from inside the 20 to put the Cats up 6-0 when the point after was no good at the 11:03 mark.
A few seconds later, Zach Baker recovered a Blue Devil fumble and Trevor Hoerner nabbed a 17-yard pass from Bridwell to put the Cats up 13-0 after Brandon Karberg’s point after was good.
Miller then intercepted a Corvallis pass. Bridwell then connected with Braxton Reiten on a 45-yard strike with 10:03 left in the quarter. Karberg’s PAT was good, Cats up 20-0 in a minute.
The Cats got the ball back and Bridwell found Reiten again on a 14-yard pass at the 6:49 mark. Karberg was good again and the Cats were up 27-0. Corvallis fumbled at the 39-yard line and the Cats were in business again. Hoerner nabbed an 8-yard pass from Bridwell a few plays later to go up 34-0 with 1:39 left.
But Reiten wasn’t done. After a Corvallis touchdown, Reiten returned the kickoff 81 yards to put the Cats up 41-6.
In the second half, Bridwell connected on a 35-yard strike to Hoerner to cap the game off.
Corvallis would score one more touchdown against the Cats’ reserves.
Hoerner looked particularly impressive, leaping over defenders on one pass to make it to the end zone. Bridwell was 20 for 29 for 312 yards passing and six touchdowns. The Cats rushed for 73 yards.
The boys face Stevensville at home Friday. Game time is 7 p.m.
Corvallis 0 6 0 8 — 12
C. Falls 0 41 7 0 — 48
CF—Sean Miller 22 pass from Dakota Bridwell (kick failed)
CF—Trevor Hoerner 18 pass from Bridwell (Brandon Karberg kick)
CF—Braxton Reiten 55 pass from Bridwell (Karberg kick)
CF—Reiten 14 pass from Bridwell (Karberg kick)
CF—Hoerner 8 pass from Bridwell (Karberg kick)
C—Cole Wohltman 78 pass from Ridge Albright (conversion failed)
CF—Reiten 80 kickoff return (Karberg kick)
CF—Hoerner 35 pass from Bridwell (Karberg kick)
C—Wohltman 22 pass from Albright (Liang Liedle run)