Wildcats wallop Stevensville, 32-14
By JOE SOVA
Hungry Horse News
Mounting nearly 500 yards of offense, Columbia Falls built a 26-0 first-half lead and cruised to a 32-14 football win over Stevensville on Friday to close out nonconference play.
The Wildcats are 2-1 heading into the Northwest A opener Friday, Sept. 21 at Ronan. Game time is 7 p.m.
Steven Brennan got the Cats on the scoreboard in the opening quarter, running nine yards for a touchdown. Mackey Nolan kicked the extra point. Later in the period, the CFHS defense held on a fourth-and-2 in Cats territory. Josh Wilson capped a 69-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown run.
Just 24 seconds later, the Cats were on the board again as Mitchell Wassam picked off a Richie Brushia pass and returned it 39 yards to the end zone. CFHS added to the lead when Nolan dived in from a yard out. Nolan's conversion kick made it 26-0 at intermission.
Brushia hit paydirt on a 15-yard keeper in the third period. After a CFHS punt, the Yellow Jackets turned a fourth-and-20 into a touchdown with a gimmick play — scoring on a 49-yard hook-and-lateral. Logan Connors caught a short pass from Brushia and pitched to Ethan Pateman, who raced to the end zone. The two-point conversion got Stevi to within 26-14.
The Cats responded with a touchdown drive, capped by a 28-yard gallop by Wilson. The junior tailback carried three times for 58 yards on the possession. The conversion run failed, but the Cats led, 32-14.
With 2:15 left in the game, Tanner Perry intercepted a Brushia aerial — Stevi's fourth turnover of the contest. Perry had two pickoffs.
Brushia had thrown for 555 yards and five touchdowns in the Yellow Jackets' first three games, but was held to 115 yards passing by the Cats' defense.
"I thought we played pretty well," Cats coach John Thompson said. "I was most happy with the fact that we got back to running the offense and carrying out ball fakes."
The Cats had just one turnover, a lost fumble.
Wilson returned to form, carrying the ball 24 times for 187 yards. Scott Palmer added 48 yards, Wassam 37 and Chase Fairbank 34. Nolan was 8-for-15 passing for 124 yards, and Wassam was 1-for-4 for nine. Teamwise, the Cats had 348 yards on the ground and 133 passing for a 481 total.
Stevi had 267 yards of total offense.
"We went in planning to run the ball," Thompson said. "We did a good job getting outside and that opened up the inside for us."
Thompson was also pleased with how the Cats responded after the second Stevi touchdown.
"It was good of our kids to come back, drive the field and seal it up," the coach said.
For the third straight game, the Cats got a touchdown from either the defense or special teams. Kelly Houle had a fumble recovery.
Ronan goes into the Northwest A opener with an 0-3 record. The Indians lost to Anaconda 44-14 last week.
"They run a little bit of an option," Thompson said of Ronan. "They can throw the ball as well.
"We have to get better each week," the coach added.
Columbia Falls 13 13 0 6 — 32
Stevensville 0 0 6 8 — 14
CF — Brennan 9 run (Nolan kick)
CF — Wilson 18 run (kick failed)
CF — Wassam 39 interception return (run failed)
CF — Nolan 1 run (Nolan kick)
Stev — Brushia 15 run (kick failed)
Stev — Pateman 49 pass from Brushia (Pateman pass from Brushia)
CF — Wilson 28 run (run failed)
CFHS spikers edged by Ronan
By JOE SOVA
Hungry Horse News
Lacking the killer instinct, Columbia Falls was unable to come out of Ronan with a varsity volleyball conference win last Thursday. The Maidens squeaked out a 23-25, 25-23, 13-15, 25-19, 15-13 victory.
It was the first of seven straight Northwest A matches for the Wildkats, dropping them to 1-1. It was Ronan's league opener.
Finally, CFHS plays its home opener on Thursday, Sept. 20, hosting Bigfork — nearly a month into the season. That is the first of three straight conference matches at home. The Kats host a strong Libby team on Friday, Sept. 21.
After the Kats and Maidens alternated wins in the first four games, CFHS built a 9-0 lead behind the serving of Sarah Marcille in the deciding set. But Ronan rallied for a two-point win.
"We played at their level instead of ours," Kats coach Addy Hines admitted. "We led 9-0 in the fifth game and stopped playing.
"We lost our intensity level. That's what we're working on," the coach added.
CFHS had 10 serving errors in the five games, which Hines said is not bad — given how aggressively the Kats were serving.
Marcille had 38 set assists for the Kats and seven service aces. Alyssa Ladenburg led in kills with 17 and Cedar Smith added 13. Smith had four blocks. Staci Pence was credited with 20 digs.
Hines said the Kats are really looking forward to finally playing at home.
"This is a nice game to start with," Hines said of hosting Bigfork. "I know they'll go out aggressive against them."