Wildcats exit football playoffs on a high, dry field in Butte

BUTTE — There was no muddy middle on the Bulldog Memorial Stadium field last Saturday, nor wet footballs to towel-dry after every down — nothing like the conditions seen a week earlier in Columbia Falls, and nothing to slow down the Butte Central Catholic High School Maroons and their fleet-footed quarterback, Andy Ritter, on his high-altitude home turf.

Unimpeded and often untouched by a winded, hands-on-hips Wildcats defense, Ritter set a school record by passing and running for 455 yards and four touchdowns, leading his team to a lopsided 49-13 victory.

Butte Central will travel to Frenchtown for a Class A semifinal playoff game on Saturday.

Maroons head coach Don Peoples Jr. scouted the Wildcats during their opening-round playoff victory Oct. 31 against Hamilton, the third-place seed in Southwestern A. And according to a Montana Standard newspaper report, Peoples told Wildcat quarterback Mitchell Wassam that he had watched "about 800 hours of film" of Wassam and the Columbia Falls offense.

All that homework counted for something, because the Maroons held Wassam and his offense scoreless in the second half, while Butte Central reached the end zone four times.

Wildcats coach Bill Coleman had said before the game that his team matched well with Butte Central, but afterward, told the Daily Inter Lake "we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, all day long. And we couldn't just figure out how to get in the right place."

Three Wildcat seniors — running back John Woody and wide receiver Kyle Howell, on a pass from quarterback Mitchell Wassam — ended their high school careers by scoring Columbia Falls' two first-half touchdowns.

Wildcats coach Bill Coleman praised his seniors for their leadership.

"They were exemplars of the individuals we want in this program," Coleman said. "They did a great job and had a tremendous work ethic. The athletes throughout our program will have to find a way to step up next season and continue the tradition we've begun to establish."

Among those returning next year will be wide receiver and defensive back Kaleb Johnson and running back Nate Thompson.