Cats cruise over Indians in home opener

Zach Darling had 133 yards on 15 carries as the Columbia Falls football team cruised to victory over Browning last week, 43-2.

The Sept. 14 game featured a Wildcats team that was much improved over the week before. The Cats had only one turnover, and the defense held Browning’s offense scoreless. The Indians’ only points came on a safety that was called after Jared Trinastich threw a muffed punt from the end zone. The referees called it intentional grounding, resulting in the penalty.

Other than that one miscue, Trinastich had a solid game, passing for 173 yards. The Cats spread the scoring around — Ty Morgan scampered in for two touchdowns and caught a 9-yard pass from Trinastich for another, Darling had two touchdowns, and Colin King snared a 15-yard pass from Trinastich to round out the scoring.

The Cats defense also played very well. They held Browning to just 48 yards rushing and 77 yards passing.

“We played really hard the whole game,” coach Jackson Schweikert said. “They practiced really hard all week.”

Schweikert credited his assistant coaches for a job well done.

“I don’t do much,” he quipped. “I sit back and they do everything ... They did a great job preparing the kids.”

It was Darling’s best game of the year.

“He runs the ball hard,” Schweikert said. “He doesn’t just go down with an arm tackle.”

The Cats will have a tougher opponent this week in Polson. They travel to the Pirate’s home turf for a conference showdown Friday night.

“We know we have to defend the run,” Schweikert said. “We have to play fast against those guys.”

Browning 0 2 0 0 - 2

C. Falls 14 7 8 14 - 43

CF - Ty Morgan 4 run (Alex Presnell kick), 10:03

CF - Zach Darling 5 run (Presnell kick), 7:55

CF - Colin King 15 pass from Jared Trinastich, :20 (Presnell kick)

B - Browning safety.

CF - Ty Morgan 18 run (Darling run), 7:55

CF - Morgan 9 pass from Trinastich (Presnell kick), 10:41

CF - Darling 5 run (Presnell kick), 4:03