Bulldogs claim Northwest A football championship
One goal in a season full of high expectations has been checked off the list for the Bulldogs.
Whitefish (7-1 overall, 3-0 league) ran over Frenchtown 45-0 on Friday at Memorial Field to wrap up a second consecutive Northwest A crown with a perfect conference record. With a top seed secured, Whitefish earns a first-round bye in the State A playoffs.
The Dogs scored in nearly every way possible against Frenchtown (3-5, 0-2), finding the end zone on offense, defense and special teams. The defense smothered the Broncs' playmakers and left the visiting team nowhere to run.
“We’re clicking right now,” said senior lineman Steven Quimby. “[Winning the conference] was one of our goals at the beginning of the year. It’s a great accomplishment. It’s going to give us a lot of confidence to make it to our next goal.”
Whitefish’s offense came out a bit sticky and stalled on the first two drives. They finally found traction with two minutes to go in the first quarter.
Quarterback Luke May moved out of the pocket, juked a defender, and pitched it left to Chris Park who strolled into the end zone.
Two minutes later, Whitefish linebacker Travis Catina hit Frenchtown quarterback Zack Palmer and knocked the football loose. Park scooped it off the turf and ran 27 yards for another touchdown.
“We came out a little off our game,” senior Brian FauntLeRoy said. “But I thought we tightened our ship up and sealed the deal going into that second quarter.”
FauntLeRoy got into the scoring mix with a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the second quarter to put the Dogs up 21-0.
“I saw blockers in front of me, and I saw a blocker move to my left and I just found the lane and hugged the sideline,” he said. “It felt great.”
May added two rushing touchdowns, including a bruising effort from 15 yards where he flattened a Frenchtown defender at the goal line.
May was only 2 of 7 passing for 43 yards but finished with 123 yards on the ground.
Park had touchdown runs of 8 and 18 yards. He picked up 96 yards total on nine carries.
Haley Nicholson was perfect on all her PAT kicks and added a 22-yard field goal.
Whitefish finished with 326 yards of offense compared to just 84 for Frenchtown.
“Another great game by our front seven, which keeps another team under 25 yards rushing for the fourth time this season,” Whitefish coach Chad Ross said.
Quimby said the Bulldog defensive line is getting stronger as the season goes on.
“We spent a lot of time in the off-season together,” he said. “We’re working hard and conditioning a lot.”
Quimby emphasises that they’ll keep pushing toward the ultimate goal of bringing a state title back to Whitefish.
“We’re not perfect yet,” he said. “We have a long way to go to get to the top, but hopefully we hit our climax at the state championship.”
Whitefish hots Hamilton in their final regular season game on Friday at Memorial Field.
Frenchtown 0 0 0 0 — 0
Whitefish 14 24 7 0 — 45
W — Chris Park 8 run (Haley Nicholson kick)
W — Park 27 fumble return (Nicholson kick)
W — Brian FauntLeRoy 68 punt return (Nicholson kick)
W — Luke May 22 run (Nicholson kick)
W — Nicholson 22 field goal
W — Park 18 run (Nicholson kick)
W — May 15 run (Nicholson kick)