Whitefish crushes Frenchtown in blowout victory
An explosive second half for the Bulldogs led to a blowout 42-14 win against Frenchtown on Friday.
Whitefish came out with an early lead in the game scoring in the first quarter and holding a 14-7 lead at the half over the Broncs. The Bulldogs ran away with the game in the second half, outscoring Frenchtown 28-7.
Tyler Cote led the team in scoring with touchdown runs of 65, 5, 13 and 2 yards. Cote finished with 189 yards on 19 carries, along with a single reception for 40 yards. Travis Catina and Parker McWhirter both added rushing touchdowns for the Bulldogs, who racked up 353 rushing yards in the game.
Quarterback Derek Kastella went 6 for 11 passing for 88 yards.
Head coach Chad Ross said the backfield combination of Catina and Cote have been key in getting the Bulldog’s running game going.
“Travis has done a great job at fullback coming down and lead blocking at the point of attack,” he said. “Travis and Tyler are a couple of those seniors that have really been the heart and soul of our team as far as leadership and ability and attitude in practice go.”
“[Cote] has always run really hard and last week he found a couple of seams and just broke off,” he added.
The Bulldogs (3-5, 1-2) head to Hamilton for the last nonconference game of the regular season on Friday. Hamilton (5-3) is currently second in Southwest A conference play behind Dillon.
“They have one of the best lineman I’ve seen on film, so we’re trying to come up with ways to control the line of scrimmage and stretch our running game a little bit. Their team kind of rests on the shoulders of their line,” Ross said about Hamilton.
A potential playoff spot looms in the balance on Friday. If the Bulldogs win and Corvallis loses to Stevensville, Whitefish could possibly sneak in for a wildcard spot.
Friday’s game is at 7 p.m. in Hamilton.
Whitefish 7 7 14 14 — 42
Frenchtown 0 7 7 0 — 14
W — Tyler Cote 65 run (Carver Gilman kick)
F — Adam Botkin 28 pass from Jared Cole (Botkin kick)
W — Cote 5 run (Gilman kick)
W — Catina 1 run (Gilman kick)
F — Michael Edwards 74 run (Botkin kick)
W — Cote 13 run (Gilman kick)
W — Cote 2 run (Gilman kick)
W — McWhirter 7 run (Gilman kick)