Whitefish opens playoffs with battle in Frenchtown

The Bulldogs couldn’t finish the regular season on a high note, falling to Dillon 33-0 on Friday.

Dillon opened things up with a 7-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to open their lead to 6-0. A 44-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter set up a 12-0 halftime deficit, and Dillon extended the lead to 26-0 with a pair of short touchdowns in the third quarter.

Dillon capped things off with a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

It was a tough night overall for Whitefish. They rushed for 69 yards and passed for 138, but quarterback Fynn Ridgeway threw five interceptions.

Ridgeway completed 15 of his 34 passes, while Jack Alton rushed for 48 yards on 16 attempts.

As a team, Whitefish was 1 for 13 on third downs but 2 for 6 on fourth downs.

Dillon racked up 198 yards passing and 151 yards on the ground, but gave the ball away five times on four fumbles and a pick.

This weekend the Bulldogs will look to make a playoff run against Frenchtown, but it won’t be easy.

Whitefish finished the regular season 6-3 overall, good for fifth in Western A standings behind Dillon, Hamilton, Libby and Frenchtown.

While Frenchtown just fell in a close 8-6 battle to Libby, making their record 7-2, they’ve also picked up a key win over Dillon.

Whitefish is going to need a boost in scoring as well. In their three losses this year, they’ve been outscored 105-0, compared to 205-68 in the rest of their games.

If Devin Beale returns from injury, that will be a big boost. Beale is second in rushing in Class A with 869 yards total, about 124 yards per game.

Saturday’s game will start at 2 p.m. in Frenchtown.