Sports Now -- State Title Football + Cat-Griz Game Recap + Griz Sneak into the Playoffs

Local sports talk from Northwest Montana covering prep sports, Bobcats, Grizzlies and more!

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Hosted by Josh Dugan

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Transcript

Welcome back to another edition of Inter Lake SportsNow. I'm your boy Josh Dugan. It's Thanksgiving week, everyone. I know there's a lot going on, whether it's running around town doing family functions, getting geared up for Black Friday, or getting geared up for that Grace and Bobcats' upcoming playoff action. Whatever it may be, I do want to say I am thankful for the support of you checking out the show today. Thank you for taking the time to do so at this busy time of the year. That's what I'm thankful for and the support of the Daily Inter Lake team for keeping up with the action.

Alrighty, y'all, let's get into the fun. We're going to recap the Montana Prep football state championship games from over the weekend. We're going to highlight our Prep Players of the Week, and then we're going to dive into some Brawl of the Wild action, a little Cat-Griz talk, and discuss both teams' playoff destinies. Both teams did land spots in the FCS playoff tournament. We'll dive into that more later, but it's worth mentioning.

First, today's episode is brought to you by Nomad, voted the Flathead's best manufacturer. Nomad is a longtime supporter of the local community and sports scene, celebrating 20 years of building great careers and mission-focused custom vehicles. Nomad, a Montana-based company, making a global impact. Visit nomadgcs.com for more info.

Quick reminder, you can subscribe to the Daily Inter Lake Edition to get all your local news right at your fingertips. Check out dailyInter Lake.com for more information.
Before we jump into all that Brawl of the Wild fun and everything happening in the Prep Football Roundup, I do want to mention Carroll College. Their football team had their season come to an end over the weekend. The number 16 nationally ranked Fighting Saints traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, to take on the Grandview Vikings and ultimately lost 17-14. Carroll was the lone Frontier Conference team to make the NAIA playoffs this year. So, kudos to them for their success and for putting up a tough fight against the number two team in the nation.

Alright, so this was the last weekend of fall sports action. We had the Montana State football championship games. Let's recap the scores from around the state real quick. The Daily Inter Lake had some of the team down at the Class C eight-man State title game featuring the Mission Bulldogs and Belt Huskies as well. We'll recap that after a quick roundup of the scores.

In Montana Class AA, the state champion football team is the Helena Capital Bruins, who beat the Bozeman Hawks 35-14 on Friday to finish their undefeated season and claim the Class AA crown. I had a chance to watch the Bruins take on Flathead earlier this year, and they had some solid players and athletes who really stood out. What I remembered was that they did it in a number of ways, not just relying on one guy. It was a full team effort, so kudos to them on their championship run.
Next up, our Class A champions are the Lewistown Golden Eagles, who beat the Billings Central Rams 34-14 on Saturday to cap off an undefeated season as well. Lewistown beat local schools Polson and Columbia Falls on their way to the championship.

Moving on to the Class B championship, the Florence Falcons took home the crown, knocking off Missoula Loyola 48-14. Florence finished their season 11-1. It's worth mentioning that Missoula Loyola upset undefeated Bigfork in the Class B semifinal on the way to the big game.

So, we're gonna skip the eight-man championship for a second. We'll get to that recap. Last up is the Montana State six-man football champions, the Big Sandy Pioneers, who beat Broadview Lavina 67-27. Congratulations to all of our football state champions on all of your hard work, dedication to the game, and passion for the sport. That's what it's all about. And hey, it's not easy bouncing the books and the football field, so credit to you all.

Alright, let's get into that eight-man state title game. The Daily Inter Lake had some team down there. Our photographer Casey Kreider and sports editor Katie Brown were down there covering the action. So let's dive into it. This is by Katie Brown of the Daily Inter Lake.

"Belt rallies to beat Mission for the eight-man title. The Belt Huskies broke out in the second half of the Class C eight-man championship game at Mission High School to top the Mission Bulldogs 52-24 and claim their first title since 1994. Garrett Metreon scored four rushing touchdowns to lead Belt, including three in the second half. Ethan Triplet added two rushing scores. A frigid first half tilted in Mission's favor and no doubt the cold temperature presented its own challenges for those catching and throwing the ball. The Bulldogs' first score came from a blocked punt that Canyon Sergeant pounced on and ran for 10 yards or so. This was after the teams traded interceptions in the first quarter, and neither was able to turn in points.

Belt answered in the second quarter with a one-yard rush by Matrione and led 8-6 after a successful two-point conversion. Kenny Ness scored the first of his two touchdowns at the 6:26 mark of the second. Mission led 12-8 after a failed two-point conversion. The Bulldogs were unsuccessful in converting any of their two-point attempts on the day. Belt reclaimed the lead with a 35-yard rushing TD from Jeremy Neville with 5:09 left in the half. Then, Chance Brockman ran back an interception eight yards to give Mission an 18-14 lead going into the half.

From there, Belt seemed to break out like the sun from the clouds, scoring on nearly every possession while Mission faltered on both sides of the ball. Beach Round scored two third-quarter touchdowns and one early in the fourth. Just like that, the Huskies led 46-16. The Bulldogs showed some life when Kelly McClure hit Ness for a 40-yard touchdown reception, but that was all they could muster. Triplet scored again, this time a six-yard run, and the Huskies padded their lead to 51-24. Belt was 5 for 7 on their two-point conversions. Mission, on the other hand, was aiming for its first eight-man title. The Bulldogs did win a six-man title in 1948, but it is not recognized by the MSHA. They ended their season 13-1. The Bulldogs played this game without star running back Bryce Humphrey. Belt completed the season 13-0. Two members of the 1948 Bulldogs six-man team, Joe McDonald and George Biggs, were invited to do the coin toss."

Alright, well kudos to Mission, and congratulations to Belt on taking home the championship. It's never fun to lose, but the local Mission Bulldogs can be proud, and even though they came up just short, they have a lot to be proud of. They set the foundation for the team next year.

And it's very cool to see those old teammates from way back get together and recoup some memories from the 1948 Bulldogs six-man State title team. That happened over 70 years ago, so that's special. Anytime you see teammates from the past reunite, especially after such a long duration, it's a very special moment. Overall, that concludes a great season of Prep football in Montana. What a year it was!

Before we move along to our Prep Players of the Week and some cat Gray's talk, here's a message from the team at Nomad. The key to their success has always been the amazing talent and experience of their team based in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, Cows Ball, Montana. Their headquarters is home to some of the most skilled engineers, integrators, software developers, welders, electricians, carpenters, mechanics, and professional staff in the market. Their team is dedicated to working collaboratively with valued clients to ensure success in every mission. If you're interested, check out their careers page at NomadGCS.com/careers to view current job openings and submit an application. Remember to go check that out!

And remember, you can check out the full prep recaps on The Daily Inter Lake website or in the Sunday edition of The Daily Inter Lake to get all your Prep football action. Moving forward, they'll cover Prep basketball and everything else. So shout out to Nomad and our amazing prep athletes. Now, let's move right into our Prep Players of the Week, presented by Hagadone Media Group Montana.

First up, we have the Bigfork volleyball duo, Inga Turner and Zoe Albert, who led the Valkyries to a 27-4 record on the year, including a runner-up finish at the Western B divisional and a berth into the state B tournament.

Next, sticking to the volleyball scene, we have the Polson duo, Claire Todd and Avery Starr, who were named to the All-State volleyball teams. The duo played a key part in Polson's successful season, going 17-4, winning the Western A divisional title, and making it to the state A tournament. Todd was third on the Pirates in kills and led the Pirates in blocks. Starr was second on the team in digs and led in aces. Just to clarify, the Bigfork duo of Inga Turner and Zoe Albert also got nods on the All-State volleyball team, and that's why they are our Prep Players of the Week. So shout out to that Bigfork duo and shout out to the Polson duo. Epic stuff going on there.

Let's keep it moving. Mission football duo, Canyon Sergeant and Kenny Ness are next up on our Prep Players of the Week for their efforts on special teams. Ness did score a couple of touchdowns on the day, but it's worth mentioning Canyon Sergeant. What a great football name! It's worth mentioning that this duo got it done on special teams. They make the cut for their teamwork. Ness blocked a punt early in the state title game, and Sergeant pounced on it for the touchdown. Although Mission came up short, it was an epic moment in an epic game. Blocking a punt is one of those things you'll never forget. It's our first special teams' nod of the season, and it's the last Prep football game. We had to give some respect to those guys out there doing the dirty work on special teams. They don't always get the credit they deserve. So shout out to Sergeant and Ness, the first Prep Players of the Week to make the team for their efforts on special teams.

Before we move on, I do want to use this as a quick opportunity to give a shout-out to all of our Montana high school athletes who gave it their all this fall, whether it was soccer, cross country, flag football, volleyball, golf, or on the Gridiron. Major kudos for putting in the time, effort, dedication, and everything it takes to compete in Prep sports while juggling everything that's thrown at them to be successful in the classroom. So, kudos to those athletes! A major round of applause. I think they definitely deserve it. I mean, great stuff! Great stuff! I've been waiting a long time to use the applause button here, and that was my opportunity. So, applause to all our prep fall athletes, many of whom will be competing in winter sports and spring sports. We'll be following their journeys a little more, so a round of applause again.

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This has been a rock and rolling type of show, jam-packed. We've been rolling right through it, but let's get into it. It's that time to talk a little Griz talk, little Cats. Coming off what you could call the Montana Super Bowl, one of the biggest weeks in Montana sports.

I do want to mention the reason I jumped into the Prep football stuff first. You know, with the State title games being on the same weekend as the Brawl of the Wild, it kind of overshadows the accomplishment of those prep athletes. So, we had to give them their shine first. Now it's time, though, to move into a little recap of that big game, all the actions surrounding it, with College GameDay in town and looking forward to both teams and their playoff dreams. Really, I mean, playoff journey, whatever you want to call it. Alright, let's do it.

As we mentioned, College GameDay was coming to town. I talked about that last show, and man, the atmosphere was absolutely electric, as you would expect with ESPN's number one pre-game show in town. And I think my biggest takeaway is they did a great job of putting this rivalry and the state of Montana and their passion for the game of football in the national spotlight. There were fans out there, it was negative three degrees at 6:30 in the morning, and people were going buck wild with their shirts off. They didn't care. It was one of those things. It was Montana football, and it was the Brawl of the Wild. So, it was epic.

And I think I've mentioned it before, but if you're a recruit looking for a school at the FCS level and you're thinking, "I can go play at this Montana school with this rivalry, where I get to look forward to this at the end of my season," that's going to sway a couple of kids and make them go there. So, I think it does wonders for recruiting, honestly, for both programs. I thought it was epic and just loved seeing the representation of the state of Montana on the national platform, getting some love.

My favorite moment from the whole thing: football icon Lee Corso made his return to the show after missing some time with an illness, and it was special to see him put that Bobcat's hat on and rally the Montana State crowd. He always, I shouldn't say that, put on the mascot head for the Bobcats. He always picks a mascot of who he thinks is going to win the big game for the College GameDay that they're at, that stadium, that game. So, it was epic to see the football legend incorporate the Montana State logo in there and the mascot and it was just surreal overall. ESPN did a great job. Shout out to Bozeman and all their fans, and The Grizzlies fans and everybody who showed up out there. The Bobcats fans made it a special scene.

So now, let's get into a quick excerpt of the action from the Daily Inter Lakes' Fritz Neighbor, who made the trip to Bozeman to cover the game. This one's titled "Overrun Cats Piled Up 439 Rushing Yards in 55-14 Route of the Griz from Bozeman" by Fritz Neighbor.

Tommy Malott, Montana State's superb sophomore quarterback out of Butte, has the record of a post-game press conference as he is in hitting the gap on the zone running play. "We're extremely detailed and extremely physical," said Malott after he helped the Bobcats dismantle the Montana Grizzlies 55-14 in the 121st Brawl of the Wild. And that wins a lot of games. But Malott ran 15 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns in front of a record Bobcat Stadium crowd of 22,203. Fellow QB Sean Chambers ran for 86 yards and a score. Together, they signaled the Grizzlies were in trouble early, each leading 75-yard scoring drives that went quickly and didn't have a single forward pass. Adding a jailbreak snap that resulted in an MSU touchdown, plus a goal-line fumble by the Griz, and there was a runaway by halftime.

Montana State won its eighth straight conference contest and a record 18th straight at home, while the 10-1 Bobcats earned a share of the Big Sky Conference crown and a top-three seed into the postseason. The 7-4 Montana will have to see Sunday if they made the playoffs. They did, by the way, as we talked about earlier.

So from there, you can go read the full recap on the dailyinterlake.com or pick up that Sunday paper of the Daily Inter Lake and grab that from November 20th. Let me mention, it is worth mentioning, shout out to Fritz. He made it out there for the game. He had some awesome coverage leading up to the game. Go check that out on the Daily Inter Lake website or from last week's papers. Just a ton of good stuff about the rivalry, about these two teams. If you missed it, it's fun, fun stuff, and some good history for you. I enjoyed it all.

Alright, so shout out to Fritz, and the Bobcats took care of business. We're not going to dive into the whole recap because from there, it gets a little ugly for the Griz. But here's my stat of the game from the Brawl of the Wild: The Bobcats led 38-7 with 11 minutes to go in the third quarter, and they were 4 of 6 passing the ball for 89 yards. That pretty much sums up the kind of performance they had rushing the football. There was almost nothing The Griz could do to slow down the Bobcats' rushing attack.

Here's my biggest takeaway from each team's performance on the day. First off, for the Grizzlies, I gave kudos to their defense all season long for being the thing that kept them in games when they were struggling and dealing with injuries at the quarterback position. However, I think they wore down a little bit in this one. They had blown out Eastern Washington and Cal Poly, getting those big wins, and they came into this game with a lot of adrenaline. But at the end of the day, you can only keep that up for so long. Your defense can only carry you for so long. Once Montana State dominated the first half and took that early lead, it felt like The Grizzly's defense was on the field for almost the entire game, and it was just too much to handle.

Now, that being said, I think they can bounce back in their playoff matchup with Southeast Missouri State (Sigma) this upcoming week. The Grizzlies' defense got hurt by their offense making mistakes, with penalties and turnovers. This forced the defense to play from behind and be on the field for longer periods. I think it caught up to them. This isn't a knock on the defense; they deserve credit for keeping the team in contention all year long. But you can only do that so much and expect your defense to pull off miracles for so long, and it just didn't happen last week. We'll see how they bounce back in the playoffs.

Now, as far as the Bobcats, my biggest takeaway is that this coaching staff has tremendous confidence in their offensive line and rushing attack. They can run the ball effectively in any situation, whether it's first down, short yardage situations, or even second or third down and long. They were pounding the football, picking up first downs, and it just shows that Brett Vegan, the offensive coordinator, has so much belief in his offensive line and rushing attack. They have a variety of weapons in Chambers, Marquis Johnson, and a plethora of running backs like Willie Patterson. The Bobcats keep teams on their toes by using their tight ends and fullbacks. Their run game was pure poetry in motion. Kudos to the offensive lineman, fullbacks, and tight ends for clearing the way. The Bobcats have a lot of trust in that unit.

I would also mention that the Bobcats' offensive coordinator, Taylor Housewright, might receive some phone calls from FCS-level teams looking for a head coach. After that performance against their biggest rival and one of the best defenses in the country, he called a near-perfect game. Their run-pass option offense was impressive.
Now let's get to the playoff news. Despite losing the Brawl of the Wild, the Grizzlies made it into the playoffs and even landed a home playoff game against Southeast Missouri State on November 26th. The game will be on ESPN2, giving the Grizzlies another nationally televised opportunity. I expect them to be extremely hungry coming off that loss, and Bobby Hawk will have the team fired up to bounce back. The biggest question mark for the Grizzlies is who will start at quarterback. Lucas Johnson, when healthy, is one of the best quarterbacks at the FCS level, but he hasn't been healthy for a couple of months. Alternatively, they could start Daniel Britt, who had a nice second half and made plays with his legs. It might be worth changing things up and going with the healthier, fresher quarterback to spark the offense.

As for the Bobcats, they landed the fourth seed in the FCS playoff tournament, earning a first-round bye. They will wait to see who they will face between the North Dakota Fighting Hawks and Big Sky Conference foe Weber State, whom they beat 43-38 earlier in a wild game.

That had four safeties go in favor of the Bobcats. The Wildcats made a bunch of special team mistakes that resulted in eight points. Without that, the Bobcats would have lost that game. So, how does that one turn out? That should be a really good game depending on how the first round matches up. We'll bounce back next week and update who the Bobcats will be playing.

So, the last thing I'll say about the Bobcats is that the 4th seed guarantees two home games for them on their quest for another national championship appearance. It's worth mentioning that the Grizzlies and the Cats are on opposite sides of the bracket. If a couple of dice roll the right way and the poker chips kind of fall in line, we might get a little Griz-Cat rematch in the championship game. Now, that would be something. Alright, I'm getting ahead of myself. Never say never.

Overall, five Big Sky teams made the postseason. The Idaho Vandals, Sac State Hornets, both Montana schools and Weber State. The conference was loaded. UC Davis almost made it as well, they barely missed out. It was a ton of fun to cover this season. Shout out to all those Big Sky athletes who had the opportunity to watch. It was a lot of fun. Some high-level football was played at the FCS level this season, and the Big Sky might be at the top tip of the iceberg as far as the most competitive conferences go. Now, I'm a little biased, but they're up there. You would really have to show me a deeper conference from start to finish. That's where I'm getting at. They have five to six teams who, in my opinion, can play with anybody at the FCS level. 

I don't know if any other conference quite has that kind of depth. As far as being top-heavy, there might be a couple of teams whose one and two could hang with the best.
The point is, the Big Sky was really deep this year and a lot of fun. Alright, I think later this week, I might do a little Griz playoff preview. Keep an eye out for that. Follow me on Twitter @Jdugan406. I'll be keeping you updated there. Maybe we'll be lucky and get a phone call from ESPN or something. We'll see how that all goes. I know it's coming off a wild week covering the brawl, and the wild drive out to Bozeman. There was a lot of action.

So, that'll do it for today's show. Before we wrap this thing up, I want to give a special thanks to Hagadone Media Group Montana for their support. And I want to remind everyone listening that this episode was brought to you by Nomad, voted the Flathead's best manufacturer. Nomad is a long-time supporter of the local community and sports scenes. They're celebrating 20 years of building great careers and mission-focused custom vehicles. Nomad is a Montana-based company making a global impact. They have worked with NASA and various branches of the United States military, so you know Nomad is a name you can trust with your manufacturing needs. For more info, visit nomadgcs.com. That's nomadgcs.com.

That'll do it for today. Thanks again to Nomad, Flathead's best manufacturer, and Hagadone Media Group Montana. In our next episode, we'll check in on how the Griz fared in their home playoff game against SEMO. Hopefully, we'll also be previewing their next opponent.

As well, we're going to find out who the Bobcats will face and go over that game a little bit. Who are they going to be facing? How deep can both teams go? Is there any chance the Montana teams can meet up again? It's exciting as far as fall prep sports go. That was pretty much it. I think we'll do a little general fall sports recap next week and then start to look ahead to winter sports in the valley and beyond. That'll do it, y'all. I'm Josh Dugan, and that'll do it for Inter Lake Sports Now. Thanks for listening, have a great Thanksgiving, and like I said, I appreciate you. I appreciate your time, and I hope you have fun. Be safe out there!