Flag football, golfers head to State

The Butte High Bulldogs will have an ace up their sleeves Friday night when they welcome Helena High to Naranche Stadium for a Western AA football game.

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m., a half hour later because of Silver B’s Night.

The Silver B’s will welcome former Bulldog players who first lettered in 2000 to the distinguished group before the game. They will also induct the 1975 first-time letter winners as Golden B’s, and Joe Kilminster and Daniel Larsen will become the 21st and 22nd Diamond B’s in the 86-year history of the organization.

Kilminster and Larsen first lettered in 1950.

Then, the former Bulldogs will take the best seats in the house to watch Butte High (1-4 overall, 0-3 Western AA) play the Bengals (3-2, 2-1).

That setup has worked very well for the Bulldogs in the past. Butte High 55-28-1 overall on Silver B’s Night. That includes eight straight victories in front of the old Bulldogs.

Butte High’s last loss on Silver B’s Night came in 2015, when they fell 28-9 to Missoula Sentinel.

Butte High is 11-2 on Silver B’s Night since Naranche Stadium reopened in 2011. There was no Silver B’s Night in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic.

Butte High is looking to bounce back from last week’s gut-wrenching 10-7 home loss to Missoula Sentinel. Blaise Olson booted a 36-yard field goal as time expired to hand the Bulldogs a loss that will likely mean they will need to win their four remaining games to host a playoff game.

The Bengals come to town after winning their last two games. Helena beat Helena Capital 27-24 last week. A week earlier, the Bengals beat Flathead 31-20 at home. Two weeks before that, the Spartans fell 31-24 in double overtime at Sentinel.

Helena High opened the season with a 28-20 win at home against Billings Skyview before losing 42-13 at Gallatin.

Junior Reece Silvonen and senior C.J. Danforth have both taken snaps at quarterback for the Bengals. They have combined for nine touchdowns and five interceptions.

Junior Peyton Lorenz is averaging 5.5 yards per carry to lead the Bengal rushing attack. Sophomore Brayden Garza is averaging 4.3.

Junior Gracen Silvonen leads the team with 33 receptions for 342 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, senior Auston Rowe has picked off four passes, and senior Nicholas Kantorowicz  has racked up three sacks.

Junior Raeder Grey took over as the starting quarterback last week for the Bulldogs. He completed 10 of 28 passes for 141 yards. He was picked off once. Grey also used his legs, scrambling for 31 yards and several key first downs.

Senior Peyton Johnson muscled his way to 65 yards on 16 carries behind an offensive linemen Gannon Sullivan, Keegan Swisher, Waylond Hicks, Mason Swanson, Sawyer Casey and Kadyn Sommer.

Senior Kaleb Celli caught five passes for 61 yards, and classmate Hudson Luedtke hauled in four for 77. Senior Brooks Vincent, who moved from quarterback to receiver, also caught a pass for the Bulldogs, who lost senior receivers and return man Preston Jensen for the season with an injury.

Senior defensive back Mitch Verlanic leads the Bulldogs with 46 total tackles, 35 of which are solo. Junior linebacker Jaeger Hansen has 39 total tackles, while senior linebacker Gunner Bushman has 33, and Luedtke has racked up 30.

Junior Bradey Doyle and emerging junior backer Finn Wortham each have 26.

Junior Kodye Kjersten, Grey, junior Reece Cunneen, junior Kasen Snyder and seniors Grady Foley and Bridger Brancamp have reached double digits in tackles.

The Bulldogs will travel to Kalispell to take on Flathead on Oct. 10 before heading to Missoula to battle Hellgate at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Oct. 16. The Bulldogs close out the regular season at home against Capital on Oct. 24.

Maroons win third straight

Don’t look now, but the Butte Central Maroons are on fire.

BC officially has a winning streak after last Friday’s 35-13 Homecoming beating of Corvallis in a Southwestern A game on the Bob Green Field. That followed a 17-16 home win over Hardin and a 40-0 pounding of Ronan in Missoula.

Senior Ryan Peoples tossed four more touchdown passes to lead the way. He hooked up with senior GG Fantini and freshman Henly Mansanti each for two TDs. Fantini also punched in a 3-yard run.

Through four games, Peoples, who was also voted Homecoming King, has passed for 780 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has thrown just one pick.

Fantini leads the team with 15 receptions for 217 yards. Mansanti, sophomores Treigh Hollow and Palmer Kellicut and senior J.J. Taylor each have racked up a pair of sacks for the BC defense.

The Maroons (3-1 overall, 1-0 Southwestern A) are back at home this Friday for a 7 p.m. Southwestern game against Stevensville. The Yellowjackets come to town at 1-4 and 0-1.

Stevi fell 52-7 at home to Hamilton last week. That came after a 26015 loss at Hamilton.

After losing 40-14 at Hardin and 42-14 at Libby, the Yellowjackets picked up their lone win of the season against Livingston. They beat the Rangers 21-0 at home.

Freshman quarterback Luca Schmidt has passed for 442 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions for Stevi. Classmate Mylan Hill leads the team with 22 receptions for 120 yards.

Central will be on the road the next two weeks, taking on Frenchtown and Hamilton. They will close the regular season at Oct. 24 at home against Dillon.

Click here to read Bruce Sayler’s game report and full boxscore on BC’s win over Corvallis on ButteSports.com.

Helena schools spike Bulldogs

Butte High’s volleyball team went 0-2 in its matches against Helena Capital and Helena High last week.

The Bulldogs fell 3-1 at home Thursday to Capital before dropping a 3-0 decision Saturday at Helena High.

Capital beat Butte High 25-19, 23-25, 25-15, 25-21 as the Bulldogs celebrated Homecoming at the Richardson Gym. (Boxscore)

Senior Gracie Jonart, who was named Homecoming Queen a night later, spiked 15 kills in the loss. Junior Avery Barsness added nine, while senior Audry McClafferty and freshmen Ellison Graham and Saege Grey each killed six. McClafferty also registered five blocks.

Senior Makenzie Dahyuff and junior Ellie Yates each served two aces, and Graham set 35 assists.

Jonart also had a big match in the backcourt, racking up 19 digs. Junior Cadence Graham added 17 digs.

On Saturday, Helena High won 25-21, 25-18 and 25-15. (Boxscore)

Barsness tallied 12 kills, and Ellison Graham served three aces to lead the Bulldog attack. The younger Graham also collected 13 digs and set 18 assists.

The Bulldogs will play a Western AA match at Missoula Big Sky on Thursday. They will take on the Great Falls and Bozeman school in a jamboree Saturday in Butte.

Butte High will play Great Falls High at 11 a.m., Bozeman at 12:15, Great Falls Russell at 1:30 and Gallatin at 2:45.

BC volleyball hosts Dillon

Butte Central’s volleyball team will host its only match of the week Thursday when Dillon Comes to town for a 7 p.m. Southwestern A battle at the Maroon Activities Center.

Central dropped both of its conference matches last week, falling in straight sets. Frenchtown beat BC 25-10, 25-9, 25-11 in Thursday’s Homecoming match.

Two days later, Hamilton topped the Maroons 25-14, 25-5, 25-14 in Hamilton. Stats for those matches were not submitted for this report.

BC will play host to the annual Blocktober Classic tournament Oct. 10-11 at the MAC.

Flag football heads to State

Butte High’s flag football team will head to Hamilton for the State tournament Wednesday and Thursday. The Bulldogs will face three-time defending champion Kalispell Glacier in a first-round game at 4 p.m.

That comes after the Bulldogs closed the regular season Saturday with a 7-2 Senior Day loss to East Helena at Naranche Stadium. A safety by junior Brooke Johnson accounted for Butte High’s lone score as the Dogs honored seniors Allie Ballensky, Megan Flanick, Charlee Griner, Laney Huizinga and McKenna LeCoure.

Other players on the Bulldog roster are juniors Jayda Gustafson, McKenna Ketchum, Alexis King, Jaydyn Mason and Mackenzie Read; sophomores Brylee Ballensky, Iszabella Dawson, Addisyn Lambrecht, Lilyi Malone, Audrey Moore and Chyanne Robinson; and freshmen Ellie Carey, Reaghan Denning, Rylee Erickson, Kolbie Erickson, Brooklyn Hettick, Jaydyn LaBuff, Kaydee O’Connor, Willow Rose, Bella Schrapps and Kynslee Wrampe.

BC runs in Dillon

Two days after competing in the Butte High Invitational, Butte Central’s three varsity boys’ runners ran in the Dillon Invitational at the Beaverhead Golf Course. (Results)

Hamilton senior Taylor Doleac won the 5-kilometer race with a time of 16 minutes, 47 seconds. Carter Koerner of Corvallis took second at 17:00, followed by fellow Blue Devil senior Marrek Jessop at 17:12.

Junior Jack Holmes led the Maroons, finishing in 22:00.27. Eighth grader Terry Roman finished in 25:05, and junior Conan Holmes crossed in 28:14.

Corvallis ran away with the team title with 29 points. Hamilton was second at 103, followed by East Helena at 107.

Boulder won the girls’ title with 56 points, edging Frenchtown by two. Corvallis was a close third at 60.

Livingston freshman Grace Malloy won the girls’ race in 19:33. Hamilton junior Aleigha Child was second at 1952, and Boulder junior Peyton Stearns took third in 20:13.

The Maroons will run again Thursday in a meet in Hamilton. Butte High will run Friday in Three Forks. Both Butte schools will compete in the Helena 7-on-7 meet Oct. 9.

Bulldog girls battle

Butte High’s girls’ soccer team put together its best effort of the season in Saturday’s Homecoming match against Kalispell Flathead.

The Bravettes downed the Bulldogs 2-1, taking advantage of a penalty kick with less than a minute left. Lydia Revenaugh scored the goal for the Bulldogs, and coach Geno Liva pointed out that Butte High had five other shots on goal. Liva said his team played hard for all 80 minutes.

Butte High fell 10-0 Tuesday at Helena Capital.

The Bulldog boys dropped a tough, 1-0 decision to Flathead Saturday as the Braves picked up their first win of the season. Gavin Hammer scored Flathead’s goal.

The Bulldogs junior varsity team battled to a 2-all tie with Flathead, the first tie for the team this season. Capital topped Butte 9-0 on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs will be at home Saturday to take on Helena High.

Country Club hosts State AA

Five Butte High Bulldogs and three Butte Central Maroons will compete in State golf tournaments this week.

Seniors Chase Choquette and Keeley Johnston, junior Kate DeShaw, sophomore Sage Leber and eighth grader Lane Lisac qualified for the Class AA State tournament at last week’s Western AA Divisional tournament in Kalispell.

The State AA tournament will be played at the Butte Country Club Thursday and Friday. The teams will have a practice round on Wednesday.

Butte Central will be represented by three members of the McGree family at the State A tournament. Siblings Will, Beau and Mya all qualified for the State tournament at last week’s Western A tournament in Hamilton. Will is a senior, Beau is a junior and Mya is an eighth grader.

The tournament will be played Friday and Saturday at the Sidney Country Club.