The football teams from Butte Central and Butte High will hit the road for the Montana football playoffs Friday.

Central plays at Whitefish in the Class AA playoffs (bracket), while Butte High will head to the Electric City to take on Great Falls Russell in the Class AA playoffs (bracket). Both games kickoff at 7 p.m.

The Maroons are making their first playoff appearance since 2019 after knocking off nemesis Dillon 38-27 Friday night on Montana Tech’s Bob Green Field. They are facing Whitefish in the playoffs for the first time since Marcus Ferriter and the Maroons terrorized the Bulldogs in a 37-13 semifinal win in 2014.

The winner of the first-round game will play at Central A champion Laurel next Friday.

Whitefish finished the regular season at 6-2 and placed second in the Northwestern A at 4-1. The team’s lone conference loss was a 19-18 home decision to league champion Columbia Falls on Oct. 10.

The Bulldogs closed the season with road wins over Libby and Bigfork.

Whitefish enters the game with a strong rushing attack, led by junior dual-threat quarterback Luke Dalen. He has completed 61 percent of his passes for 861 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions. On the ground, Dalen has racked up 450 yards and 12 scores.

Senior Cole Moses has parted the opposing defenses for a 6.8 yards-per-carry average for 745 yards and six touchdowns.

Junior Vlad Shestak is Dalen’s go-to receiver. He has hauled in 27 receptions for 470 yards and two touchdowns.

The Whitefish defense has picked off 14 passes, with Shestak, senior Cooper Akey and junior Sam Ranford each hauling in three

Senior quarterback Ryan Peoples leads the BC offense into the playoff tilt. He passed for 1,618 yards and 19 touchdowns in the eight regular-season games. He was picked off six times.

Peoples has some serious weapons on his side, led by junior GG Fantini’s 26 receptions for 26 yards. Senior Jack Nagle caught 21 passes for 291 yards, and junior Joshua Sutton grabbed 20 passes for 476 yards.

Fantini, Nagle and Sutton have each scored four receiving touchdowns. Sutton and Fantini have both returned kicks for touchdowns.

Freshman Henly Mansanti leads the team with 130 yards rushing. He and Peoples have each scored a pair of rushing TDs behind an offensive line made up of seniors Colt Hassler and J.J. Taylor, and juniors Burkley Lakkala, Jack Nylund and Bobby McCarthy.

Sutton’s three interceptions leads the team. Sophomore Jaxon Hiatt has picked off two, while junior Noah Sutton, seniors Tony Stajcar and Manny Weang joined Fantini and Mansanti with one.

The Butte High Bulldogs woke up in a big way, winning their last two games in convincing fashion to qualify for the playoffs as the No. 6 seed from the Western AA. CMR is the No. 3 seed from the Eastern AA.

The winner of the battle at Memorial Stadium will head to Missoula to take on Western AA champion Big Sky.

Eight days after thumping Missoula Hellgate 36-10 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the Bulldogs celebrated Senior Night with a 17-0 win over Helena Capital, ending the season for their old nemesis.

Junior quarterback Raeder Grey has performed well since taking over behind center in the fourth game of the season. He has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,033 yards and nine touchdowns. He has been picked off twice.

Grey is also a threat on the ground, where he has picked up 250 yards (with sacks factored in) for three scores.

Senior Peyton Johnson leads the team with 454 yards rushing behind an offensive line made up of Keegan Swischer, Kadyn Sommer, Gannon Sullivan, Waylond Hicks and Grady Foley, and junior Mason Swanson. Foley saw his first time at right tackle in place of Swanson, who left the Capital game with an injury.

Senior Gunner Bushman has emerged as a short-yardage threat for the Bulldogs. He has punched in four touchdowns.

Senior tight end Hudson Luedtke, who has positioned himself for a fourth straight All-State selection, has caught 69 passes for 748 yards and six touchdowns.

Senior Kaleb Celli added 25 catches for 291 yards and three scores.

Juniors Brady Walsh and Koda Schleeman and sophomore Kodye Kjersten are also threats in the passing game for the Bulldogs.

Senior defensive back Mitch Verlanic leads the Bulldogs with 93 total tackles. Junior Jaeger Hansen flows with 68, while Bushman has 61.

Junior backer Finn Wortham has racked up 47 take downs since stepping into the starting lineup for injured classmate Miner Lee.

Luedtke, junior Bradey Doyle, Grey, Kjersten, senior Bridger Brancamp, senior Jacob Galle, Foley, Sommer and junior Kason Snyder have racked up double digits in tackles. Brancamp leads the team with six sacks, and Verlanic has a team-best three interceptions.

Hansen picked of two passes, while Kjersten, Hicks, Doyle and Luedtke each grabbed one.

Doyle also handles place kicking duties for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Tegan Duffy kicks off, and senior Brooks Vincent, who doubles as a receiver, handles the punting.

CMR enters the game after closing the season with a 16-3 loss to Great Falls High last week. That loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Rustlers, who bounced back from a 40-0 loss at Billings West with a 25-0 win over Billings Senior, a 27-21 victory at Bozeman, and a 32-8 home win over Billings Skyview.

Senior quarterback Caleb Taylor is completing 58 percent of his passes. He racked up 1,512 yards and eight touchdowns. He was picked off five times.

Drew Etcheberry’s 37 receptions for 448 yards leads the CMR receiving crops. Blake Herda has 25 grabs for 244 yards, and junior Ben Cunningham added 21 grabs for 358. Senior Jaxon Dixon joined Herda and Cunningham with two receiving TDs.

Junior Donavin Scribner has 468 yards on the ground, while senior Hunter Lee has scored eight touchdowns on the ground.

Lee leads the team with 70 total tackles, and classmate Damon Montano picked off three passes.

Butte High won a first-round game on the same field last Nov. 1, beating Great Falls High 21-17. This is the first meeting between the Bulldogs and Rustlers since Butte High toppled CMR 52-21 Sept. 6, 2019 in Great Falls.

Bengals stop Dogs in four

Senior Night started off on the right foot for the Butte High volleyball team Tuesday night at the Richardson Gym.

The Bulldogs honored seniors Makenzie Dayhuff, Audrey McClafferty and Gracie Jonart, and their parents, before taking the first set 25-21 from Helena High. The Bengals, though, stormed back with wins of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-21 to win the Western AA match. (Boxscore)

The loss ends Butte High’s chances of qualifying for the Class AA playoffs.

Junior Allie Becker tallied 14 kills to lead Butte High’s attack. Jonart spiked 10 kills, while junior Avery Barsness followed with six, and freshman Ellison Graham killed four.

Juniors Cadence Graham and Ellie Yates each served three aces. Becker, who served two aces, led five Bulldogs in double figures with 23 digs. Cadence Graham collected 15 digs, Ellison Graham followed with 14, and Jonart and Yates each dug 10.

The Bulldogs will close the season Thursday with a Western AA match at Helena Capital.

Central puts season on the line

Butte Central’s volleyball team closed the regular season with a trio of three-set losses in the last week. The Maroons fell 25-5, 25-6, 25-10 Thursday at Frenchtown before returning home and dropping a 25-7, 25-13, 25-9 decision Saturday to Hamilton. Then, BC fell 25-18, 25-17, 25-15 Tuesday night in Dillon.

Now, the Maroons will put their season on the line Thursday in a Western A Divisional play-in match at Corvallis. First serve is set for 6 p.m. for the battle, and the winner will play in another play-in match on Saturday.

Saturday’s winner will advance to the Western A Divisional in Libby Nov. 6-8.

Before Saturday’s match, the Maroons honored seniors Arika Stajcar and Logan LeProwse and their parents. Other members of the BC varsity team are juniors Rylee Forbes and Presli Smith and sophomores Kodee Badovinac, Braelynn Schelin, Jaedyn Maldonado, Kenzie McQueary, Zayonna Otherbull and Natalie Osterman.