Halloween night proved to be a brutal one for the Butte High and Butte Central football teams.

As Butte High dropped a 42-6 Class AA playoff game to Great Falls Russell at Memorial Stadium Friday night in Great Falls, the Maroons fell 52-6 to Whitefish in the Class A playoffs.

Butte High’s loss came after the Bulldogs won a pair of inspired games to qualify for the postseason, and it can be blamed on a slow start.

CMR took advantage of a pair of short field situations to jump out to a quick 14-0 lead, and the Rustlers never looked back. The first two touchdown drives went for a combined 60 yards. (Game stats)

The Rustlers forced the Bulldogs to punt after three plays on the opening drive of the game. Six plays and one 15-yard facemask penalty later, and Hunter Lee scored on a 5-yard run to give CMR the lead for good.

One play after a Bulldog fumble, Caleb Taylor found Ben Cunningham for a 16-yard scoring strike. That was the first of four TD passes for Taylor, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 281 yards.

Two TDs went to Cunningham, who hauled in seven passes for 93 yards. Jaxon Dixon and Drew Etcheberry also caught a touchdown pass. Dixon caught four passes for 107 yards.

The Rustlers also put the clamps down on the Butte High passing game, holding the Bulldogs to just 45 yards through the air. The Bulldog running game did some damage, racking up 137 yards on 33 carries. That is an average of 4.2 yards per carry.

However, the Bulldogs could not turn that into points until the last play of the game, when junior quarterback Raeder Grey hit classmate Koda Schleeman for a touchdown.

Senior Peyton Johnson ran for 67 yards on 12 carries, and Grey scrambled for 70 yards on 21 carries. The yardage came behind an offensive line made up of seniors Waylond Hicks, Kaydyn Sommer, Gannon Sullivan, Keegan Swisher and Grady Foley.

Senior Hudson Luedtke caught four passes, while senior Brooks Vincent and sophomore Kodye Kjersten each caught two.

CMR (6-4) advances to the quarterfinals, where they will take on Missoula Big Sky Friday in Missoula. Butte High closes the season at 3-7.

The loss closes the book on the prep football careers for seniors Cayde Stajcar, Johnson, Kaleb Celli, Gunner Bushman, Jeremiah Johnson, Mitch Verlanic, Luedtke, Vincent, Preston Jensen, Cole Coyne, Jacob Galle, Bridger Brancamp, Caden Phillips, Hicks, Sommer, Foley, Sullivan, Carlos Navarra and Drew Hanson.

Stajcar, who started his freshman through junior years, missed the season with a medical issue, while Jensen missed most of the season with an injury.

Luedtke, a four-year starter, is a candidate to be a four-year All-State player.

In Whitefish, junior quarterback Luke Dalen had a huge night to lead the Bulldogs to the win over the Maroons. (Game stats)

Dalen completed 16 of 12 passes for 218 years. He ran 12 times for 123 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior running back Cole Moses added 77 yards and two scores on the ground for Whitefish, which led 28-6 at the half. He scored on runs of 55 and 26 yards.

Freshman running back Henly Mansanti scored BC’s lone touchdown, a 4-yard run that cut the lead to 14-6 in the second quarter. The point after was blocked.

Senior quarterback Ryan Peoples passed for 66 yards and ran for 39 more. Mansanti and senior Jack Nagle each caught three passes, while junior Joshua Sutton and sophomore Treigh Hollow each grabbed two.

Whitefish (7-2) heads to Laurel to take on the Central A champion Locomotives in the quarterfinals. The Maroons close the season at 5-4, which is their best record since going 5-4 in 2017.

Central, which won four straight games during the regular season, made the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

The loss closes the high school football career for seniors Nagle, Peoples, Keltan Keane, Manny Weang, Tony Stajcar, J.J. Taylor and Colt Hassler. Keane missed all but the opening kickoff of the season with a knee injury.

Maroon volleyball bows out

Butte Central’s volleyball team’s season came to an end with a four-set loss at Corvallis Thursday in a Western A Divisional play-in match.

The Maroons, though, did not go down without a fight. After winning a 28-26 thriller in the opening set, BC fell 25-14, 25-22 and 25-23.

Despite the early ending, the Maroons showed constant improvement throughout the season under first-year head coach Karina Mickelson.

Central will lose seniors Logan LeProwse, Arika Stajcar and Izabel Lopez, but they return a young core of players for the future.

This year’s varsity roster included juniors Presli Smith and Rylee Forbes and sophomores Kodee Badovinac, Braelynn Schelin, Jaedyn Maldonado, Kenzie McQueary, Zayonna Otherbull and Natalie Osterman.

The junior varsity roster included junior Alexandra Morey; sophomores Cambri Campbell, Ayanna Weang, Evyn Smith and Olivia Scott; and eighth graders Jordyn Samson and Luci Fantini.

Bulldog spikers close season

Butte High’s volleyball season came to an end Thursday as the Bulldogs fell in three sets at Helena Capital. The Bulldogs were eliminated from playoff contention before the match.

Capital won 25-19, 25-21 and 25-22. (Boxscore)

Junior Avery Barsness spiked nine kills, and senior Gracie Jonart added eight to lead the Bulldog attack. Junior Brittyn Klima contributed with five kills for the Bulldogs, who got three from senior Audrey McClafferty and two apiece from juniors Allie Becker and Stella Callaghan.

Jonart and senior Mackenzie Dayhuff each served two aces, and the Dogs got a pair of blocks from Klima and McClafferty.

Freshman setter Ellison Graham ran the Butte offense, dishing up 26 assists, and junior Cadence Graham led the Butte backcourt with26 digs. Ellison Graham (16) and Becker (11) also reached double figures in digs. Jonart dug eight, and junior Ellie Yates collected four.

The Bulldogs close the season at 4-21 overall and 3-11 in Western AA play.

McClafferty, Jonart and Dayhuff are the lone seniors on the team, which will return Barsness, Becker, the Graham sisters, Yates, Klima, Callaghan sophomore Gia Field and freshman Saege Grey from the varsity roster.