For the first time in three weeks, we will have Friday night lights in the Mining City.
Butte High and Butte Central will both be playing at home this week for key conference games.
It is a busy home week for volleyball, too. Butte High will play a pair of home conference matches, and Butte Central will host the Blocktober Classic at the Maroon Activities Center and Butte Civic Center Friday and Saturday.
Also, cross country runners from both schools take another step toward crunch time in the Capital City, and Butte High’s soccer teams will honor their seniors. We will look at all that in this week’s lap around the Butte sports scene.
Braves come to Naranche
The Bulldogs are looking like a team ready to go on a run.
After a couple of near misses, the Butte High punched in a victory last Friday, beating Helena High 29-27 in a Western AA football game at Vigilante Field in Helena.
This Friday, the Bulldogs look to make it back-to-back victories when the Flathead Braves come to town for a Western AA matchup. Kickoff is an hour earlier than usual at 6 p.m., and Butte High will be celebrating Senior Night.
The Braves come to town at 3-3 overall and 1-3 in conference. They are trying to stop a three-game losing streak. That skid came after Flathead opened the season at 3-0 with non-conference wins over Great Falls High and Billings Senior and a conference rout of Missoula Hellgate.
Flathead’s last three games include a 31-30 home loss to Helena High, a 45-25 beating at Missoula Big Sky, and a 20-17 home loss to Helena Capital.
Senior quarterback Bear Baker leads Flathead to town. He is completing 60 percent of his passes and averaging 229 yards per game. He has a 2-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio, tossing 16 TDs on the season.
Senior Oliver Rosenberg leads the way with 20 receptions. That includes a pair of touchdowns. Seniors Ben Reichter and Dillon Wink and juniors Leum Saisbury and Kellen Mouat have also hauled in three TDs apiece on the season.
Saisbury leads the Brave’s running attack. He has amassed 689 yards on 116 carries. He has run for seven scores.
Flathead beat the Bulldogs 23-22 last Oct. 10 in Kalispell. That was Kalispell’s first win over the Bulldogs since coach Kyle Samson led the Braves to a season-opening win over Butte High Aug. 24, 2018 at Naranche Stadium.
The Bulldogs (2-4, 1-3) stopped a three-game slide with last week’s win in Helena thanks in large part to their running game.
Behind offensive linemen Maxximus Pearston, Konner Hanni, Sawyer Casey, Karter Hall, Mason Swanson and Colton Nasheim, Butte High racked up 237 yards on the ground in Helena. Senior quarterback Raeder Gray ran for 119 yards and a score, and classmate Miner Lee racked up 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Grey also completed a super-efficient 12 of 15 passes for 117 yards and score, which went to Lee. The running back is averaging 5.0 yards per carry. Lee has seven total touchdowns on the year, and he leads the Bulldogs with 671 all-purpose yards.
Senior Brady Walsh, who is second with 557 all-purpose yards, had a big game in Helena, catching eight passes for 84 yards. Sophomore Ryan Bache continued his strong season with three grabs.
After a review of the game film, seniors Brady Doyle and Jaeger Hansen were credited with eight total tackles, which was one more than classmate Finn Wortham.
Wortham leads the Bulldogs with 52 total tackles, which is six more than Hansen.
Senior Evan McEwen, Casey, Grey and Bache were each credited with four tackles. Senior Reece Cunneen, Lee and juniors Kodye Kjersten and Hudson Steele each get in on three. Hansen registered two tackles for a loss, and McEwen added one.
Boyle, Grey and sophomore Cooper Carter each recovered a fumble. Junior Tegan Duffy kicked a 27-yard field goal.
The Bulldogs will honor their seniors and their parents before the game. The seniors are Doyle, Brayden Giop, Koda Schleeman, Beau Henderson, Blake Wadas, Lee, McEwen, Kasen Snyder, Grey, Tyce Snow, Walsh, Wortham, Hansen, Cunneen, Swanson, Pearston, Jace Michlig and Nemo Becker.
Butte High will play its last regular-season home game at 6 p.m. next Thursday, Oct. 15. They will close the regular season Oct. 23 at Helena Capital.
Maroons host Frenchtown
If it seems like it has been a while since the Butte Central football team played a home game, that is because it has been.
When the Maroons take on Frenchtown Friday in a 7 p.m. Southwestern A game, it will be BC’s first time stepping on the Bob Green Field since its 54-0 Homecoming win over Ronan on Sept. 11.
That is four weeks between home games.
The Maroons had the week of Sept. 18 off. They then dropped a tough, 25-20 decision at Corvallis before pummeling Stevensville 55-7 last week in Stevensville.
Sophomore quarterback Noah Sutton had another huge game for the Maroons in the win over the Yellowjackets. He completed 18 of 31 passes for 287 yards and fourth touchdowns.
Two of those scoring strikes went to junior Jaxon Hiatt, who hauled in eight passes for 161 yards. Junior Treigh Hollow and senior Joshua Sutton also caught touchdown passes in the win.
GG Fantini, who grabbed four passes for 25 yards, ran for a touchdown. He also returned a punt 75 yards for a score.
Sophomore Henly Mansanti added a rushing score for BC, and Joshua Sutton picked off a pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown.
The Maroons led 35-0 at halftime as they evened their league record at 1-1 and improved to 2-3 overall.
Frenchtown is 3-2 and 1-1 after last week’s 21-20 home loss to Hamilton.
Sophomore quarterback Cody Forthofer ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Junior Brett Kleinsmith booted two field goals.
Frenchtown was playing without star receiver Cooper Michaud, who missed the last two games with injury. He scored four touchdowns in Frenchtown’s first three contests.
Junior Jake Forthofer leads the team with 352 yards rushing. He averages 5.2 yards per carry.
BC is tied with Frenchtown, Dillon and Corvallis at 1-1 in league play. Hamilton tops the standings at 2-0.
Friday is the start of a crucial three-game stretch to close the season for the Maroons, who will host Hamilton next Friday. They close the regular season Oct. 23 at Dillon.
Time for Blocktober Classic
The Mining City will be volleyball central Friday and Saturday as Butte Central hosts the 15th Annual Blocktober Classic at the Maroon Activities Center and Butte Civic Center.
The tournament will see 26 teams compete in the event. Click here for the schedule, brackets, rosters and results.
Last week, the Maroons dropped a pair of matches. They fell 3-0 last Thursday at Dillon before dropping a non-conference 3-0 match Saturday at Missoula Loyola. Stats for those matches have not been posted.
BC is hoping their home tournament will be an igniter as the team heads to the homestretch of the season. After Blocktober, BC only has five matches left in the regular season.
The Maroons play host to Frenchtown Oct. 15 before going to Corvallis Oct. 17 and Stevensville Oct. 22. The Maroons play host to Hamilton Oct. 24 before closing the regular season Oct. 27 with a Senior Night battle with Dillon.
Butte High volleyball home for two
The Bulldogs will also be home this weekend as the Butte High volleyball team takes on the Kalispell schools at the Ross J. Richardson Memorial Gymnasium.
Butte High will play Flathead at 3 p.m. Friday. Note the change in start time. The Bulldogs will battle Glacier at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The home contests come after the Bulldogs split matches with the Great Falls Schools. Butte High fell 3-1 to Great Falls Russell on Thursday, but rebounded with a 3-0 win over Great Falls High Saturday in the Electric City.
Against CMR, Butte High took the first set 25-21. The Rustlers, though, battled back with wins of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-18 for the victory. (Stats)
Junior Gia Field led the Bulldog attack against the Rustlers with 11 kills. Senior Allie Becker added seven, while junior Stella Callaghan spiked six. Senior Cadence Graham served five aces, while collecting 12 digs.
Sophomore Elli Graham led the backcourt with 15 digs, while senior Ellie Yates dug up 13, and Becker added 12. Elli Graham also set 31 assists.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs won 25-23, 25-9 and 26-24 against the Bison. (Stats)
Callaghan’s 11 kills paced Butte High that day. Becker spiked seven kills, while Cadence Graham and Field each spiked six.
Becker served three of Butte High’s aces. Junior Kalee Wright added two.
Cadence Graham led four Bulldogs in double figures in digs. With 18. Becker dug 17, while Elli Graham and Yates followed with 12 and 11. Callaghan dug nine.
Elli Graham served up 29 assists.
With Butte High currently sitting in sixth place in the Western AA, each match is crucial as the Bulldogs look to lock up a playoff berth down the stretch.
Bulldog soccer set to honor seniors
Butte High’s boys’ soccer team got on the board Saturday with a 3-1 home loss to Flathead.
Senior Johan Thieszen scored Butte High’s first goal of the season. It was assisted by classmate Tim Revenaugh.
That match came after Butte High dropped Friday’s home match with Glacier 8-0.
Butte High’s girls also battled with Flathead, but the Bulldogs dropped a 4-0 decision. They lost 10-0 the day before.
Butte High will play the Helena schools this week, starting with Thursday’s match against Helena High in the Capital City. The girls’ varsity team plays at 3 p.m. The Boys play at 5.
Butte High will close out its home schedule Saturday against Helena Capital at Bulldog Memorial Stadium. The boys play at 11 a.m., and the girls take the field at 1:30 p.m.
Butte High will honor its seniors and their parents before the matches.
Seniors on the Bulldog girls’ team are Alaina Grochowski, Madi McGee, Rylee Radcliffe, Elly Richards, Tyla Roberts, Rory Trafford, Ava Williams, Elizabeth Blacklock, Anell Chavez, Klara Andrejcakova and Key Key Worth.
The seniors on the boys’ squad are Thieszen, Revenaugh, Jaziel Cardenas, Brace Gratton, Kato Kuusisto, Aiden Maeser, Eddie Panisko and Liam Tauscher.
Butte High will wrap up the season Tuesday at Missoula Hellgate.
Runners head to 7 of 7
Butte High and Butte Central will be among the 58 teams competing in the Tracy Logan 7 of 7 cross country meet Thursday at the Bill Roberts Golf Course in Helena.
The day begins with an 11 a.m. walkthrough, followed by the junior varsity girls’ race at noon.
The meet features seven varsity races for the girls and boys, pitting the No. 1 runners from each school against each other. The No. 2s face the No. 2s, and so on.
The No. 7 boys’ and girls’ races start 1:45 p.m. The No. 1 race closes the day at 4:55 p.m.
Formerly known as the Capital City 7 of 7, the race is named in honor of race originator Tracy Logal.
The event will be the second-to-last warmup before the MHSA State meet for Butte High and Butte Central. The Maroons will compete at the Western A Classic Oct. 16. Butte High will head to a meet in Bozeman on Oct. 15.
The State meet is Oct. 24 in Billings.
