By George Ferguson/Havre Daily News Sports/gferguson@havredailynews.com
It has been a rough start to the 2004 football season for the Big Sandy Pioneers, but they managed to pick up a win Saturday afternoon in Northern C action.
However, the weekend was not so kind to other area teams across the Hi-Line.
On Friday night, the Rocky Boy Stars were drilled by Highwood 75-7 in Northern Six-Man action. The Mountaineers scored 48 points in the first quarter to put the game out of reach early.
Highwood tacked on seven more points at the start of the second period before the Stars found the endzone when quarterback Nate Rock hit Colton Montes from 17-yards out. The touchdown was Rocky Boy's only score of the night, while six different players scored for Highwood.
The loss drops Rocky Boy's record to 1-2 on the season. The Stars will travel to Lambert on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon, the Harlem Wildcats suffered a major setback as they were hammered 42-6 in Broadus. The Wildcats surrendered 34 unanswered points before Evan Azure scored on a one-yard touchdown run that resulted in Harlem's only points of the game.
Harlem (2-2) will have a bye this weekend. They will host Malta on Oct. 1.
In Northern C football on Saturday, the Big Sandy Pioneers picked up their first win for new head coach Larry Jappe in Heart Butte. The Pioneers used a 24-point first quarter to bury the Warriors 68-32. Running back Lawrence Jappe racked up 233 yards rushing, including a 55-yard touchdown. He also took the opening kickoff back 55 yards for the first score of the night.
Blaine Ophus also had a big night for the Pioneers. Ophus ran a kickoff back 60 yards for a touchdown and scored on a 48-yard pass from quarterback Justin Willis. Willis also scored twice for the Pioneers, including a 40-yard TD run.
The win over Heart Butte improves the Pioneers record to 1-2 on the young season. They will be back in action on Friday night when they host Power-Dutton-Brady.
The Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds also got into the win column for the first time on Saturday as they picked up a 29-12 win over Valier in Hays.
Jordan Werk took the game's opening kickoff back 70 yards for a touchdown as Hays grabbed a 16-6 lead after the first quarter. The T-Birds also tacked on 13 more points in the third quarter and got a 100-yard rushing night from Dwight Flansburg.
The T-Birds (1-2) will travel to Centerville on Saturday afternoon.
In Belt on Saturday, the undefeated Chester Coyotes ran into perhaps the division's most productive player this season in Huskie Trevor Daer.
Daer ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more as the Huskies routed the Coyotes 58-28 in a pivotal Northern C showdown.
Riley DeVries caught a pair of touchdowns for the Coyotes, including a 49-yard pass from Casey Buffington that knotted the game at 8-8 at the end of the first period.
But the Huskies scored 14 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 22-8 lead at halftime. They poured on 36 points in the second half to run away from the Coyotes.
Chester (2-1) also got touchdowns from Kevin May and Patrick Wicks in the loss. The Coyotes will host Heart Butte on Friday night.
In Northern Six-Man action on Saturday, the J-I Rams were crushed by the Geyser Wranglers 60-0 in Geyser. The Wranglers jumped all over the Rams, scoring 38 points in the first quarter and then turned the game over to their defense.
J-I is now 1-2 on the year and will host the Geraldine Tigers on Saturday afternoon.
The Box Elder Bears also fell victim to a high-powered offense as they were drubbed at home by the Lambert Lions 83-24.
Lambert broke open a 18-12 game by scoring 27 unanswered points in the second quarter. The Lions also outscored the Bears 26-12 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Tyler Henry threw three touchdown passes to wideout Aaron Henry for Box Elder. Aaron Henry also scored on a 70-yard kickoff return in the third quarter.
The Bears (0-3) will try again for their first win of the season when they travel to Rudyard to face KG/Blue Sky on Saturday.
In Rudyard, the host Blue Sky/KG Eagles gave up 24 unanswered points in the second half in a 44-20 loss to the Geraldine Tigers.
The Eagles came back from a 14-points first quarter deficit by scoring 20 points in the second quarter to tie the game at 20-20. During that stretch, quarterback Cody Donoven threw a pair of touchdown passes and Chase Hadford scored on a 23-yard run.
