By George Ferguson/Havre Daily News Sports/gferguson@havredailynews.com
With the regular season winding down in Montana high school football, some Hi-Line teams suffered some critical playoff setbacks this weekend, while others are still very much in the playoff hunt.
The Harlem Wildcats' dream of making the 2004 Class B playoffs suffered a serious blow on Friday night as they were shutout in Shelby 35-0. The Wildcats' defense surrendered a pair of 100-yard rushing games to Mick Irvin and Jake Evans.
The loss drops the Wildcats' record to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Harlem has just two games remaining and will host highly-ranked Cut Bank on Friday night.
If the Big Sandy Pioneers had any hopes of making the Class C eight-man playoffs, those hopes were also set back some on Friday night as they were blanked at home 46-0 by the No. 6 Centerville Miners.
Centerville's offense exploded for 24 points in the second quarter en route to a 32-0 lead at halftime. The Pioneers offense could never get on track, as the Miners kept Big Sandy out of the endzone for four straight quarters.
The loss to Centerville drops the Pioneers' record to 2-4 with two road games remaining. Big Sandy will look to bounce back on Friday night when it travels to Valier.
In Northern Six-Man action on Saturday afternoon, the Rocky Boy Stars picked up a very important win over archrival Box Elder. The Stars' high-powered offense outscored the Bears 79-58. With the win, Rocky Boy is still alive in the six-man playoff race.
Leading 14-7 after the first quarter, the Stars scored 26 points in the second period to grab a 40-14 lead at halftime. The Bears' offense got going in the second half, scoring 44 points. But it made up little ground as Rocky Boy tacked on 25 more points in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
A.J. The Boy had a huge day for Rocky Boy as he accounted for nine touchdowns. The Boy threw four TD passes and also caught a 20-yard TD pass. He also scored on runs of 25, 59 and 42 yards and returned an interception 20 yards for another score. Colton Montes scored three times as well. He scored on runs of 9 and 11 yards and he caught a 35-yard TD pass.
The Bears were paced the arm of quarterback Tyler Henry, who threw six TD passes, four of which went to wideout Aaron Henry. Henry's TD passes included throws of 30, 15, 36, 45, 8 and 55 yards.
The win improves the Stars' record to 3-3 on the year. Rocky Boy will host Augusta on Saturday. The loss was the sixth straight for the struggling Bears (0-6). They will host Brockton Saturday afternoon.
Blue Sky/KG's playoff hopes also took a big hit on Saturday afternoon as they were drubbed 57-8 in Augusta.
The Elks scored 45 unanswered points in the first half and then turned the game over to their defense. The Eagles' lone score came on Alex Chivilicek's 35-yard interception return in the third quarter.
The Eagles are 3-3 in their first season in the Northern Six-Man league. They will look to get back into the playoff race on Saturday when they travel to J-I.
Meanwhile, the struggling J-I Rams' tough season got even more difficult on Saturday as they were downed 76-6 in Lambert.
The Lions scored 40 points in the first quarter and never looked back en route to the easy win. J-I didn't get on the board until the fourth quarter, when quarterback Craig Miller found Riley Smith for a 14-yard TD pass.
The Rams (1-5) will host Blue Sky/KG on Saturday afternoon.
The Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds aren't out of the Northern C playoff hunt yet. The T-Birds picked up a 59-18 win at home over the winless Heart Butte Warriors on Saturday.
The T-Birds scored 22 first quarter points and rode the rushing efforts of Dwight Flansburg and Justin Doney to the easy win. Flansburg scored on runs of 3 and 45 yards en route to 160 yards on the day. Doney scored on runs of 7 and 11 yards and rushed for 116 yards.
The T-Birds (2-4) will travel to Belt on Saturday afternoon.
