George Ferguson
Havre Daily News Sports
gferguson@havredailynews.com
The halfway point in high school football is now past and games across the Hi-Line will become critical over the next three weeks as teams jockey for coveted playoff positions. And in the Northern C division, no game looms larger than Friday night's showdown between Big Sandy and Chinook.
Before the hype begins for the Big Sandy/Chinook matchup, lets take a look back at week five across the Hi-Line.
Conrad 28, Harlem 7
The Harlem Wildcats have had plenty of trouble scoring points as of late and last Friday was no different. After grabbing a quick 7-0 lead on the Conrad Cowboys, the Wildcats surrendered 28 unanswered points and fell to the Cowboys, 28-7 in a District 1B showdown in Harlem.
Rick Haluszka got the Wildcats off on the right foot when he scored from eight yards out early in the first quarter as Harlem led 7-0. But the Wildcats' offense struggled from that point on and its defense could not slow the Cowboys down. Conrad managed a score to pull within one point as the first quarter ended. They then tacked on 16 points before halftime to all but put the game out of reach.
The loss drops Harlem to 2-3 overall on the season. More importantly however, the Wildcats' chances of making the post season are slipping away as they are now 0-2 in conference play. Harlem will travel to top-ranked Cut Bank on Friday night.
Conrad 6 10 6 6 - 28
Harlem 7 0 0 0 -7
H - Rick Haluszka 8 run (Haluszka kick)
C - Bryce Jones 6 pass from Josh Phillips (kick failed)
C - Kellen Judisch 9 pass from Phillips (Adam Totdahl pass from Phillips)
C - Totdahl 32 pass from Phillips (Totdahl pass from Phillips)
C - Greg Stewart 4 run (pass failed.
Chester/J-I 52, Valier 6
Things are starting to get back to normal in Chester this season. After dropping two of its first four games this season, the Chester/J-I Hawks seem to have things back on the right track. On Friday night, the Hawks drubbed rival Valier, 52-0.
` Chester welcomed the return of Kevin May to the lineup. May was injured the first week of the season and he made his presence felt right away, scoring from nine yards out on the Hawks' opening drive. The end result of Chester/J-I's good start was 36 first-half points, as the Hawks put Valier away for good.
Matt Wicks had a huge night for the Hawks, scoring four rushing touchdowns. Wick's TDs came on runs of 2, 1, 2 and 4 yards. Tyler Han also scored twice for the Hawks. Han's first touchdown came from four-yards out in the first quarter, and he rounded out the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 50-yard TD scamper. All of Chester/J-I's scores came on the ground.
The Hawks (3-2, 2-2), will now prepare to host another arch rival on Friday night when the Sunburst Refiners come calling.
C/J-I 16 20 8 8 - 52
Valier 0 6 0 0 - 6
C/J-I - Kevin May 9 run (Matt Wicks run)
C/J-I - Tyler Han 4 run (Wicks run)
V - Dallon Henkle 70 run (run failed)
C/J-I - Wicks 2 run (May run)
C/J-I - Wicks 1 run (run failed)
C/J-I - Wicks 2 run (run failed)
C-J-I - Wicks 4 run (Han run)
C/J-I - Han 50 run (May run)
Chinook 64, Rocky Boy 0
On Saturday afternoon, the Chinook Sugarbeeters drive towards the playoffs in its inaugural season in Class C football steamrolled through Rocky Boy. This hi-scoring Beeters thrashed the Stars, 64-0 to stay undefeated on the season.
Chinook's defense has been solid all year, and was no match for the Stars' young offense. On the contrary, the Stars' defensive unit has been surrounding an obscene amount of points this season and its game with the Beeters was no different.
Chinook overwhelmed the Stars by scoring 35 points and all but ending the game after 12 minutes. Running back Chad Beck scored the Beeters' first touchdowns of the game on runs of 22, 12 and 5 yards. Beck's standout day also included a 33-yard punt return for another score.
Chinook also got another tremendous day from quarterback Adam Hayes. While the Beeters were content to keep the ball on the ground, Hayes did manage to throw three TD passes to three different receivers.
The Beeters now sit at 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the Northern C's northern division. They will now prepare to host Big Sandy on Friday with the division title at stake.
Chinook 35 20 2 7 - 64
Rocky Boy 0 0 0 0 - 0
CHI - Chad Beck 22 run (Luke Whitney kick)
CHI Beck 12 run (Whitney run)
CHI - Beck 5 run (kick failed)
CHI - Casey Barber 7 blocked punt return
CHI - Whitney 2 run (kick failed)
CHI - Beck 33 punt return (Beck pass from Adam Hayes)
CHI - Matt Finley 12 pass from Hayes (kick failed)
CHI - Adam Johnson 2 pass from Hayes (kick failed)
CHI - Safety, Johnson tackled QB in endzone
CHI - Max Hofeldt 63 pass from Hayes (Beck kick)
Big Sandy 54, North Star 6
Like their counterparts in Chinook, the Big Sandy Pioneers also continued to roll on Saturday afternoon. Despite trailing for the first time all season long, the Pioneers ripped off 54 unanswered points in a 54-6 blowout of North Star High School in Rudyard.
The Knights got on the board in the first quarter when Darius Wendland caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Chase Hadford, to lead 6-0. Unfortunately for the Knight's that would be the last time they would see the endzone for the rest of the day.
Ryan Pokorny answered Hadford's TD pass with a 72-yard touchdown run by Ryan Pokorny, that tied the game at 6-6. In the second quarter Big Sandy scored twice, and they tacked on 32 more points in the second half to win going away.
Pokorny also scored in the second half on a 26-yard TD run and quarterback Justin Willis ran for touchdowns of 10 and 55 yards. Willis also threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Blaine Ophus.
The win keeps the Pioneers undefeated on the season as they prepare to travel to Chinook on Friday night. The Knights are now 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play. They will host Rocky Boy on Saturday afternoon.
Big Sandy 6 16 16 16 - 54
North Star 6 0 0 0 - 6
NS - Darius Wendland 3 pass from Chase Hadford (kick failed)
BS - Ryan Pokorny 72 run (kick failed)
BS - Lawrence Jappe 3 run (Pokorny pass from Justin Willis)
BS - Kyle Danreuther 6 run (Jappe run)
BS - Pokorny 26 run (Jappe run)
BS - Willis 10 run (Ophus pass from Willis)
BS - Ophus 42 pass from Willis (Ophus pass from Willis)
BS - Willis 55 run (Nick Briese run)
