Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
It’s never easy to win a playoff game on the road, but that is exactly what the North Star Knights did in the first round of the Class C Six-man football playoffs. North Star, the fourth-seeded team from the Northern Division upset Roberts, the top seed from the Eastern Division, in Roberts on Saturday afternoon by the score of 31-29. The Knights built a big lead early on in the game as quarterback Zack Halter hit Cody Jurenka on a 20-yard touchdown pass. Then Adam Chvilicek added a pair of touchdown runs from 30 yards and one yard to give the Knights a 24-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Halter found Zach Rambo for a oneyard touchdown pass in the second quarter to give the Knights a 31-7 halftime lead. However, Roberts refused to go away without a fight. The Rockets trimmed the lead to 31-15 in the third quarter, when Devin Krook scored on two-yard touchdown run. The game got even tighter early in the fourth quarter when Taylor Sidwell pulled Roberts to within eight points at 31-23 after a five-yard touchdown run. Sidwell gave Roberts an opportunity to tie the game with less than a minute to play after scoring on a one-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 31-29. But Roberts was unable to convert a game-tying two-point conversion, allowing the Knights to escape with the win. North Star (5-4) advances to the Sixman quarterfinals on Saturday, when the Knights will go on the road to take on West Yellowstone. West Yellowstone (7-2) made its way into the quarterfi- nals by trampling Savage 71-42 in West Yellowstone on Saturday. The Knights are the lowest-seeded team remaining in the six-man playoffs.
Centerville 50, Chester/J-I 22 Chester/J-I had the almost impossible task of upsetting Centerville in the opening round of the Class C Eightman football playoffs Saturday in Centerville. And, not surprisingly, the Hawks were unsuccessful, falling to the Miners by the score of 50-22. Centerville senior running back Craig Halko had a field day against the Hawk's defense, running for 139 yards and scoring four times, three on rushes of 38, 55 and 21 yards. Halko's fourth touchdown came on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Dan McGuire. The Miners jumped out to an early 14-0 lead after a 38-yard touchdown run by Halko and a 39-yard touchdown pass from McGuire to Jarod Mayernik. Halko reached pay dirt again on a 55- yard run to give the Miners a 22-2 lead at halftime. Then, early in the third quarter, Sam Rutherford, who rushed for 109 yards in the game, scored on a 27-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-2 and the rout was on. The win improved the Miners winning streak to 21 games. The defending eight-man state champions will continue their title defense in the quarterfi- nals on Saturday when they meet fellow powerhouse Drummond in Centerville. Zack Melton had a pair of rushing touchdowns of 45 and 2 yards to lead the Hawks in defeat. Sean Dailey also hauled in a 45-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Tyler Han. The Hawks, who finished fourth in the Northern C Division, ended the season with a record of 6-3.
