Knights, Pioneers cruise to Six-Man wins

Daniel Horton Havre Daily News [email protected]

In the opening weeks of the football season, one team has been missing from Hi-Line football action. But after hosting the Havre High Blue Pony junior varsity squad on Tuesday, the Rocky Boy Stars first-ever 11- man season has officially begun. But after dropping their opener to the Ponies 38-12, the Stars have a ways to go before they can be considered a dominant force in 11-man football. Starting out, the contest was close. The score was tied 0-0 after one quarter, and at the half, the Ponies led 8-6. In the second quarter, the Ponies' Brandon Smith connected with Ryan Myers on a 20-yard touchdown pass, and Justin Jensen connected with Smith on the two-point conversion to take the lead. But later in the quarter, the Stars' Lindsey Eagleman cut the pony lead to 8-6 on a 60-yard rushing score. In the third quarter, the Ponies began to run away with the game. Kameron Pribyl found the end zone on a 40-yard run, and the Jensen pass to Brayden Grimson converted the twopoint conversion. Later in the quarter, Jensen extended the lead to 24-6 on a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Austin while Austin followed with the conversion rush. Eagleman was the main source of the Stars' offense, and he came through again in the third, this time on a 15- yard rushing touchdown, lowering the Pony lead to 24-12. But in the fourth quarter, the Stars were shut out, while the Ponies scored two more touchdowns for 12 points. First, Ryan Brandt scored on a 25- yard run, and to follow, Jensen connected with Rydell Ruff on a 30-yard reception, to take the lead and win by a score of 38-12. The Stars got off to an 0-1 start to their season, but are back in action on Saturday as they travel to Conrad for the Conrad Jamboree. The Pony junior varsity is 1-0, and play again tonight at Blue Pony Stadium where they face the CMR sophomores at 4:30 p.m.

Tri-Cities 25, Chester/J-I 6 Northern C 8-Man was also in action this weekend. On Friday night, the Chester/J-I Hawks played host to Tri-Cities where the Hawks were handed a 25-6 loss. To start the contest, Co-Op jumped out to a 12-0 lead. Derek Melichar had a four-yard rushing touchdown, and Jason Dunham returned a fumble for a 19- yard touchdown. And though the Hawks would cut the lead to 12-6 in the second quarter, it would be as close as they would get. Ethan Wolery earned the rushing touchdown for the Hawks, but the Co- Op defense proved to be too strong. Co-Op was shut out by the Hawk's defense in the second and third quarters, but found the end zone two more times in the fourth. Melichar earned another score on the ground, while the defense converted another Hawk's turnover on an 82-yard interception return. The Hawks dropped to 1-3 with the home loss, and now must prepare to hit the road again next week. On Saturday, the Hawks travel to Centerville to take on the Northern C Miners.

Centerville 32, Chinook 12 The Northern C Chinook Sugarbeeters had an outstanding 8-Man season a year ago, and were early favorites this year. But after dropping another game, the Beeters have gotten off to a less than favorable start. On Friday night, the Beeters played host to the Centerville Miners, where the Miners came away with the 32-12 victory. The Miners flew out of the gates, and put the game out of reach after only one quarter of play. They scored three touchdowns, two of them coming from Sam Rutherford on the ground, and took an early 24-0 lead. The Beeters shut out the Miners in the second and third quarters, and were able to put together two scoring drives in the third and fourth to cut the Miners' lead in half, 24-12. In the third quarter, it was Willie Miller getting the Beeters on the board after he caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from Dylan MacLean. And in the fourth it was Tyler Molyneaux who scored on a 22-yard touchdown pass from MacLean. But the Miners couldn't be caught. And in the fourth they added the finishing touches by scoring yet another rushing touchdown. It's still early in the season, but if the Beeters look to turn their season around they need to act now. They have dropped to 0-3, and now must prepare for another road matchup as they face off against Power-Dutton-Brady on Saturday.

Big Sandy 49, Augusta 13 The Big Sandy Pioneers also played on Friday night, and found another Class C, 6-Man victory at home. Hosting the Augusta Elks, the Pioneers followed last week's dominating win with one coming by a score of 49-13. In the first quarter, the Elks returned a kickoff for a 75-yard score, but the Pioneers separated from the Elks with three straight touchdowns to take an 18-6 lead. Ryan Miller scored on a five-yard run, then Miller scored on a seven-yard pass from Kruz McDermott while Corbin Pearson added a 27-yard score on a pass from McDermott. The Elks added seven more points in the fourth quarter, but the Pioneers 18 in the second quarter and 13 points in the fourth put the game even further out of reach. Miller had another rushing touchdown, while Pearson added two more scores and Jesse Bailey got in the mix by adding a rushing touchdown of 42 yards. The Pioneers increased their record to 2-0, but face a tough Geraldine squad Saturday on the road.

Choteau 52, Harlem 0 It was a tough home loss in week one for the District 1B Harlem Wildcats, but week two on the road was just as brutal. The Wildcats were in Choteau, where on Friday night the Bulldogs handed the Wildcats a 52-0 loss. On both defense and offense the Wildcats struggled. And adding to the struggles, turnovers also hurt the Wildcats. The Bulldogs returned two interceptions for touchdowns, one for 19 yards and the other for 45. On Friday the 0-2 Wildcats continue their road trip as they prepare to take on the Roundup Panthers.

North Star 40, Highwood 6 The Northern C 6-Man North Star Knights dropped their first game of the season a week ago, but bounced back by crushing the ranked Highwood Mountaineers 40-6 at home. Connor Kline had an outstanding afternoon with three touchdowns for the Knights, but there were plenty of other scores to be had by the Knight's offense. Opening up the game, it was Kline who gave the Knights a 6-0 lead on a seven- yard rush. But in the second quarter it was Kellan Warren and Jordy Donoven who earned points for the Knights. First Warren found the end zone on a one-yard run, then Donoven scooped up fumble for a 68-yard touchdown to give the Knights a 19-0 lead. The Mountaineers also put six on the board in the second quarter, but that's all the Knight's defense would give up. Kline added another one-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and the Knights added two more in the fourth. Warren found the end zone for the second time on a 17-yard pass from Donoven, and Kline added his third touchdown on a yet another run, this time from 12 yards out. The Knights advanced to 1-1 on the season, and return to play on Saturday when they take on West Yellowstone on the road.

Geraldine 50, Box Elder 18 Also in Class C 6-Man play Saturday, the Box Elder Bears were defeated at home by the powerhouse Geraldine Tigers, 50-18. The Tigers jumped all over the Bears and took control of the game with a 20-0 first quarter lead and a 34-0 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Tigers were shut out, and the Bears managed to put up six points on a Tyler Lawrence eightyard reception from Matt Weaving. And though the Tigers would put up 16 more points in the fourth, the Bears would also find the end zone two more times. Jesse Valdez pulled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Weaving and Lawrence added a second touchdown on anther reception. But the Tigers proved to be too much, and took the game 50-18. The Bears have dropped to 0-2 on the season, but remain at home to host Valier in two weeks.