Hi-Line Football Roundup: Hawks get revenge

After a pretty slow opening week last weekend, Hi-Line football was finally in full swing week two.

Friday, in a rare upset, the Chester/J-I Hawks defeated the Chinook Sugarbeeters 26-24 in in Northern C conference play. The Beeters didn't lose a conference game last season, and lost just one in the last two seasons.

The Hawks held the lead early, but it was a late score that gave the Hawks the win. C/J-I trailed 24-20 heading in to the final frame, but Jordan Oraw reeled in an 18-yard scoring pass from Erik Kelly to give the Hawks the lead and the win. The Hawks led 8-6 after one, and led 20-18 at the half, before trailing heading into the fourth.

Mike Henke scored on a pass from Dustin Romain, while Kelly also scored on an 18-yard run, and an 38-yard pass for the Hawks. The key difference proved to be a Romain run for the two point conversion after the Henke TD in the first quarter, as it was the only successful conversion in the game, for both teams. Kelly rushed for 89 yards and Oraw rushed for 66.

For Chinook, Dylan Surber caught a 66-yard pass from Zack Molyneau for a TD, while Molyneaux also scored on a two-yard jaunt and a 78-yard kickoff return. Gavin Gunderson also scored on a one-yard run.

With the win, the Hawks are now 2-0, while the Beeters dropped to 1-1 with the loss.

Chester/J-I 26, Chinook 24

Chinook 6 12 6 0 – 24

C/J-I 8 12 0 6 – 26

C/J-I – Mike Henke pass from Dustin Romain (Romain run)

CHI – Dylan Surber 66 pass from Zach Molyneaux (run failed)

CHI – Zack Molyneaux 2 run (run failed)

C/J-I – Erik Kelly 18 run (run failed)

C/J-I – Kelly 38 pass (pass failed)

CHI – Zack Molyneaux 78 kickoff return (run failed)

CHI – Gavin Gunderson 1 run (pass failed)

C/j-I – Jordan Oraw 18 pass from Erik Kelly (pass failed)

Culbertson 58, HLP 6

Also playing on Friday night, the Hays-Lodge Thunderbirds suffered a crushing loss in Class C action. Culbertson defeated the Thunderbirds 58-6, as the Thunderbirds didn't score until late in regulation to avoid the shutout.

Trevin Horn scored on a 40-yard run for the Thunderbirds in the fourth quarter.

Culbertson 38 6 6 8 – 58

Hays-Lodge Pole 0 0 0 6 – 6

CUL – Shayne Cochran 4 run (pass good)

CUL – Lane Sherman 5 pass from Larsen (pass good)

CUL – Shayne Cochran 4 run (Wilcoxon run)

CUL – Lane Sherman 5 pass from Larsen (pass good)

CUL – Wilcoxon 5 run (run failed)

CUL – Cameron Lambert 3 run (run failed)

CUL – DJ Taylor 7 interception return (pass failed)

CUL – Lane Sherman 10 run (DJ Taylor run)

H-LP – Trevin Horn 40 run (run failed)

Conrad 35, Harlem 0

Unfortunately for the Harlem Wildcats, they too suffered a punishing loss on Friday. The Class B Wildcats were shutout 35-0 by the Conrad Cowboys.

North Star 47, St. Regis 0

On Saturday, the North Star Knights got the Hi-Line football action back on track with dominating win of their own.

Hosting the struggling St. Regis squad, the Knights earned a 47-0 win in Rudyard. There was a lot of question on how the Knights offense would continue to produce without former standout Jordy Donoven, but in their first game out of the gate, they showed they can still score.

North Star took a 13-0 lead after the first quarter, and stretched that to 41-0 at the break. The Knights scored just one more time in the game, but didn't need to do much more than that as the were already on cruise control.

Quinn Spinler scored on a 77-yard punt return to open the barrage of touchdowns, while Cooper Spicher scored three times to lead the Knights. Spicher scored on four-yard run, a 36-yard run, and on a five-yard run. Gavin Spinler also caught two scoring passes from Mathew Helmbrecht, while Caleb Vaughn also scored on a six-yard rush.

St. Regis 0 0 0 0 – 0

North Star 13 28 6 0 - 47

NS – Wuinn Spinler 77 punt return (Gavin Spinler run)

NS – Gavin Spinler 15 pass from Mathew Helmbrecht (kick failed)

NS – Cooper Spicher 4 run (Gavin Spinler run)

NS – Cooper Spicher 36 run (Chris Lavery pass from Mathew Helmbrecht)

NS – Cooper Spicher 5 run (Jaxon Simonson pass from Mathew Helmbrecht)

NS – Gavin Spinler pass from Mathew Helmbrecht (Caleb Vaughn run)

NS – Caleb Vaughn 6 run (kick failed)

Big Sandy 56, Richey-Lambert 34

The Big Sandy Pioneers were also in action on Saturday, and while their defense gave up 34 points, fortunately the offense was able to carry the team to a win.

The Pioneers only led by four points at the break, but outscored Richey-Lambert 26-8 in the final two quarters to run away with the contest. The Pioneers led 30-26 at the half, but gave up just one second half score the opposition.

Jesse Bailey had a huge day on the ground for the Pioneers finding pay dirt six different times. Bailey first scored on a 27-yard carry, but followed suit with a 14-yard rushing score, two-yard rushing score, five-yard rushing score, a three-yard rushing score, and finally, another two-yard rushing touchdown. Bailey racked up 174 yards rushing on 24 carries.

Trevor Lackner also threw a TD to Zach Leader and Kaden beck, and also ran for a 75-yard kick return for a score.

Big Sandy 18 12 6 20 – 56

Richey-Lambert 14 12 8 0 – 34

Big Sandy (1-0) — Zach Leader 12 pass from Trevor Lackner (kick failed), Jesse Bailey 27 run (kick failed), Trevor Lackner 75 kick return (kick failed), Jesse Bailey 14 run (run failed), Jesse Bailey 2 run (pass failed), Jesse Bailey 5 run (run failed), Jesse Bailey 3 run (Bailey run), Jesse Bailey 2 run (Kaden Beck pass from Lackner), Beck 36 pass from Leader (pass failed).

Richey-Lambert (0-1) — Cameron Johnson 45 run (Lane Verschoot kick), Cody Sodt 4 run (kick failed), Christian Prevost 25 pass from Cameron Johnson (kick blocked), Johnson 50 pass from Verschoot (kick blocked), Johnson 14 run.

Lima 82, Box Elder 6

The Box Elder Bears also got their season underway on Saturday, and embarked on their first varsity season in years. The Bears are still growing, as they were able to limp through a junior varsity season last year, but didn't finish the season at all two years ago.

It was a tough season opener or the Bears, especially since Box Elder was originally slated to open its season against Two Eagle River. Two Eagle River was forced to cancel due to not enough practices. Lima was also scheduled to open the season against Winnett-Grass Range, but they canceled their season last week.

Liberty County Times

A Chester/J-I running back meets a Chinook tackler head on during last Friday night's Class C 8-man football game between the Hawks and Beeters in Chester.