Game Summary/Box Score
April 22, 2006 Bitterroot Blaze at Missoula Raptors @ Loyola High School
BITTERROOT 16 MISSOULA 7
MISSOULA – It was billed as “the rivalry of
the decade…” and the game did not disappoint.
The expansion Bitterroot Blaze
became the first Montana team to beat their northern rival, the Missoula
Raptors, who won the Montana Division title as an expansion team themselves in
2005, when… in a matter of seconds, they turned a 7-7 tie into a 16-7 victory
and grabbed a share of the Northern division lead.
Justin Nixon broke a
60-yard touchdown run on the first play after the Blaze went ahead 9-7 on a
safety created by a bad snap to the Raptors punter. After the free kick, Nixon
put the game away to cap a huge record setting day in which he rushed for a
total of 259 yards on a marathon 35 carries as the Blaze rushing attack trumped
the Raptor passing attack to the tune of an amazing 365 rushing yards on an
equally amazing 58 attempts.
The Blaze literally ground
out the victory.
Nixon scored the first
touchdown, the only first half score to give the Blaze a 7-0 halftime
lead. Midway through the third quarter,
Raptor quarterback, Shane Jurasek found his tight end, Ja’Ton Simpson for a
13-yard score and the game was tied going into the final period. Jurasek would
go on to throw for a solid, but modest 176 yards in the absence of a Raptor
ground game which could muster less than 30 yards on the night.
The Raptors’ Gavin Johnson
did have a good game, personally, gaining 32 yards on the ground and 81 yards
in receiving.
In the final analysis, Nixon and the Blaze front line was just too much for the Raptors in what will be just part one of a series of great contest between the neighboring rivals.
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Bitterroot Blaze |
0 |
7 |
0 |
9 |
16 |
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Missoula Raptors |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
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Bitterroot: Nixon 10-yard run (E. Peterson kick) 5:31 |
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Missoula: Simpson 13-yard pass from Jurasek (Roberts kick) 8:55 |
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Bitterroot:
Safety – ball kicked out of end zone 5:51 |
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BITTERROOT |
MISSOULA |
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First
Downs |
20 |
10 |
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Rushes-Yds |
58 |
365 |
15 |
26 |
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Passing |
2--6--0 |
10--22--2 |
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Passing
Yds. |
23 |
176 |
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Sacked-Yds |
0 |
0 |
3 |
19 |
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Net
Passing Yds. |
23 |
157 |
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Total
Yds. |
388 |
183 |
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Punts -
Avg. |
2-48.5 |
2-54.0 |
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Penalties
-Yds |
4 |
40 |
3 |
20 |
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Fumbles
- Lost |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
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Individual
Stats: |
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Rushing: |
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Player
-Team |
Tot.
Att. |
Tot.
Yds |
TD's |
2 pts. |
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Justin
Nixon - Bitterroot |
35 |
259 |
2 |
0 |
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Buckie
Brawley - Bitterroot |
7 |
37 |
0 |
0 |
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Robb
Simms - Bitterroot |
4 |
22 |
0 |
0 |
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Tyler
Jolley - Bitterroot |
3 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
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Patrick
Evers - Bitterroot |
7 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
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Matt
Lakey - Bitterroot |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
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Ray
Medlin - Bitterroot |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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Gavin
Johnson - Missoula |
6 |
32 |
0 |
0 |
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Matt
Menke - Missoula |
2 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
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Shane
Jurasek - Missoula |
7 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
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Passing: |
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Player |
Comp. |
Att. |
Yds |
TD's |
Int. |
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Buckie
Brawley - Bitterroot |
2 |
6 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
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Shane
Jurasek - Missoula |
10 |
22 |
176 |
1 |
2 |
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Receiving: |
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Player |
Recepts. |
Yards |
Td's |
2 pts. |
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Kris
Rausch - Bitterroot |
1 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
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Vinny
Zepeda Sain - Bitterroot |
1 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
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Gavin
Johnson - Missoula |
2 |
81 |
0 |
0 |
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Fred
Russo - Missoula |
3 |
32 |
0 |
0 |
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Tyler
Boaz - Missoula |
1 |
28 |
0 |
0 |
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Ja'ton
Simpson - Missoula |
2 |
21 |
1 |
0 |
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Nick
Lumpkin - Missoula |
2 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
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Defense: |
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Player |
Tackles |
Sacks |
Intercepts |
TD's |
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Derek
Zeiler - Bitterroot |
6.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Jamie
Jones - Bitterroot |
5.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Chris
Jones - Bitterroot |
3.5 |
0.5 |
1 |
0 |
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Paul
Tryon - Bitterroot |
3.5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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Kurt
Rausch - Bitterroot |
2.5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
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Bryan
Hellyer - Bitterroot |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Ron Lakey
- Bitterroot |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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Patrick
Evers - Bitterroot |
2 |
0.5 |
0 |
0 |
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Nick Bain
- Bitterroot |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Jared
Chytka - Bitterroot |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Mike
Rasmussen - Bitterroot |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Vince
Zepeda Sain - Bitterroot |
0.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Chris Lee
- Missoula |
8.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Ben Adams
- Missoula |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Max
McCracken - Missoula |
6.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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James
Decotau - Missoula |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Tony
Sanderson - Missoula |
4.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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James
Jacobson - Missoula |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Tyler
Downard - Missoula |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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James
Compton - Missoula |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Jesse Schulz
- Missoula |
2.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Brian
Hughes - Missoula |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Jason
Konye - Missoula |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Jeff
Hecht - Missoula |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Mike
Hardenburgh - Missoula |
1.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Hewitt -
Missoula |
1.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Levi
Weltikol - Missoula |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Zach
Thompson - Missoula |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Kurtis
Learned - Missoula |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Jesse
Schmidt - Missoula |
0.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Justin
Smith - Missoula |
0.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Brian
Smith - Missoula |
0.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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