Game Summary/Box Score
June 10, 2006 Bitterroot Blaze at Great Falls Gladiators @ C.M. Russell
High School
BITTERROOT 10 GREAT FALLS 0
– By LEE VERNOY
Great Falls Tribune Sports
Writer
GREAT FALLS -The Great Falls Gladiators picked a really lousy
day to be bitten by the turnover bug.
And as a result, their
offseason begins today.
The Bitterroot Blaze
took advantage of six Gladiator turnovers in the rain and the muck of CMR’s Pride Field Saturday afternoon to score an
unconventional 10-0 victory in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Football
League AA playoffs.
It was an
unconventional game in that the line score looks almost like a four-inning
baseball game — again. The Blaze got field goals by Erik Peterson in the first
and fourth quarters, and safeties in the middle frames, to end the Gladiators’
most successful season in the six-year history of the club.
"I’d rather be
lucky than good any day," said Blaze head coach Joe Murawa.
"They say it’s always tough to beat the same team three times in the same
season. I knew that going in, and I knew that if could get a big break early we
could stop them with our defense and the way we play.
"There’s two good
football teams, both teams played great offense and even better defense. The
weather helped us out a little bit more than the Gladiators this time. We
limited our mistakes, and mistakes hurt the Gladiators."
It was two of the top
three defenses in the RMFL doing battle, Bitterroot at No. 1 and the Gladiators
third. Both teams finished 5-3, with the Gladiators getting the home field
advantage by way of 3-2 and 19-14 victories during the regular season.
In both games, the
Gladiators forced more turnovers than they gave up. But the third time around
would be the charm for Bitterroot.
Peterson’s first field
goal, a 20-yarder in the opening stanza gave the Blaze an early 3-0 lead, and
they would tack on another two when Chance Brawley sacked Gladiators starting
QB Robert Cook in the end zone in the second quarter.
Bitterroot would make
it 7-0 with 7:57 left in the third quarter when linebacker James Wood blocked a
punt attempt by David Milodragovich and the ball richocheted
out of the end zone for another safety, and Peterson’s 32-yard boot with 10
minutes left in the game accounted for the final score.
"We were talking
all week how the key was to win the turnover battle, and it came back to bite
us today," Gladiator GM Brad Thurber, who spent some time at quarterback
Saturday, said. "Between turnovers and special teams, that was the
difference.
"Both of the
field goals were off of turnovers; we held their offense in check all day. We
didn’t get quite as many turnovers as we would have liked to, and we had way
too many turnovers on the offense and special teams."
There really wasn’t a
whole bunch of offense in this game, which was originally scheduled to be
played at the CMR Sophomore Field but was moved to accommodate a projected
crowd of over 500. Bitterroot’s record-setting RB Justin Nixon gained only four
yards on eight carries and was a non-factor as the Blaze rushed for 92 of their
118 total yards on offense. T.J. Ward would carry most of the Bitterroot mail,
gaining 39 yards on 16 tries.
Fullback Mike Pease
took high rushing honors for the Gladiators, with seven carries for 43 yards.
Tailback Sterling Wynn had trouble turning corners all day, finishing with six
yards on seven attempts.
Neither team had a
passing attack. Buckie Brawley had one 26-yard completion and a pick in five
tries for the Blaze, and the Gladiators fared worse: Cook was 0-for-5 with a
pick, while Thurber’s two attempts resulted in a 7-yard completion to Wynn and
a 13-yard interception return by Nick Bain, his second of the game.
The Blaze, now 6-3,
will travel to face the undefeated Salt Lake City Muddogs in the semifinals.
"They’re a good
football team; I think the raw end of the deal goes to Missoula for having to
host the Davis-Bear River Valley winner," Murawa
said. "But we’re just happy to still be playing, whether it’s the Vipers,
or Missoula, or the Muddogs … we’re just happy to be playing, and we’re going
to do our (best) to represent Montana, and hopefully do our end to hold an
all-Montana final."
The Gladiators (5-4)
aren’t as lucky.
"For us, the offseason starts tomorrow," Thurber said. "We’ll
start recruiting, start working out, start getting
ready for next year. We’ll take a couple of months off, take the summer off,
and come fall, start getting back at it again.
"Today was a
tough loss; you never want to lose, especially a close game like that,
especially a game that meant so much. That was a big loss and we’re going to
hurt for a while, but in the big picture the program is still getting better
every year, and that was our goal. We went from 1 and 7 to 2 and 6, to 5 and 3,
made the playoffs this year. Next year, we just got to take the next
step."
|
Bitterroot Blaze |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
|
Great Falls Gladiators |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Bitterroot: Peterson 21-yard field goal 6:08 |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Bitterroot: Safety – C. Brawley tackled S. Wynn in end zone 8:17 |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Bitterroot: Safety – James Wood blocked punt out of end zone |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Bitterroot: Peterson 33-yard field goal |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
BITTERROOT |
GREAT FALLS |
|
||
|
First
Downs |
6 |
1 |
|
||
|
Rushes-Yds |
42 |
101 |
23 |
61 |
|
|
Passing |
1--5--1 |
1--7--2 |
|
||
|
Passing
Yds. |
27 |
7 |
|
||
|
Sacked-Yds |
3 |
19 |
2 |
12 |
|
|
Net
Passing Yds. |
8 |
-5 |
|
||
|
Total Yds. |
109 |
56 |
|
||
|
Punts
- Avg. |
9-30.8 |
4-40.7 |
|
||
|
Penalties
-Yds |
4 |
35 |
2 |
10 |
|
|
Fumbles
- Lost |
3 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Individual
Stats: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rushing: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Player
-Team |
Tot. Att. |
Tot.
Yds |
TD's |
2 pts. |
|
|
T.J. Ward
- Bitterroot |
16 |
41 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Buckie
Brawley - Bitterroot |
8 |
32 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Tyler Jolley - Bitterroot |
10 |
19 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Justin
Nixon - Bitterroot |
8 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mike
Pease - Great Falls |
7 |
43 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Robert
Cook - Great Falls |
4 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Sterling
Wynn - Great Falls |
7 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
John
Hughes - Great Falls |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Passing: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Player |
Comp. |
Att. |
Yds |
TD's |
Int. |
|
Buckie
Brawley - Bitterroot |
1 |
5 |
27 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Robert
Cook - Great Falls |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Brad
Thurber - Great Falls |
1 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Receiving: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Player |
Recepts. |
Yards |
Td's |
2 pts. |
|
|
Kris
Rausch - Bitterroot |
1 |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sterling
Wynn - Great Falls |
1 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Defense: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Player |
Tackles |
Sacks |
Intercepts |
TD's |
|
|
Jamie
Jones - Bitterroot |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Chris
Jones - Bitterroot |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Chance
Brawley - Bitterroot |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Paul
Tryon - Bitterroot |
3.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
James
Wood - Bitterroot |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Kurt
Rausch - Bitterroot |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Chris
Brawley - Bitterroot |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Tad
Sheridan - Bitterroot |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Alex Quinsland - Bitterroot |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Jared Chytka - Bitterroot |
1.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Derek Zeiler - Bitterroot |
1.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Bryan Hellyer - Bitterroot |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Ron Lakey
- Bitterroot |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Brian Buckreus - Bitterroot |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
TJ Ward -
Bitterroot |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Vince
Zepeda Sain - Bitterroot |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Bruce
Brown - Bitterroot |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
Craig - Great Falls |
7.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Mike
Rhode - Great Falls |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Keon Pinckney - Great Falls |
6.5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Brad
Thurber - Great Falls |
5.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Brett Stensrud - Great Falls |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Reggie
Jennings - Great Falls |
4.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Chris
White - Great Falls |
4.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Jamari Austin - Great Falls |
2.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Anthony
Gaines - Great Falls |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Demond Orr - Great Falls |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kick
Returns: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Player |
Punt
Ret |
Punt
Yds |
Kick
Ret |
Kick
Yds |
|
|
Demond Orr - Great Falls |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Little -
Great Falls |
0 |
0 |
1 |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kicking: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Player |
xpt att |
xpt made |
fg att |
fg made |
|
|
Eric
Peterson - Bitterroot |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
Milodragovich - Great Falls |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|