Game Summary/Box Score
June 23, 2007 Bear River Valley Rockets at Bitterroot Blaze @ Darby High
School
BITTERROOT 50 BEAR RIVER VALLEY 7
DARBY – Justin Nixon rushed for more than
200 yards and two touchdowns and the Bitterroot Blaze defense swarmed the
visiting Bear River Valley Rocket offense, forcing 9 turnovers, as the
Bitterroot Blaze turned a 17-7 halftime lead into a 50-7 RMFL AA semi-final
romp and will host the AA Championship game on June 30th.
The game actually was
played fairly tightly for most of the first half.
The only touchdown the
Blaze could muster until late in the 2nd quarter was an exciting
75-yard touchdown dash through the Rocket defense by Justin Nixon with 8:55 to
go in the first quarter. The Rockets
would counter late in the first quarter on a Dave Williams touchdown run and
the 7-7 tie would hold… for a while.
All-star place-kicker, Eric
Peterson, would connect on a 33-yard field goal with 8:47 to go in the half to
break the tie and Nixon would add his second touchdown later in the period to
account for the halftime margin.
The Blaze would go on to
add two touchdowns in the third quarter and 3 more in the 4th quarter,
including an electrifying 85-yard interception return for touchdown by David
Gingerich to add insult to injury as the Rockets struggled against an attacking
Blaze defense.
In fact, the Blaze defense
attacked to the tune of 9 turnovers and 4 quarterback sacks. Forcing all-star
quarterback, and 2007 AA passing champion, Mike Jenkins into only completing 7
of 24 passes, including 5 interceptions on the night. The Blaze defense would force 3 fumbles and tally 6 interceptions
against two Rocket passers. The Rockets
were held to only 160 total net yards on the game, with only 35 of those yards
coming after the halftime break.
In short, after playing a
close first half, the Blaze simply wore down the Rockets with aggressive
defense and smash mouth offense to the tune of 294 total yards rushing on 40
rushing attempts on the game. Along with
Nixon, Tyler Jolley had a good day; rushing for 61 yards on only 10 carries
from the fullback position. Chris
Brawley had a big day as a receiver, a
rare occurrence in the Blaze offense, catching 4 passes for 84 yards and the
only receiving touchdown of the game, a 24-yarder from back-up quarterback,
Matt Blakey.
Chris Jones lead the Bitterroot
defense with 6 tackles, including 2 sacks and Christian Brown accounted for two
of the 6 interceptions tossed by the Rockets.
The Rockets played gamely
for about 2-1/2 quarters before clear fatigue and the style of Bitterroot play
began taking its toll. Dave Williams
would rush for 71 yards and Mike Messinger would rush for 62 yards on only 6
carries and had some success, particularly in the first half. Adam Whitaker
lead a spirited effort from the Rocket defense with 10 tackles and Rich Glenn
had 7 tackles, including the only two quarterback sacks for the Rockets. The Rockets, however, were also plagued with
another 118 yards on 13 penalties in the game and just could not get their #1
offense on track in the game.
With the Missoula Phoenix
upset of the Vipers, the Bitterroot Blaze now get set to host the 2007 AA Championship
game against their rivals from up north, the Missoula Phoenix. The game will kickoff at 7:00 p.m. at Darby
High School on June 30th. The
game is expected to be a sell out.
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Bear River Valley Rockets |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
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Home |
7 |
10 |
13 |
20 |
50 |
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BITTERROOT: Justin Nixon 75-yard run (Peterson kick) 8:55 |
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BITTERROOT: Eric Peterson 33-yard field goal 8:47 |
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BITTERROOT: Buckie Brawley 4-yard run (kick blocked) 8:34 |
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BITTERROOT: Buckie Brawley 12-yard run (kick failed) 12:43 BITTERROOT: David Gingerich 85-yard interception return
(Peterson kick) 3:57 |
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BEAR RIVER |
BITTERROOT |
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First
Downs |
7 |
17 |
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Rushes-Yds |
27 |
131 |
40 |
294 |
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Passing |
7--25--6 |
8--17--0 |
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Passing
Yds. |
58 |
170 |
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Sacked-Yds |
4 |
29 |
2 |
12 |
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Net
Passing Yds. |
29 |
158 |
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Total
Yds. |
160 |
452 |
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Punts
- Avg. |
5-46.0 |
6-38.3 |
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Penalties
-Yds |
13 |
118 |
8 |
65 |
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Fumbles
- Lost |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
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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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Dave
Williams - Bear River Valley |
20 |
71 |
1 |
0 |
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Mike
Messinger - Bear River Valley |
6 |
62 |
0 |
0 |
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Cade Lee
- Bear River Valley |
1 |
-2 |
0 |
0 |
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Justin
Nixon - Bitterroot |
20 |
203 |
2 |
0 |
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Tyler
Jolley - Bitterroot |
10 |
61 |
1 |
0 |
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Buckie
Brawley - Bitterroot |
5 |
25 |
2 |
0 |
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Bo
Davenport - Bitterroot |
4 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
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Matt
Blakey - Bitterroot |
1 |
-1 |
0 |
0 |
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Passing: |
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Player |
Comp. |
Att. |
Yds |
TD's |
Int. |
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Mike
Jenkins - Bear River Valley |
7 |
24 |
58 |
0 |
5 |
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Mike
Messinger - Bear River Valley |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
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Buckie
Brawley - Bitterroot |
7 |
15 |
146 |
0 |
0 |
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Matt
Blakey - Bitterroot |
1 |
2 |
24 |
1 |
0 |
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Receiving: |
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Player |
Recepts. |
Yards |
Td's |
2 pts. |
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Mike
Messinger - Bear River Valley |
2 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
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Clark
Funk - Bear River Valley |
2 |
18 |
0 |
0 |
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Cody
Merritt - Bear River Valley |
1 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
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Marvin
Mays - Bear River Valley |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
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Dave
Williams - Bear River Valley |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
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Chris
Brawley - Bitterroot |
4 |
84 |
1 |
0 |
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Rich
Fillie - Bitterroot |
2 |
51 |
0 |
0 |
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Grant
Roman - Bitterroot |
2 |
35 |
0 |
0 |
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Defense: |
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Player |
Tackles |
Sacks |
Intercepts |
TD's |
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Adam
Whitaker - Bear River Valley |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Rich
Glenn - Bear River Valley |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
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Clark
Funk - Bear River Valley |
5.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Gary
Boden - Bear River Valley |
4.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Bryce
Vicars - Bear River Valley |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Bryan
Freeman - Bear River Valley |
3.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Dallan
Robinson - Bear River Valley |
3.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Nick
Meyer - Bear River Valley |
3.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Dave
Williams - Bear River Valley |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Earl
Taylor - Bear River Valley |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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John
Laursen - Bear River Valley |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Jason
Best - Bear River Valley |
1.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Jason
Butler - Bear River Valley |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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