Capital beats West for AA title

In what turned into a driving snowstorm at Wendy’s Field at Daylis Stadium in Billings, the Montana High School Association capped off the first of five Football Championship Series this weekend with the crowning of the Class AA title in a game against two familiar foes.

And the running game for Helena Capital turned out to be the difference.

Gunnar Brekke rushed for 180 yards on 22 carries, and scored three touchdowns as Helena Capital scored four second-half touchdowns to pull away and beat Billings West, 39-14, for their fourth state title since 2004, and their 11th overall state football championship.

Brekke and backfield mate Brice Burton (17 carries for 100 yards and two scores) combined to lead the Bruins (12-1) to a 439-yard offensive output and for five of the six Bruins scores. The other came on a Reese Miller 25-yard TD reception.

The key to the game was the line play – the Capital offensive line opened up enough lanes for its runners, who had a 320-yard effort as a squad, and the Bruin defensive front stuff highly-touted Golden Bears running back Clay Compton, who was held to just 35 yards on the ground on nine carries.

Billings West (11-2) had most of their offense come from the arm of 6-foot-8 quarterback Brady Gustafson, who was 26-of-54 passing for 305 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions in the setback.

MHSA Football Semifinal Scores

Here are the weekend scores from the Montana High School Association Football Championship Series Semifinal games. Three defending state champions lost games on Saturday, which leaves only Denton to defend a title, and they will be on their home field to do just that. The Savage-Denton rematch is also the lone repeat performance from a season ago as well.

Class AA
Billings West 45, Kalispell Glacier 16
Helena Capital 27, Helena 0

Class A
Dillon 56, Havre 7
Billings Central 14, Miles City 3

Class B
Fairfield 36, Missoula Loyola 7
Malta 31, Ronan 27

Class C-8 man
Fairview 36, Chinook 16
Twin Bridges 27, Ennis 6

Class C-6 man
Denton 59, Geraldine/Highwood 26
Savage 65, Big Sandy 41

MHSA Football Semifinals Set

It’s official – one Friday game and nine Saturday games are on the schedule for the Montana High School Football Championship Series Semifinals, as each of the five classes in the state determine who will play for their respecitve championships.

The Class AA semifinals will be spread over two days – Kalispell Glacier will play against Billings West on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Wendy’s Field at Daylis Stadium; while Helena and Helena Capital will match up at Carroll College’s Nelson Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Here is the schedule for the weekend’s semifinal games. With the exception of the Glacier-West game on Friday, all games are scheduled for 1 p.m. kickoffs:

Class AA
Kalispell Glacier at Billings West, Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Wendy’s Field at Daylis Stadium
Helena vs. Helena Capital, Saturday, 1 p.m. at Nelson Stadium (Carroll College)

Class A
Havre at Dillon, at Vigilante Stadium
Miles City at Billings Central, at Wendy’s Field at Daylis Stadium

Class B
Missoula Loyola at Fairfield, at Fairfield Field
Ronan at Malta, at Mustang Stadium

Class C 8-man
Chinook at Fairview, at Starr Field
Twin Bridges at Ennis, at Scully Field

Class C 6-man
Big Sandy at Savage, at Quale Field
Geraldine/Highwood at Denton, at “Bubba” Lucas Field

Football Semifinal Pairings

Here are the Montana High School Football Championship Series semifinal pairings for next weekend. We will update this as soon as possible with start times, which will be made official over the next couple of days.

Class AA
Kalispell Glacier at Billings West
Helena vs. Helena Capital

Class A
Havre at Dillon
Miles City at Billings Central

Class B
Missoula Loyola at Fairfield
Ronan at Malta

Class C 8-man
Chinook at Fairview
Twin Bridges at Ennis

Class C 6-man
Big Sandy at Savage
Geraldine/Highwood at Denton

Scores from Quarterfinal action:
Class AA
Billings West 39, Kalispell Flathead 7
Kalispell Glacier 24, Billings Senior 10
Helena 27, Great Falls CMR 14
Helena Capital 42, Butte 7

Class A
Dillon 35, Laurel 13
Havre 30, Hamilton 14
Billings Central 14, Stevensville 12
Miles City 7, Polson 6

Class B
Fairfield 12, Manhattan 7
Missoula Loyola 42, Plentywood 14
Malta 42, Bigfork 0
Ronan 14, Baker 9

Class C 8-man
Fairview 40, Charlo 32
Chinook 48, Drummond 42
Ennis 28, Power/Dutton-Brady 26
Twin Bridges 64, CJI 22

Class C 6-man
Savage 75, Hot Springs 30
Big Sandy 56, Fromberg/Roberts 7
Geraldine/Highwood 60, Alberton 48
Denton 39, Stanford-Geyser 12

Class A Football Playoffs

It’s the quarterfinal round of the Montana Class A Football Championship Series, with the first of four games taking place on Friday. The other three games will be contested on Saturday.

Friday’s Game:
Dillon 35, Laurel 13

Saturday’s Games:
Hamilton at Havre
Stevensville at Billings Central
Miles City at Polson

Class AA Football Playoffs

The Montana Class AA Football Championship Series opens this weekend with games on both Friday and Saturday throughout the state. Keep in mind that the MHSA will re-seed the FCS after the first round, with the lowest remaining seed heading to the highest remaining seed, and the other two teams playing each other at the home of the higher seed in the semifinals.

Friday’s Scores:
Billings West 39, Kalispell Flathead 7
Kalispell Glacier 24, Billings Senior 10
Helena Capital 42, Butte 7

Saturday’s Game:
#6 Great Falls CMR (5-5) at #3 Helena (9-1), 1 p.m.

So, if Helena wins, it will more than likely be a two-day situation again – with Helena and Helena Capital playing on Saturday at Carroll College, and West hosting Glacier on Friday night.

If CMR pulls off the upset, then the Rustlers would play Billings West at Wendy’s Field at Daylis Stadium next Friday, while Helena Capital would host Kalispell Glacier, likely also on Friday.

Pack your bags, guys … road trip!

Here are next week’s playoff matchups, complete with distances the road team, and its fans, will have to travel to their quarterfinal games in the MHSA Football Championship Series. The mileage listed is figured with the most popular, or quickest, route from each main city. In the case of co-ops, the team listed first was used to figure out the mileage. In the case of Stanford/Geyser at Denton, for example, the mileage was figured from Stanford to Denton. Geyser, for the record, is another 15 miles to the east.

Saturday Football Scores

Here is the master schedule (and main finals post) for Saturday’s playoff games – and regular-season finale in Helena in the cross-town game between Helena and Helena Capital. We will be updating this page as often as possible after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Class AA
Helena Capital 20, Helena 13

Class A
Miles City 57, Livingston 14
Hamilton 28, Libby 11
Laurel 49, Lewistown 0

Class B
Fairfield 36, Red Lodge 0
Manhattan 42, Colstrip 0
Plentywood 23, Huntley Project 12
Missoula Loyola 48, Eureka 8
Bigfork 35, Florence 26
Malta 49, Choteau 0
Baker 28, Columbus 0
Ronan 47, Big Timber 12

Class C 8-man
Fairview 68, Centreville 30
Charlo 48, Absarokee 9
Chinook 62, Colbertson/Bainville 16
Drummond 26, White Sulphur Springs 19
Ennis 34, Superior 27
Power/Dutton-Brady 34, Wibaux 30
Twin Bridges 40, Lincoln 6
CJI 36, Scobey 0

Class C 6-man
Savage 92, Valier 8
Hot Springs 58, Custer/Melstone 8
Big Sandy 47, Hysham 6
Fromberg/Roberts 66, Lima 28
Geraldine/Highwood 30, Richey/Lambert 6
Denton 87, Lone Peak 0
Stanford-Geyser 59, Terry 6

Class A Playoffs

The first playoff game is in the books, and the Montana High School Association Class A Football Championship Series is officially underway. Three more games will be played on Saturday, with the quarterfinal matchups likely all played next Saturday, November 5.

Class AA Playoff Picture

Now that all but one game has been played in Montana Class AA football this season, we have a great idea as what the playoffs will look like. Well, okay … so we know who is in, and we have an idea as to whom they will play.

Here’s who is in:
Helena (9-0)
Billings West (9-1)
Helena Capital (8-1)
4. Kalispell Glacier (8-2)
5. Billings Senior (7-3)
6. Great Falls CMR (5-5)
7. Butte (5-5)
8. Kalispell Flathead (4-6 – wins tie-breaker over Missoula Big Sky due to head-to-head)