Photo Courtesy of Art Anderson!
Coming into Friday night's contest the Flathead Braves were next in line to challenge Bozeman and their undefeated record. The Braves would make it close but no cigar as they fell 49-34. There is a lot of positives to take away, but there is the one nagging thing that continues to plague this team and I am sure is frustrating the coaching staff, the slow starts.
The Braves would have a muffed punt where the ball touched a Braves player and that would setup a short scoring drive from the 25 of Flathead. After a Flathead punt Bozeman would go 94 yards for the next score, setup by a 46 yard pitch and catch between Brown and Simpson. The Braves quickly found themselves down 14-0. The Braves didn't panic as they have seen this before and have come back from it. The Braves would answer with a drive of their own going 63 yards on 7 plays capped off by a Counts 1 yard TD plunge. 14-7 with 10:58 to go in the half. That is when Bozeman built a lead it would never relinquish. Bozeman and Flathead would trade interceptions but the winner was Bozeman as they had pinned Flathead back deep in their own territory. Bozeman would hit Flathead with 1 play scoring drives. O'Reilly from 34 yards out for a Touchdown and a Kris Brown to Ryan Lonergan 55 yard Touchdown pass. That made the game 28-7 going into halftime.
The Braves would get the ball to start the 2nd half. They would go 80 yards for the score all setup by a Big Blake Counts 47 yard run. Jade MacNeil would scamper 21 yards five plays later to make the game a two touchdown deficit. The Braves would get within one possession of the Hawks but wouldn't get any closer. In the 2nd half the Braves would score touchdowns on 4 drives, nearly had a fifth but ran out of time. Anthony Jones caught a 28 yard touchdown pass and Sheldon Allen hauled in a big 64 yard pass from MacNeil.
THE TAKEAWAYS & NUMBERS...
Jaden MacNeil probably his best passing performance to date. He went 11-21 for 204 yards and a Touchdown to Jones. He also ran for another 131 yards and a touchdown. We haven't had to see Jaden put the ball in the air as often as we did tonight but the senior answered the bell like he has many times this season.
Blake continues to punish defenses, he ran 24 times for 144 yards and three touchdowns. Jones capped off a great night with 78 yard receiving and a Touchdown. Sheldon Allen had two receptions for 75 yards.
As I mentioned at the top it was the first half mistakes that doomed Flathead. Clean those up by playoff time and I think this will be a different outcome. You do have to give a ton of credit to Bozeman's McCade O'Reilly as he ran for over 200 yards and had 5 Touchdowns.
With that being said Senior RB Joe Olson left the game with an arm injury and did not return. Hopefully he will be alright and will recover quickly.
The Bozeman offense was forced in to some 3rd and longs but was able to find soft spots for first downs to keep the defense on the field. The stat line was 5 of 9 for the Hawks offense on 3rd down.
Stats I took away. The Braves were 10 of 15 on 3rd down. Those are solid numbers on a crucial down. Penalties the stat sheet said 7 penalties on Flathead sure didn't feel like it was 7 for the game, maybe 7 in one half but I digress.
Coaches always talk about field position and we have heard Coach Samson talk about it as well. The Braves in the first half were never able to win that battle. Four times Bozeman started in Flathead territory. The 25, 30, 34, 49 yard lines of Flathead. Two of the four lead to scoring drives. One was an interception and the other was the end of the half. Bozeman's best field position on their side of the field was the 45 and worst was the 6. In the 2nd half Bozeman didn't have a short field, Flathead forced them to go the length of the field.
Flathead on the other hand in the first half had 7 drives that started inside thier own 30 yard line. The best field position in the first was on the 40 and in the 2nd half was the 44 at the end of the game.
Three big keys... The early mistakes, bad field position, and two turnovers really hurt the Braves.
My final Nach...
The braves fought back from a 22 point deficit. We knew this team wouldn't roll over and die. They almost had the comeback. Flathead showed its resiliency and I thought more importantly in the 2nd half showed themselves that they could beat that football team. I wouldn't be surprised if Flathead faces either Bozeman or West in the semifinals of the playoffs. Speaking of playoffs this past 4 game stretch really told us a lot about this team. They went 2-2 as they beat Sentinel and Glacier, losing to West and Bozeman hurts but many lesson to take away from those games that could make you so much better in the near future. Flathead's easier part of the schedule is here. I say it is easier but the next few teams are scrappy and looking to upend playoff hopes and dreams. Big Sky next week, CMR the following week and Hellgate before the showdown with Helena to end the season.
I will have much more on all this on Monday's The Nach On Sports 6-8pm.