The Flathead Braves kicked off the season Friday night with a big win over the Butte Bulldogs. Flathead's rushing attack and suffocating pass rush were the two biggest story lines I took away from the game. First thank you to Bill Foley of Butte Sports doing stats. you can check out his article on the game. https://buttesports.com/braves-double-up-bulldogs-in-football-opener/
Braves Offense...
Jaden MacNiel started his first game at quarterback and I thought did a very nice job, going 11-21 over 100 yards passing, 3 TD's, to go along with the rushing the football for over 100 yards with a TD. Jaden looked really good in his first game. He showed good decision making along with the ability to escape the rush. There were a couple third downs early in the game that Jaden was able to turn into first downs. AS Kyle said after the game he is only going to get better and that is exciting.
Blake Counts looked like he picked up right where he left off last season. make that a couple games in a row now with big runs over 50 yards. His 68 yard TD run was fun to watch but tricky to call. I thought he was going left when he went right. His vision in the open field was superb, he found the holes and was picking chunks of yards. Blake also showing his versatility in the receiving department. Blake's two TD receptions were set up beautifully. He had nearly 275 all purpose yards with his three TD's.
The Offensive line for the Braves did very well since both of these lines feature players going both ways. This offensive line really pushed on the Butte D line. You could see by the end of the game that defense had been worn out by the push by the big 5 upfront. They paved the way for 336 yards rushing and nearly 500 yards of offense. This group was mentioned as a strength and flexed their muscle on Friday night.
The Braves Defense...
The defenisve line I feel like was proabbly 4th or 5th in terms of storylines to my colleagues in the media. This was a big story for the Braves. The rotation of the defensive line is two deep. They can stop the run and they can make your QB's life a living nightmare. I don't know how many hurries or pressures but I had 6 sacks by the Braves Dline. Siderius, Hammond, Russell, Koch, Welder, Chapman made Tommy Mellott's night miserable. Tommy is going to be one of the best QB's in the state I think by the way. The Back 7 I was cuirous how they fair in the test against an offense that wants to thrown the football. Tommy got his numbers but this team tightened down when they needed to. This defense could have held Butte to 7 points which came on a trick play. They will have to clean up some of the penalties as those helped lead to Butte scoring drives.
Special teams...
Chance Sheldon Allen is a weapon and now the Braves have a weapon at all three levels of this team. His 95 yard TD return was impressive. He showed his third gear, and then put into 4th because I thought Roth and Grant had a beat on him. Nope! Chance down the sideline for a TD and I thought that was the play that threw this thing wide open for the Braves. Jones punting the football is such a weapon, when the Braves were backed up he boomed a punt that went nearly 70 yards as it put Butte deep in their territory and he pinned them inside their 20 twice.
Overall the Braves looked really good. The preseason hype was matched by the Braves. The Butte Bulldogs will be an improved team this season. Flathead is dangerous. The Braves Schedule is tough from here on out. Capital at home, West at home, Sentinel at Wash Grizz, Glacier at home. The Braves won the first round of this 13 round season. More importantly the Braves face a team that has had their number for some time. Can they punch their way past this opponent this week?