The artificial surface at Billings' Daylis Stadium helped Great Falls High get back on track.
And in a hurry.
Senior running back Jeremy Strong, in particular, had a good outing on the Sprinturf, which was installed a few springs ago. Strong gained 102 yards on 19 carries while scoring three touchdowns.
“It was a lot faster, better cuts,” Strong told the Billings Gazette. “It was a fun field to play on. I've never played on turf before. It was something new.”
Great Falls coach Gregg Dart said the turf helped his team, but it took some getting used to.
“We came out an hour early,” Dart said of the Bison's pre-game. “I told them to roll on it, touch it, taste it, whatever you have to do to get over it.”
Great Falls, which scored on consecutive drives of 70, 70, and 85 yards, got over last week's loss to Bozeman.
The Bison (3-1) fell to the Hawks 8-7 in a rain storm last Friday in Bozeman.
Kalispell Flathead quarterback Brock Osweiler and receiver Mike Gallagher are quickly becoming Class AA's most feared passing combination.
The duo hooked up two more times for touchdowns on Friday as the Braves rolled to a 34-21 victory against Butte at Bulldog Memorial Stadium.
Osweiler, the state's leading passer, finished with 213 yards and four TD tosses. He has 13 scoring passes for the season.
Gallagher, the state's leading receiver, caught five passes against the Bulldogs and increased his touchdown total to five with the two on Friday. Gallagher has 30 catches in four games this fall.
Butte knew it was in for a long night when Osweiler hit Gallagher from 12 yards out for the game's first score on Flathead's first possession.
“We didn't get off to a good start,” Butte coach Greg Salo told The Montana Standard afterward.
“It was a matter of getting caught up to the speed of the game,” he added. “It's hard to simulate their passing attack in practice.”
The Braves (2-2) come to Missoula on Sept. 28 to face the Sentinel Spartans.
The intracity battle between Helena High and Helena Capital went national last Friday night.
The Bengals and Bruins were one of eight high school football rivalries to be filmed as part of the Toyota Line of Scrimmage halftime show for NBC's Sunday night football television show.
Capital, the defending state champion, mauled Helena 41-7 as camera crews roamed the sidelines at Vigilante Stadium.
The footage, including interviews, will be shown later this fall during one of NBC's halftime shows. The network hasn't said when the feature will run.
That Big Sky's Beau Donaldson rushed for 214 yards against the Sentinel Spartans in the first crosstown game of the season is not surprising.
Donaldson, a senior, has put up some of his biggest numbers against the other two schools in town. In fact, he seems to get better with each crosstown game.
Donaldson had 212 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Hellgate last season. He went for 160 yards and three TDs against Sentinel. Both games he carried 30 or more times.
As a sophomore in 2005, Donaldson gained 119 yards and scored twice in a win over Hellgate and had 105 yards against Sentinel. He had at least 20 carries in each instance.
The AA football notebook is compiled from game stories by papers from around the state.
Class AA
League Overall
W L W L
Billings West 4 0 4 0
Helena Capital 4 0 4 0
Billings Senior 3 1 3 1
Great Falls High 3 1 3 1
Great Falls Russell 3 1 3 1
Bozeman 2 2 2 2
Butte 2 2 2 2
Helena High 2 2 2 2
Kalispell Flathead 2 2 2 2
Billings Skyview 1 3 1 3
Missoula Big Sky 1 3 1 3
Missoula Hellgate 1 3 1 3
Missoula Sentinel 0 4 0 4
Kalispell Glacier 0 4 0 4
Friday, Sept. 21
Missoula Big Sky at Billings Skyview, 7:30 p.m.
Great Falls Russell at Missoula Hellgate, 7:30 p.m.
Missoula Sentinel at Billings Senior, 4 p.m.
Bozeman at Kalispell Flathead, 7 p.m.
Kalispell Glacier at Great Falls, 7:30 p.m.
Billings West at Helena Capital, 7 p.m.
Helena High at Butte, 7 p.m.
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