The senior quarterback rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns, and passed for a third score in guiding Great Falls to a come-from-behind victory, 35-19, over Missoula Sentinel on Friday.
Wassman and the Bison scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to erase a 13-7 halftime deficit at Missoula County Stadium.
For awhile, it looked like the two teams might share a 4-4 mark.
“We came out and we were just not ready to go,” Bison coach Gregg Dart said. “We were a little shell-shocked having lost three out of our last four. I was thinking ‘OK, what bad is going to happen here first.' We just couldn't get anything going.”
On it's first three possessions, Great Falls went three-and-out and finished with just 54 yards rushing in the first half.
The Bison turned things around in the second half when Wassman started attacking the weak side of the Spartans' D-line, Dart said.
Great Falls was also aided by four Sentinel turnovers, including a fumble that was returned 23 yards for a TD by defensive back Michael Zook. That put the Bison ahead 28-13, 20 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The fumble was the Spartans' first play following an eight-play drive that was capped by Wassman's 4-yard scoring run, his second of the half. Wassman had 65 yards in the second half, and Maxx Galland added 37 of his 42 yards and a short TD run.
“That drive to go ahead was big,” Dart said. “But getting that fumble return was even bigger.”
“We gave them the short field on that one drive and then that scoop-and-score...” Sentinel coach Pete Joseph said. “It's hard to rebound from those things.”
Mistakes took their toll on Sentinel, which gave away the ball twice inside the Bison's 15-yard line in the first half.
“Those two turnovers in the red zone really kept them in the game,” Joseph said. “That gave them a second life, and our defense was shutting them down. Football is a game of momentum, and we gave them some life, some breath.”
Senior Steven Rominger passed for 249 yards and three touchdowns, but had two picks on the evening, including one in the end zone that Zook returned out to the 39-yard line.
That set up Wassman's 27-yard TD pass to Jake Olson for Great Falls' first score two minutes later.
The Bison didn't have any turnovers, but did muff the first punt return they saw. Sentinel recovered the ball and scored on a 6-yard pass by Rominger to Ben Roberts.
The Spartans dominated the first half when Rominger had 185 of his yards. Senior Dalton Bright had five catches for 128 yards in the first half, but sat out a bunch of the second half with a shoulder injury.
“They had our number in that first half,” Dart said. “That is a good football team.”
Great Falls 0 7 7 21 - 35
Sentinel 7 6 0 6 - 19
First quarter
S - Ben Roberts 6 pass from Steven Rominger (Justin Meyer kick), 4:15.
Second quarter
GF - Jake Olson 27 pass Trylan Wassman (Trevor Bolton kick), 4:42.
S - Dalton Bright 31 pass from Rominger (kick failed), :56.
Third quarter
GF - Wassman 1 run (Bolton kick), 4:59.
Fourth quarter
GF - Wassman 4 run (Bolton kick), 11:55
GF - Michael Zook 23 fumble return (Bolton kick), 11:40.
GF - Maxx Galland 1 run (Bolton kick), 3:27.
S - Tyler Jacobsen 4 pass from Rominger (pass failed), :17.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Great Falls (35-193):Trylan Wassman 17-97, Maxx Galland 13-42, Zach Wichman 3-14, Jake Olson 2-40. Sentinel (32-124): Steven Rominger 19-112, Taylor McGreevey 7-12, Ryan Mutzenberger 4-9, David Cahoon 2-(-9).
Passing - Great Falls: Wassman 11-20-0-113. Sentinel: Rominger 21-30-2-249.
Receiving - Great Falls: Olson 6-75, Michael Zook 4-27, Dejeaun Biggle 1-11. Sentinel: Dalton Bright 5-128, Ben Roberts 4-16, Tyler Jacobsen 4- 34, Mutzenberger 1-13, Justin Mueller 2-35, McGreevey 1-0, Brody Miller 2-10, Tyler Ramos 2-13.
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