Three straight losses to start the season? No sweat.
An early 14-point deficit? No problem.
The win secured a playoff berth for the Braves (6-3) and left coach Russell McCarvel brimming with pride.
“That's a pretty good characteristic of this team,” he said of Flathead's poise. “When we were 0-3 obviously that's a pretty tough situation. People didn't think we'd be 0-3. We didn't think we'd be 0-3.
“There was a lot of negativity around. Not really within our team, though. They kept coming out working hard.”
Hellgate (0-9) used a strong rushing attack to gain the upper hand in the first period. First came an 8-play, 70-yard march capped by Chris Lavoie's 14-yard touchdown run, then a short drive capped by Lavoie's 1-yard dive, giving the Knights a 14-0 lead at 3:39.
Flathead responded with sharper focus offensively.
The Braves cut the Knights' lead in half with a 64-yard march that quarterback Brock Osweiler finished on a 9-yard TD run. Then after Hellgate fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Flathead took over at the Knights' 25 and scored on a first-down pass from Osweiler to Travis Andrus.
“Being up 14 and all of a sudden in a span of 30 seconds you're tied at 14, that really hurt,” Hellgate coach Jeff Dohn said. “We haven't won, so it's hard to believe. There's some growing-up things we have to do. We'll just keep working at it.”
Hellgate put together a promising drive and looked as if it might again take the lead early in the second frame. But it stalled on the Flathead 8-yard line after a fumbled exchange on fourth down.
Flathead took its first lead on a 12-yard pass from Osweiler to Andrus with 5:48 left in the half. Hellgate threatened four minutes later with a drive inside the Braves' 30, but quarterback Sam Hall fumbled the ball away after a Clayton Holler sack.
“Everything we planned to do worked right away,” said Dohn, whose team had 12 first downs to Flathead's eight in the first half. “We just couldn't stay with it.
“We had a couple turnovers that cost us. (Flathead) didn't really stop us in the first half. We stopped ourselves. And they're just a little faster it looked like receiver-wise than we are.”
Flathead turned the game into a blowout with three scores in the third frame. Osweiler, an Arizona State football recruit, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another on a 28-yard draw up the middle.
Osweiler finished with 48 yards rushing and completed 18 of 24 passes for 267 yards. Fellow senior Andrus had seven catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns.
“This senior class, we're really close, so we don't get rattled too easy,” Andrus said. “We just have to keep our composure.
“Our offense this year, we showed right here we're a double attack. We have the passing game and we have the run game right now. You can't stop it if it keeps going.”
Flathead's fireworks overshadowed a stellar performance by Lavoie. He finished with 180 yards rushing on 33 carries and scored his team's first three touchdowns.
Dohn felt the Knights' ability to move the football - they finished with 337 total yards - bodes well for next Friday when they face crosstown rival Sentinel.
Flathead 14 7 21 8 - 50
Hellgate 14 0 0 14 - 28
H - Chris Lavoie 14 run (Carsen Hopfauf kick), 8:47
H - Lavoie 1 run (Hopfauf kick), 3:39
F - Brock Osweiler 9 run (Michael Windham kick), :27
F - Travis Andrus 25 pass from Osweiler (Windham kick), :10
F - Andrus 12 pass from Osweiler (Windham kick), 5:48
F - Andrus 10 pass from Osweiler (Windham kick), 10:01
F - Osweiler 28 run (Windham kick), 7:09
F - Cody Bouley 14 pass from Osweiler (Windham kick), 1:55
F - Bouley 5 pass from Osweiler (Bouley pass from Andrus), 10:22
H - Lavoie 5 run (kick blocked), 5:27
H - Sam Hall 1 run (Colton Swibold pass from Hall),:09
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Flathead (19-107): Bryce Stacy 6-63, Brock Osweiler 9-48, Zach Diest 2-1, Travis Ozegovich 2-(-5). Hellgate (65-295): Chris Lavoie 33-180, Shawn Jensen 16-83, Brenden Gragg 4-19, Sam Hall 10-6, Kale Leiby 1-0, Spencer Hale 1-7.
Passing - Flathead, Brock Osweiler 18-24-1-267. Hellgate, Sam Hall 3-10-0-42.
Receiving - Flathead, Travis Andrus 7-152, Bryce Stacy 3-38, Bryant Eickert 3-26, Cody Bouley 3-25, Nolan Grosswiler 1-18, Mike VanArendonk 1-8. Hellgate, Shawn Jensen 1-21, Joe Dillon 1-11, Brenden Gragg 1-10.
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