The run-and-gun Rustlers racked up more than 500 yards of offense and a relentless defense hounded Missoula Big Sky all evening en route to a 49-6 win in the first round of the Class AA playoffs at Memorial Stadium.
Senior quarterback Dan Olinger passed for 305 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for two more scores as CMR bounced back from last week's disappointing loss to Great Falls High to earn its first postseason victory since 2004. The Rustlers (9-2) gave up just 159 yards to the Eagles (6-5), who were eliminated in the first round for a second straight year.
The Rustlers tallied 234 yards on the ground to go with Olinger's aerial display. Reed was one of the Eagles' top tacklers, but even he didn't have an answer for CMR senior Spencer Thomsen, who carried the ball 24 times for 132 yards and two scores. He put Russell ahead 42-0 with a 1-yard plunge with 9:17 to play. Thomsen's 18-yard TD on CMR's second drive, capped a 10-play series, which signaled a long night was ahead.
The Rustlers dominated the Bison in their regular-season finale last week, but couldn't put away their crosstown rivals and eventually fell 36-35 in one of the best games in the history of that series. Friday's victory over Big Sky didn't avenge that loss, but certainly helped CMR cope, said longtime coach Jack Johnson.
“That might have been our best game of the year,” said Johnson, who earlier this fall reached the 300-win plateau. “We played well, with a couple of shutdowns and a couple of takeaways for us. We needed that after last week.”
“What frustrates me is we played solid, hard football,” Big Sky coach Gary Ekegren said, “but we had two lousy plays. And boy, they're just really quick on defense. It was a struggle for us.”
The Rustlers built a 21-0 halftime lead. They were aided by three first-half interceptions by Eagles senior quarterback Mike LaValley. One of the picks came after Big Sky took over on the CMR 33-yard line, following a long punt return and penalty. The Eagles got the ball back on a Thomsen fumble, but gave it right back two plays later on LaValley's final pick.
Big Sky's offense never got on track and barely made it into positive numbers. A 7-yard run by senior Trevor Kamura midway through the fourth quarter finally dug the Eagles out of the red for rushing yards. Kamura finished with 48 yards on 11 carries.
LaValley finished with 124 yards and a 5-yard scoring toss to Jordan Schafer with 2:26 to play. The Rustlers responded with a touchdown following a 74-yard run by backup QB Jade Klette.
“Our kids were determined coming in,” Ekegren said. “We tried hard. We executed our plan, but you gotta give credit to CMR.”
The Rustlers advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2004 where they'll take on Billings West.
“We've had a dry run in the postseason,” Johnson said. “We needed to break that.”
Big Sky 0 0 0 6 - 6
CMR 6 15 14 14 - 49
First quarter
CMR - Spencer Thomsen 18 run (kick blocked), 4:58.
CMR - Tanner Bleskin 56 pass from Dan Olinger (Brian Spencer kick), 11:22.
Second quarter
CMR - Olinger 12 run (Spencer kick), :18.
Third quarter
CMR - Olinger 1 run (Spencer kick), 8:31.
CMR - Bleskin 4 pass from Olinger (Spencer kick), 2:43.
Fourth quarter
CMR - Thomsen 1 run (Spencer kick), 9:17.
BS - Jordan Schafer 5 pass from Mike LaValley (kick failed), 3:07.
CMR - Jade Klette 1 run (Spencer kick), 2:26.
Individual leaders
RUSHING - Big Sky (21-35): Trevor Kamura 11-48, Edward Apostol 6-3, Drew Owens 1-1, Mike LaValley 3-(-17). CMR (37-234): Spencer Thomsen 24-132, Dan Olinger 7-12, Jade Klette 2-75, Tanner Bleskin 2-9, Team 2-6.
PASSING - Big Sky: LaValley 15-32-3-124, Team 0-1-0-0. CMR: Olinger 18-28-1-305.
RECEIVING - Big Sky: Owens 6-68, Jordan Schafer 1-5, Joe Petritz 1-24, Kamura 2-5, Apostol 1-2, Jordan Tripp 2-3, Brandt Montelius 2-17. CMR: Bleskin 6-141, Payton Skawinski 6-80, Jordan Harper 4-58, Thomsen 2-26.
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