Copyright Kalispell Inter Lake
WHITEFISH — There were a few tricks and a lot of treats Friday as Whitefish defeated Butte Central 52-6 in a Class A football playoffs first round game. Luke Dalen ran for three touchdowns and threw for one more while Cole Moses added a pair of scores on the ground in the rout. “I’m proud of our guys, sticking together and just doing things the right way and playing hard all the way through the game,” Bulldogs coach Brett Bollweg said. The win moves Whitefish into the quarterfinals where they will travel to Laurel, the top seed out of the Central. It also sends the senior class off with a win in potentially their final game at home. “These are the guys that I started with,” Bollweg said. “They are always going to be a special group for me. To see these 16 guys walk the field right here is special and awesome and it’s a group of guys I’m going to cherish forever.” The Bulldogs ran for 257 yards with Dalen accounting for 138 on 11 carries. Moses had 78 yards on six rushes, including a 55-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. “Austin Owen had a great block and they were loading the box and so we were like, ‘let’s stretch it,’ “ Moses said. “We ran some ‘tea bubbles’ and we took it to the house because the receivers, they block well and made it easy.” Dalen was 14-for-25 through the air for 170 yards. Bear Barker threw one pass: a 13-yard touchdown to Vlad Shestak after Dalen left for a play with an injury. The junior quarterback was left with a bloody nose and black eye after taking a hit to the face, but he returned for the next drive. “It was a little scrappy, but really in the end it helped us, we got a chip,” Dalen said of the game's physicality. The Whitefish defense stepped up early, intercepting Maroons quarterback Ryan Peoples on the first two Butte Central drives. Dalen then opened the scoring with a 28-yard run on the Bulldogs' third possession. “We didn’t start out hot, but we figured out what they were doing and figured out their weaknesses,” Dalen said. After forcing a punt, Moses broke off his 55-yard score to make it 14-0 Whitefish. Whitefish then pulled out a surprise onside kick, which they recovered, followed by a double pass from Jordan Harmon to put them into the red zone. The Maroons took some momentum when they forced a fumble and returned the ball 64 yards. A few plays later Henly Mansanti scored the lone touchdown for Butte Central. The extra point was blocked, leaving the score 14-6. Next drive, Moses took a screen pass from Dalen 28 yards to extend the lead back to two scores. Dalen capped off the half with a 38-yard touchdown scamper with one second left in the half to give Whitefish a 28-6 advantage at the break. Out of the break, Whitefish recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and converted that into Barker’s touchdown pass. Cole Moses then triggered the running clock with a 10-yard touchdown run. Dalen added his third touchdown from 19 yards out to make it 49-6. Tait Orme finished off the scoring with a 45-yard field goal with three minutes to play. Orme was perfect on kicks, going 7 of 7 on extra points. Butte Central 0 6 0 0 - 6 Whitefish 14 14 21 3 - 52 WF — Luke Dalen 28 run (Tait Orme kick), 5:50 1Q WF — Cole Moses 55 run (Orme kick), 2:25 1Q BC — Henly Mansanti 4 run (kick blocked), 10:50 2Q WF — Moses 26 pass from Dalen (Orme kick), 9:35 2Q WF — Dalen 38 run (Orme kick), :01 2Q WF — Vlad Shestak 13 pass from Bear Barker (Orme kick), 10:21 3Q WF — Moses 10 run (Orme kick), 6:14 3Q WF — Dalen 19 run (Orme kick), 4:00 3Q WF — Orme 45 FG, 3:34 4Q
