It was a tight Friday night in the Class A football playoffs.
Three of the four games were decided by a touchdown or less, and the fourth — Billings Central's 27-7 win over Hamilton — saw the favorite locked in a close game much of the way. In the end, the Rams will be joined by East Helena, Frenchtown and Whitefish in next week's semifinal round.
East Helena and Whitefish went on the road to upset Columbia Falls and Laurel, respectively, while Frenchtown won a slugfest over Lewistown.
Whitefish 27, Laurel 20
Luke Dalen rushed for three touchdowns — including the game-decider to break a 20-20 tie — as the Bulldogs held off the Locomotives.
Whitefish led 20-6 before Laurel knotted the score on a 4-yard run by Curtis Fox. But with 7:43 to play, Dalen dropped back to pass, and when the pocket collapsed, found a seam up the middle and scrambled 11 yards for his third score of the night to help push the Bulldogs into the semifinals.
Laurel drove deep into Whitefish territory following Dalen's touchdown, but the Bulldogs forced a turnover on downs at their 22-yard line and then ran out the final 3:54 of game clock.
Frenchtown 25, Lewistown 21
Cole Johnson scored two touchdowns — his second giving Frenchtown a 25-21 lead in the fourth quarter after Lewistown scored 14 points to take the lead.
The teams traded blows from start to finish with the Broncs ultimately taking a 19-7 lead early in the second half after Bailey Corrette scored from 4 yards out. Dawson Rodoni ran in Frenchtown's first TD, and Johnson took a screen pass 65 yards for the second.
McKay Shobe and Conner Miller brought Lewistown back — the duo hooked up for a first-half touchdown, Shobe ran in one in the third and they connected for another score late in the third — but the Golden Eagles' fourth-quarter comeback attempt fell short.
East Helena 27, Columbia Falls 20
Hagen Paddock scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:45 left in the game to help lift the Vigilantes to the semifinal round for the first time in program history. East Helena led 19-7 at halftime following touchdowns by Conor Carpenter (one receiving and one rushing) and Bearek Schuman (one passing and one rushing).
Columbia Falls took the lead in the fourth quarter on a Banyan Johnston touchdown run, but the Vigilantes rallied for the win and will meet Billings Central in the semifinals.
Billings Central 27, Hamilton 7
Hamilton scored first and held Billings Central to a season-low in points, but it wasn’t enough to take down the unbeaten Rams.
Shut out in the first quarter and trailing 7-0, Central opened the second quarter with a 21-yard touchdown run by Layne Alexander to knot the score. Alexander later scored again, and William Snell caught a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown as well as the Rams improved to 10-0.
