Butte picked the right time to put up its best defensive effort of the season, and it resulted in a postseason berth for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs (2-5 Western AA, 3-6 overall) shut out an opponent for the first time this season and beat Helena Capital 17-0 Friday night. Coupled with No. 5 Missoula Sentinel's 21-7 win over Kalispell Flathead, Butte's victory clinched the No. 6 seed from the Western AA for next week's playoffs.
In the West, top-ranked Kalispell Glacier goes into the postseason as the top seed, followed by No. 4 Missoula Big Sky, No. 5 Missoula Sentinel, Helena, Missoula Hellgate and Butte.
Second-ranked Billings West will be the top seed from the East. The Golden Bears are followed by No. 3 Gallatin, Great Falls CMR, Bozeman, Great Falls and Billings Senior.
Key Week 9 matchup: Butte 17, Helena Capital 0
While the Bulldogs' defense made things rough on the Bruins (1-6, 2-7), Butte's offense received a touchdown pass and run from Raeder Grey and a 22-yard field goal from Bradey Doyle.
Doyle's kick put the Bulldogs up 3-0 before Grey connected with Kodye Kersten on a 27-yard scoring strike for a 10-0 lead. Grey completed Butte's scoring on a 3-yard rush, which was set up by a face-mask penalty on Capital on a fourth-down stop on the Bruins' 10-yard line.
Grey rushed for 123 yards on 28 carries.
Other Class AA highlights:
Great Falls 16, Great Falls CMR 3
The Bison continued their dominance over their city rivals, beating the Rustlers for the eighth straight season.
Steele Harris caught a touchdown pass from Tristan O'Leary and Mason Cannon scored from 3 yards out after the Bison were set up by a Rustlers fumble. Derek Schuler added a field goal for Great Falls (3-4, 3-5), which will be the Eastern AA's fifth seed in the playoffs. CMR (4-3, 5-4) will be the third seed.
No. 1 Kalispell Glacier 42, No. 4 Missoula Big Sky 12 (Thursday)
No. 2 Billings West 55, Belgrade 21 (Thursday)
Missoula Hellgate 17, Helena 9 (Thursday)
Other scores:
No. 3 Gallatin 42, Billings Senior 0
No. 5 Missoula Sentinel 21, Kalispell Flathead 7
Bozeman 35, Billings Skyview 17
