Eureka and Three Forks went on the road to win quarterfinal games in the Class B football playoffs Saturday, while Glasgow and Manhattan — the No. 1 seeds from the North and South, respectively — won in very different ways.
The Lions defeated Red Lodge 28-13 and the Wolves got past Florence 28-20 in a pair of upsets. Glasgow, meanwhile, defeated Columbus in a 62-44 shootout, and Manhattan beat Malta 12-7 in a defensive slugfest.
Next week's semifinals will feature Glasgow hosting Three Forks and Manhattan hosting Eureka.
Eureka 28, Red Lodge 13
Rogan Lytle put Eureka on his back Saturday afternoon to propel the Lions past Red Lodge 28-13 and into the Class B semifinals.
Lytle had four rushing touchdowns — a pair in each half — as the Lions used a dominant running game to sap the life from the Ram defense.
Lytle opened the game's scoring before Red Lodge answered with a touchdown pass by Brock Johnson. Lytle then scored again on the ground before the Lions opted for the two-point conversion to push the lead to eight.
After Lytle's fourth touchdown of the game, Eureka again went for two to try to push the lead to 17 with less than nine minutes to play, but Red Lodge stuffed the quarterback sneak to maintain life.
However, the Lion defense put the game on ice with another stand, pushing Eureka into the semifinal round.
Eureka will hit the road once again as it will face Manhattan next Saturday.
Manhattan 12, Malta 7
The Tigers ousted the defending Class B champions from the postseason and avenged their loss to the Mustangs in last year's title game.
Tyson Pavlik tossed a 21-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Matthew Fenno with 4:08 remaining in the game to lift Manhattan to the quarterfinal victory over Malta. The undefeated Tigers will host Eureka in the semifinals.
Manhattan scored on its first drive on a 5-yard touchdown run from Brayden Zikmund but failed on its 2-point conversion attempt to lead 6-0. Malta responded with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Kazner Oxarart to Laytin Erickson with 1:15 remaining in the first half and then kicked a point-after try to lead 7-6.
After Pavlik's go-ahead score to Fenno, Manhattan forced a Malta fumble on the ensuing kickoff and recovered it and managed to run out the clock.
Three Forks 28, Florence 20
It was an impressive offensive performance for Three Forks as the Wolves took out the host team, Florence, to advance to the semifinal round.
Kanon Reichman used every part of his offense, throwing four touchdowns to four different receivers on the day and displaying a passing game that Florence had no answer for.
Although Florence tried to light a spark with a Levi Winters pick-6 and a late fourth-quarter touchdown to get the game within one score, it was too much as Three Forks advanced to the semifinal round, where it will face Glasgow.
Other Class B quarterfinal scores:
Glasgow 62, Columbus 44
