GREAT FALLS — The Great Falls High football team started the season 0-4, but now they’re hosting a playoff game this Friday. The offense is clicking, and one of the smallest kids on the team is a big reason why.
Bison head coach Mark Samson summed it up: "Sometimes those little kids just have a little something special about them."
In just his last two games, junior Levi Torgerson -- all 5 feet 7 inches, 140 pounds of him -- has seven touchdowns. That includes a five-touchdown, 259-yard performance against Billings Skyview.
"I didn’t really realize it, until I got to the sideline that I had three touchdowns until my teammates came and told me, 'that’s three, that’s three,'” Torgerson said. "Then the next couple plays, they were just wide open. I didn’t know what to do. Just catch the ball and run. I wasn’t expecting to be that wide open, but I was."
But Torgerson had a slow start to the season, as did the entire team. After an 0-4 start, the Bison are on a 3-1 stretch, and Torgerson has exploded.
"He is now, as the season’s progressed, he’s really understanding our offense. Now he’s really understanding how to get open on the field as a receiver," Samson said.
"We put him at quarterback and we can run some things. Defensively, he’s a real good defensive back for us. He returns punts, he returns kicks. He does pretty much everything we ask of him," Samson continued. "He’s a kid we’ve got to get the ball to as much as we possibly can, because he can make big plays every time he touches it."
Torgerson said he owes it to his older brothers Kyle and Kody, who each were stellar athletes that went on to Montana Tech. Levi said they keep tabs on each other in a group chat, encouraging each other.
"They always pushed me. We’ve always been competitive. I may not have won as a child, cause they’d always gang up," Torgerson said. "They never took it easy on me, and I’ve been grateful of that up until high school. Wearing that No. 1 jersey, I feel like I have to fulfill their shoes and what they did in high school."
And he's got plenty of opportunity left. Every AA team makes the playoffs this year, and given their close games against teams like Billings West and Missoula Sentinel, the Bison feel like they can do some damage.
"I think it’s good for us this year, because obviously whoever is playing best at the end of the season is the one going head-to-head, pushing for that championship game, and I think we’re rolling right now," Torgerson said.
The Bison host Kalispell Glacier at Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday for the first round of the AA playoffs.
