GREAT FALLS — Week 1 of the high school football season saw the Great Falls CMR football team face a 14-0 early deficit against reigning Class AA state champion Helena Capital, but the Rustlers did not fret.
The home team reeled off four unanswered touchdowns to take a 28-14 win, starting the season on the best foot possible. A couple of key seniors made big plays throughout to allow the Rustlers to pull off the victory.
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Down 14-7 in the third quarter is when the team said momentum truly shifted, as quarterback Caleb Taylor rolled to his left, lofted a pass downfield and there to grab it was Blake Herda with no one in front of him. The 50-yard score tied the game.
"Honestly, it kind of was just a blur," Herda said following CMR's practice Tuesday at the school. "I saw (Taylor) rolling out, and the ball just came for me, and I had to make an effort to get it. And it came down in my hands, and I just went to the end zone. So, felt pretty good."
That was the first of two receiving touchdowns Herda scored in Friday's win.
"Ever since I've played here, I've never felt the energy like that," Herda said. "It felt really good to have the team back as one, and be brothers, and be able to have a very strong chemistry, to have good energy and keep going, be positive."
Fellow receiver Jaxon Dixon and head coach A.J. Wilson said Herda's touchdown to tie the game was a massive boost.
"Especially coming out the half and just scoring right away, just felt really good and it brought all of our momentum," Dixon said. "We were just going from there, no stop."
"That got our defense ready to go moving forward," Wilson said. "And then we got one more touchdown after that to kind of seal the deal and it was a fun night Friday night."
While he didn't personally find the end zone, Dixon made crucial catches in Friday's win, as well — the most noteworthy one being a deep connection between him and Taylor which was big in setting up the leading Rustler touchdown in the fourth quarter.
"Before that play even started, our offensive coordinator (Gregg Dart) was asking who our (Z receiver) is, and I was like, 'Me,' and he was like, 'Be ready for this ball,' and I was like, 'OK,'" Dixon said. "Then once he told me that, all I knew was ... all foot to the pedal, just go, and no matter what, go catch that ball."
Taking down the defending state champion is big for this group's confidence, Herda and Dixon said.
"It shows us that we're here to compete and it gives us a lot of positivity and hope," Herda said.
"It lets everybody know that we're here, and we're just going week by week," Dixon said.
CMR looks to carry this momentum in to a road game at Missoula Sentinel Thursday night, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m.
