Hi-Line Football Roundup: Bears, Knights, Pioneers win thrillers

It didn't take long to remember why people love high school football in Montana. On the first weekend of play along the Hi-Line, there were a number of pulse-pounding finishes as the 2014 season kicked off with a bang.

The action got underway Friday, but one of the weekend's marquee matchups took place Saturday in Chinook, where the Sugarbeeters played host to Great Falls Central in a critical showdown in the Northern C.

The Beeters, who were playing their first game under new head coach Scott Friede, got off to a slow start as Great Falls Central jumped out to an early 16-0 lead. Despite two first-half touchdowns from Gavin Gunderson, Chinook faced 28-14 halftime deficit.

The Beeters stormed out in the second half, and following a 19-yard touchdown run from Gunderson and a seven-yard touchdown run from quarterback Ian McIntosh, they grabbed their first lead of the game at 30-28 early in the third quarter.

The Mustangs answered when Reid Nelson hooked up with Nick Wilkins on a 36-yard touchdown pass. Chinook then found pay dirt on a 52-yard touchdown pass from McIntosh to Lane Seymour, then following a rushing touchdown by GCF's Nelson, Gunderson caught a 19-yard touchdown pass to send the game into the fourth quarter tied at 44-44.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Nolan Donisthorpe scampered 50 yards for a touchdown, putting the Mustangs back up 52-44. However, the Beeters matched the touchdown when McIntosh found Seymour in the end zone minutes later but failed to convert the two-point try, leaving the score at 52-50.

Chinook would get the ball back in the final seconds with a chance to score but Gunderson was stopped around the 30-yard line as time expired, giving the win to the Mustangs. The Beeters (0-1) are off next week before playing another Northern C contest on the road against Centerville on Sept. 13.

"When you have five specialty players and lineman back like they do, it makes it tough to prepare for that in 12 days," Friede said. "So I am very, very proud of our kids and the way they played. They played hard and never gave up and we had a chance right until the end to beat a very good football team."

GFC 16 12 16 8 – 52

CHI 8 6 30 6 – 50

GFC – Nolan Danisthorpe 3 yard run (Donisthorpe run)

GFC – Nelson 3 run (Nelson run)

CHI – Gavin Gunderson 41 pass from Ian McIntosh (Lane Seymour run)

GFC – C.J. Lewis 11 pass from Donisthorpe (Nelson run failed)

CHI – Gunderson 2 run (Seymour run failed)

GFC – Nelson 2 run (Nelson run failed)

CHI – Gunderson 19 run (Gunderson run)

CHI – McIntosh 7 run (Gunderson run)

GFC – Nick Wilkins 30 pass from Nelson (Donisthorpe run)

CHI – Seymour 52 pass from McIntosh (Gunderson run failed)

GFC – Nelson 6 run (Nelson pass to Wilkins)

CHI – Gunderson 19 pass from McIntosh (Seymour run)

GFC – Danisthorpe 50 run (Danisthorpe pass to Nelson)

CHI – Seymour 28 pass from McIntosh (Seymour run failed)

Chester/J-I 84, Centerville 0

Despite just having 13 varsity football players, Chester/J-I showed Saturday that they are still a force to be reckoned with in the Northern C of 8-man football with a dominating 84-0 win over Centerville in Sand Coulee.

All-State running back Justin May proved once again that he is one of the elite players in 8-man football and torched Centerville for 77 yards on seven carries and three touchdowns. May also scored on a 44-yard punt return.

Aided by five Centerville turnovers, the Hawks jumped out a 34-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. The lead grew to 64-0 by halftime.

In addition to May, Brett Henke also found the end zone frequently for the Hawks, with four total touchdowns, three rushing and one receiving. C/J-I (1-0) will be off next week before taking the field again on Sept.12 on the road against Belt.

C/J-I 34 30 8 12 – 84

Centerville 0 0 0 0 – 0

C/J-I – Justin May 20 run (run failed)

C/J-I – Brett Henke 14 pass from Brandon Richter (B. Richter run)

C/J-I – B. Richter 18 run (May run)

C/J-I – May 7 run (run failed)

C/J-I – Cory Richter 24 pass from B. Richter (run failed)

C/J-I – Mitchell Fischer 9 run (B. Richter run)

C/J-I – May 19 run (run failed)

C/J-I – May 44 punt return (May run)

C/J-I – Henke 11 run (Henke run)

C/J-I – C. Richter 18 run (C. Richter run)

C/J-I – Henke 1 run (pass failed)

C/J-I – Henke 44 run (pass failed)

North Star 60, Sunburst 57

The North Star Knights are looking to make a return trip to the Class C Six-Man football playoffs and got off to a promising start with a win in a key North Division game. The Knights battled Sunburst Saturday, which was making its debut in Six-Man football, and despite a late rally from Sunburst, the Knights pulled out the three-point win.

North Star running back Gavin Spinler had three rushing touchdowns in the first half as the Knights jumped out to a 34-20 lead at intermission.

Sunburst pulled within eight at 42-34 in the third quarter when Jackson Nagy scored on a nine yard touchdown run but the Knights responded with a 75-yard kickoff return by Jimmy Snow to push the lead back to 48-34. Spinler added another rushing touchdown early in the fourth to push the lead to 60-34. Sunburst rallied late to make the game close, but it was too little too late. The Knights (1-0) will be off this week before traveling to take on Box Elder (1-0) in an important North Division matchup Sept. 13.

Sunburst 8 12 16 21 - 57

North Star 14 20 14 12 - 60

NS -- Gavin Spinler 7 run (Spinler run)

NS -- Payton Peterson 14 run (Spinler run)

S -- Jackson Nagy 3 pass from Tyler Tharp (Tharp kick)

NS -- Jimmy Snow 4 pass from Helmbrecht (Jimmy Simonson pass from Helmbrecht)

NS -- Gavin Spinler 17 run (Payton Peterson pass from Helmbrecht)

S -- Nagy 55 pass from Tharp (pat failed)

NS -- Spinler 3 run (pat failed)

S -- Tim Jarvis 12 pass Tharp (kick failed)

NS -- Helmbrecht 10 run (Snow run)

S -- Nagy 9 run (Tharp kick)

NS -- Snow 75 kick return (Peterson from Helmbrecht)

S -- Paul Elhers 26 pass from Tharp (Tharp kick)

NS -- Peterson 4 pass from Helmbrecht (kick failed)

NS -- Spinler 3 run (pat failed)

S -- Blake Morgan 7 run (pat failed)

S -- Treyton Pickering 3 pass from Tharp (Jordan Williams from Tharp)

S -- Elhers 27 pass from Tharp (pat failed)

Big Sandy 46, Heart Butte 0

After making the Class C Six-Man state championship two years ago, the Big Sandy Pioneers had their 2013 season spoiled by injuries. So the Pioneers, led by first year head coach Walter Sivertsen, were eager to hit the field Friday night and it showed as Big Sandy walloped Heart Butte 46-0 in the season-opener at Big Sandy.

Kyle Strutz scored two touchdowns for the Pioneers and ran for 100 yards. Josh Solf added 57 yard son the ground, one TD and an interception returned for a score. Cody Bailey added two more TDs for Big Sandy while Geno Menard got in the endzone as well.

The wins give Big Sandy a 1-0 record in the North Division, which they will try to improve upon Saturday when the Pioneers host Stanford/Geyser/Denton in another key conference battle.

Box Elder 35, Valier 19

Box Elder head coach Ronnie Simpson has talked about changing the football culture when it comes to Bears football and it appears to be working, as the Bears knocked off Valier 35-19 in an important North division matchup early in the season.

Last season, the Panthers defeated the Bears in the final game of the season to keep them from the playoffs, so it was important for the Bears to exact their revenge and they did just that Saturday in Box Elder.

The Bears (1-0) travel to Sunburst Friday night.