Hi-Line Football Roundup: Stars win in Havre, Bears fall in Sunburst

It was another exciting weekend of high school football along the Hi-Line as a number of local teams had important conference matchups on the docket.

One such game was in Sunburst, where the Box Elder Bears traveled Friday night. The Bears, who earned an important season-opening win over Valier, have a playoff berth in their sights and looked to improve to 2-0 with another important win in the North division of Class C Six-Man football.

Early on, it appeared the Bears were going to achieve their objective as they got off to a rip-roaring start when Bodis Duran returned an interception for a touchdown to take an early 6-0 lead. Then, Duran caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Brandon The Boy and by the end of the first quarter Box Elder led 19-0.

Yet, Sunburst would rally and score a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to trim the deficit to 19-14 going into halftime. In the third quarter, the flood gates opened and Sunburst scored 34 points to take a 48-32 lead going into the fourth. A Blake Morgan touchdown run gave Sunburst a 54-32 lead and the Bears would go on to lose by a final score of 54-39.

The Bears (1-1) were led by Duran, who scored four total touchdowns, including a 76-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Brandon The Boy also had three touchdown passes in the loss.

Box Elder will travel to North Star (1-0) for another key game between North Division rivals.

Box Elder 19 0 13 7 – 39

Sunburst 0 14 34 6 - 54

Box Elder -- Bodis Duran 30 interception return (run fail)

Box Elder -- Duran 3 pass from Brandon The Boy (pass fail)

Box Elder -- Shane Ketchum 42 pass from The Boy (Ketchum pass from The Boy)

Suburst -- Tyler Tharp 10 run (Tharp kick)

Sunburst -- Paul Ehlers 4 run (pass fail)

Sunburst -- Jackson Nagy 20 pass from Tharp (kick fail)

Sunburst -- Ehlers 2 run (kick fail)

Box Elder -- Druan 25 run (pass fail)

Sunburst -- Ehlers 43 run (kick fail)

Sunburst -- Nagy 4 pass from Tharp (Tharp kick)

Box Elder -- Jerrod Four Colors 39 pass from The Boy (Four Colors pass from The Boy)

Sunburst -- Nagy 6 pass from Tharp (Tharp kick)

Sunburst -- Blake Morgan 4 run (kick fail)

Box Elder -- Duran 76 kick off return (Four Colors pass from The Boy)

Rocky Boy 44, Havre JV 34

The Rocky Boy football team got its 2014 season underway Monday when the Stars traveled to Havre to take on the Havre junior varsity squad at Blue Pony Stadium. The Stars, who have played a junior varsity schedule since moving up to Class B, put together an impressive performance, building a 44-18 lead before holding on for the 10-point win, 44-34.

Skyler Parisian got the scoring started as he returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Yet, the Ponies answered with a pair of touchdown passes by Trey Murphy, one to Jacob LaBrie and another to Nate Korb to give Havre a 12-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.

After Isiah Murie scored a rushing touchdown in the second quarter to give the Stars a 14-12 lead at the half, Colie Small found the end zone in the third quarter to push Rocky Boy’s lead to 22-12. Murphy answered by connecting with Logan Pleninger on a touchdown pass to trim the lead to 22-18 but the Stars answered with a pair of touchdowns, the second of which was scored by Junior Daychild to make it 36-18 early in the fourth quarter. Another touchdown by Small made it 44-18 and the rout was on.

Refusing to give in, the Ponies put together a late rally as Murphy found Korb and LaBrie again in the end zone to trim the deficit to 44-34 late in the game but it was too little too late and the Stars hung on for their first win of the season.

“This was a good Havre football team,” Rocky Boy head coach Rick Sunchild said. “They were fundamentally sound and a good team. We played well on offense but gave up too many big plays late on defense so that is something we need to keep working on.”

Parisian scored a pair of touchdowns in the game both on special teams as he also returned a punt in third quarter in the touchdown to lead to the Stars to victory. Small also added two touchdowns in the win. Murphy led the way for Havre with five touchdown passes, while Korb and LaBrie each caught two touchdowns in a losing effort for the Ponies.

DGS 46, Big Sandy 0

Saturday, the Big Sandy Pioneers went on the road to take on 2013 Six-Man state runner up Denton-Geyser-Stanford and fell to the traditional powerhouse 46-0 in a North Division game. The Pioneers kept things close early, trailing just 6-0 at the end of the first quarter. But then, DGS showed its power, putting up 33 second quarter points to blow the game open and take a 39-0 lead at half.

Austin Morris of DGS stole the show as he finished the game with four total touchdowns, two came on offense, while he also returned a fumble and interception for a touchdown.

The Pioneers (1-1) will look to rebound this Saturday when they travel to Augusta for another division game.

Big Sandy 0 0 0 0 -- 0

DGS 6 33 6 0 -- 46

DGS -- Conner Bokma 12 yard run (kick failed)

DGS -- Bart Vaskey 12 yard pass from Kade Woodhall (kick failed)

DGS -- Austin Morris 18 yard pass from Woodhall (run failed)

DGS -- Rhet Woodhall 45 yard punt return (pass failed)

DGS -- Safety – Jessy Annala sack in end zone

DGS -- Morris 22 yard pass from Woodhall (kick failed)

DGS -- Morris 45 yard interception return (Annala pass from Kendall Carpenter)

DGS -- Morris 25 yard fumble return (Annala pass from Carpenter)

Big Timber 40, Harlem 0

After being off last week, the Harlem Wildcats opened their 2014 season Friday night in Big Timber. Unfortunately, for the Wildcats it was not the kind of start they were hoping for as they were easily dispatched 40-0.

Walker LaVoy led the way for Big Timber, rushing for 70 yards on five carries and scoring a rushing touchdown in the first quarter as the Wildcats fell behind 27-0 at the end of the first quarter. Ryan Morgan also added 64 rushing yards on six carries and a pair of rushing touchdowns in the win for Big Timber.

The Wildcats (0-1) will return home Friday night to take on Shelby in search of their first win of the season.

Harlem 0 0 0 0 – 0

Big Timber 27 13 0 0 – 40

BT -- Mack Coyne 3 run (Brent Finn kick)

BT -- Ryan Morgan 6 run (Finn kick)

BT -- Walker LaVoy 2 run (Finn kick)

BT -- Coyne 10 run (PAT failed)

BT -- Morgan 14 run (PAT failed)

BT -- LaVoy 19 run (Finn kick)