Hi-Line Football Roundup: Chester/J-I, North Star roll to easy wins

It was another exciting weekend of high school football along the Hi-Line and the marquee game centered on the Chinook Sugarbeeters, who traveled to Belt for a critical game in the Northern C Division of 8-Man football.

The Beeters, who came into the game with a 4-1 record overall and, in conference play, were tied for first place, while Belt at 3-2, was one game back. The battle between the two playoff hopefuls was a classic that saw Belt rally and score a late touchdown plus a two-point conversion to beat Chinook 28-26 Friday night.

The Beeters took the early lead when Lane Seymour caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Ian McIntosh to go ahead 6-0. Belt would answer and tie the game at 6-6 but Gavin Gunderson found pay dirt on a four-yard rushing touchdown. However, Belt would score again and take a 14-12 lead at the end of the first half.

In the third quarter, Seymour caught another touchdown pass from McIntosh, this time from 17 yards, giving the Beeters a 20-14 lead going into the final stanza.

Belt scored first in the fourth to tie the score at 20-20. Chinook answered on a three-yard touchdown run by McIntosh to give the Beeters a 26-20 edge. However, Belt would score late and convert the two-point attempt to escape with the 28-26 win.

With the loss, Chinook falls to 4-2 on the season and 4-2 in conference play. The Beeters are now part of a four-way tie atop the Northern C along with Chester/J-I, Belt and Great Falls Central.

Chinook will be in action again this Wednesday night, when the Beeters will host Power-Dutton-Brady.

Chinook 6 6 8 6 – 26

Belt 6 8 0 14- 28

C: Lane Seymour 45 pass from Ian McIntosh (run failed)

B: Anderson 3 run (run failed)

C: Gavin Gunderson 4 run (pass failed)

B: P. Maki 11 pass from Metrione (J. Maki pass from Metrione)

C: Seymour 17 pass from McIntosh (Pauttis pass from McIntosh)

B: Metrione 27 run (pass failed)

C: McIntosh 3 run (pass failed)

B: P. Maki 17 pass from Metrione (Metrione run)

Chester/J-I 58, Cascade 6

Following an important victory over Great Falls Central, the Chester/J-I Hawks went on the road to Cascade last Friday night and continued their winning ways with a 58-6 win in Northern C play.

After a rare scoreless first quarter in 8-man football, the Hawks went to work in the second quarter when Brandon Richter found Justin May for a 58-yard touchdown pass to give C/J-I a 6-0 lead. Then, Richter connected with Brett Henke in the end zone to give the Hawks a 14-0 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, the Hawks continued to build their lead with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Richter to Cory Richter to make the score 20-0. May would push the lead to 28-0 on a 38-yard touchdown run and later, the lead would balloon to 36-0 on a touchdown pass from Brandon Richter to Mitchell Fischer that covered 32 yards.

Leading 36-6 at the end of the third quarter, C/J-I put the finishing touch on an impressive victory with a pair of touchdowns runs by Brandon Richter and a 52-yard scamper by May to make the final score 58-6.

Richter had possibly his best game of the season throwing for 196 yards and accounting for six total touchdowns. May, an All-State running back, had another dominant performance with 188 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

The Hawks improved to 4-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play, which puts them in a tie atop the Northern C standings with two games remaining. C/J-I will play again on Wednesday night when they travel to Simms for another conference matchup.

C/J-I 0 14 22 22 — 58

Cascade 0 0 6 0 — 6

C/J-I: Justin May 58 pass Brandon Richter (pass failed)

C/J-I: Brett Henke 5 pass from Richter (Cory Richter pass from B. Richter)

C/J-I: C. Richter 49 pass from B. Richter (run failed)

C/J-I: May 38 run (May run)

C/J-I: Safety (ball snapped out of end zone)

C/J-I: Mitchell Fischer 32 pass from B. Richter (run failed)

C: Casey Keen 57 run (pass failed)

C/J-I: B. Richter 2 run (Henke pass from B. Richter)

C/J-I: May 52 run (C. Richter pass from B. Richter)

C/J-I: B. Richter 1 run (pass failed)

North Star 46, Heart Butte 19

The North Star Knights rebounded from a loss to Denton-Geyser-Stanford a week ago with an impressive 46-19 road win over Heart Butte in the North Division of Class C Six-Man football on Saturday.

The outcome was not in question long as they Knights showed their dominance early with a 34-point first quarter. The scoring got underway when Payton Peterson found the end zone on a 42-yard touchdown run, followed by a 21-yard touchdown run by Gavin Spinler, and right away it was 16-0.

Later in the first quarter, Matthew Helmbrecht connected with Jaxon Simonson on a five-yard touchdown pass to make the score 22-0. Helmbrecht would throw another touchdown pass to Thatcher Smith and a then a touchdown run by Jimmy Snow closed out the five-touchdown first quarter for North Star.

In the second quarter, Chris Lavrey added to the Knights’ lead with a three-yard touchdown run that was followed with a 56-yard touchdown run by Helmbrecht to make it 46-0. Heart Butte would score on a 77-yard kickoff return by Chasen Kipp in the second, then added two more scores in the fourth to make the score more respectable, but the Knights cruised to an easy 27-point win.

North Star is now 4-2 on the season and in the North Division, which has them in a tie for third place with Box Elder. The Knights will be in action again this Friday when they travel to Valier for a key division game.

North Star 34 12 0 0 — 46

Heart Butte 0 6 0 13 — 19

NS: Payton Peterson 42 run (Thatcher Smith pass from Matthew Helmbrecht)

NS: Gavin Spinler 21 run (Chris Lavery pass from Lambrecht)

NS: Jaxon Simonson 5 pass from Helmbrecht (Helmbrecht kick)

NS: Smith 11 pass from Helmbrecht (PAT fail)

NS: Jimmy Snow 8 run (PAT fail)

NS: Lavery 3 run (PAT fail)

NS: Helmbrecht 56 run (PAT fail)

HB: Chasen Kipp 77 kickoff return (PAT failed)

HB: Kipp run (PAT fail)

HB: Kipp 3 run (Justin Aimsback pass from Kipp)

Hot Springs 50, Big Sandy 0

In another big six-man game over the weekend, the Big Sandy Pioneers were thoroughly defeated by Hot Springs in a nonconference game Saturday. The game was a rematch of the 2012 state title game, also won by Hot Springs.

Hot Springs got off to a hot start with 24 points in the first quarter and 13 in the second to take a commanding 37-0 lead at halftime. From that point, Hot Springs never looked back and added 13 more points in the third to make the final score 50-0.

Big Sandy is now 3-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play. The Pioneers are still in the playoff hunt but need probably two wins to get in, which will prove difficult with defending six-man state champion Geraldine/Highwood next on the docket. The game is set for Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Big Sandy 0 0 0 0 — 0

Hot Springs 24 13 13 0 — 50

HS—Paro 25 pass from Tanner Hoff (PAT kick good)

HS—Paro 50 punt return (PAT kick good)

HS—Paro 3 run (PAT kick good)

HS—Nate Gray 5 run (PAT failed)

HS—Dolson 40 pass from Hoff (PAT pass good)

HS—Hoff 60 run (PAT failed)

HS—Morigeau 5 pass from Hoff (PAT pass good)

Box Elder 52, Augusta 0

The Box Elder Bears, who also reside in the Six-Man North Division, took another step toward making the playoffs with a 52-0 road win over Augusta Saturday. Playing without injured quarterback Brandon The Boy, the Bears’ offense still proved unstoppable.

With the win, the Bears are now 4-2 overall and in conference play, which has them tied for third as they head into a showdown this week with 2013 state runner-up Denton/Geyser/Stanford Friday.

No stats reported

Circle 62, Hays-Lodge Pole 8

In other 8-man football action, Hays-Lodge Pole of the Eastern C traveled to Circle on Saturday and remains winless the season after a 62-8 loss.

The Thunderbirds hung tough for the first quarter and at the end of one, trailed just 8-0. But, Circle exploded for 24 points in the second quarter and 22 in the third on its way to a blowout win.

The lone bright spot for the T-Birds came in the fourth quarter when quarterback Tyson Shambo got them on the board with a five-yard touchdown run. The T-Birds are 0-6 on the season and will take the field again on Wednesday when they play host to conference rival Scobey.

HLP 0 0 8 0 — 8

Circle 8 24 22 8 — 62

C: L. Delp 43 run (Hurst run)

C: Kantrude 24 pass from B. Delp (L. Delp pass)

C: Fleming 4 run (B. Delp run)

C: Hurst 20 pass from B. Delp (L. Delp run)

C: B. Delp 1 run (L. Delp run)

C: Fleming 30 run (run failed)

C: Hurst 9 pass from B. Delp (Fleming run)

HLP: Tyson Shambo 5 run (Runs Above pass)

C: L. Delp 8 run (Hurst run

Plentywood 32, Harlem 16

In District 2B action last Friday, Harlem went on the road to Plentywood in search of their first win of the season. But in the battle of the Wildcats, it was Plentywood which came out on top, 32-16.

Plentywood got on the board first when R.J. Becker scored on a 10-yard touchdown run to get ahead 6-0. Then, Becker scored on a four-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give Plentywood a 12-0 lead.

Yet, Harlem answered with a 13-yard touchdown run by Deion Hammett and following a successful two-point conversion, the Wildcats trimmed the lead to 12-8, which ended up being the halftime score.

In the third, Plentywood scored again, this time when Dylan Murry caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Michels to push the lead to 20-8.

Leading by 12 in the fourth quarter, Plentywood scored again on a one-yard run by Michels to make it 26-8. Harlem would close the gap when Lucas Reed caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Hammett to pull within 10 at 26-16. But, Plentywood would score again and put the game on ice.

The Wildcats fell to 0-6 and are winless in conference play so far. They will host Choteau Friday night.

Harlem 0 8 0 8 - 16

Plentywood 6 6 8 12 - 32

P: RJ Becker 10 run (conversion failed)

P: Becker 4 run (conversion failed)

H: Deion Hammett 13 run (Tyus Hamett pass from Deion Hammet)

P: Dylan Murry 5 pass from Tyler Michels (RJ Becker run)

P: Tyler Michels 1 run (kick failed)

H: Lucas Reed 26 pass from Deion Hammet (Francis Taylor pass from Deion Hammet)

P: Isaiah Detienne 3 run (pass failed)