Beeters take their shot at glory

At the start of the 2014 football season, more than three months ago, 141 high school teams in Montana had aspirations of playing for a state championship. Now, there are only 10 teams still playing and one of them is the Chinook Sugarbeeters.

The seventh-ranked Beeters (10-2), who knocked off second-ranked Fairview, Broadus and Victor in the first three rounds of the playoffs, will take on the undefeated (12-0) and top-ranked Wibaux Longhorns Saturday in Wibaux in the Class C 8-man state championship.

Win or lose, Saturday's championship game will be the culmination of an extraordinary season for the Beeters in which they have already won the Northern C conference championship with a well-earned 66-12 win over the second-ranked team in the state last Saturday in Chinook.

"It has been a really memorable season," Chinook head coach Scott Friede said. "We have a lot of fun. I told the kids from day one that it's about having fun, and I think they have continued to have fun throughout the season. We know Wibaux is a difficult opponent, but we are just going to do what we have done each and every week. We are going to prepare as hard as we can and play as hard as we can and let the chips fall where they may."

While the Beeters are looking to cap off a Cinderella run to the state title, Wibaux is looking to take care of some unfinished business. The Longhorns are a dominant 8-man program but have not won the state championship since 2001 and have lost the last six championship games they have appeared in, including a 74-6 beat down at the hands of the Beeters at Hoon Field in Chinook in 2010.

But even though Wibaux has struggled in title games recently, the Longhorns are still heavily favored to beat Chinook, and if the Beeters are going to overcome the odds and hoist the championship trophy Saturday, they will need to solve the puzzle that is the Longhorn defense.

In 12 games, Wibaux has surrendered an average of just nine points per game, which is astounding in the wide-open game of 8-man football. But, even more impressively, the Longhorns have allowed just one team to score double digits all season and that was just last week when defending state champion Ennis managed to put up 20 points in its semifinal loss at the hands of the Longhorns.

When the Beeters do have the football, they will rely on their bread-and-butter, which is running the football with Gavin Gunderson and the play action passing game headed by quarterback Ian McIntosh.

Gunderson has been the bell cow for the Beeters and has continued his dominance in the playoffs, running over opponents and helping Chinook average more than 52 points per game in its three postseason victories. Yet, as the season progressed, McIntosh, who is a just a junior has become more of a focal point for the Chinook offense, and has helped the Beeters' passing game become nearly as potent as the ground game.

"I think there are a multitude of things that our offense can do," Friede said. "With Ian's confidence, the way it has grown over the season, it makes our offense very tough to deal with at this time of year."

When the Beeters do air it out, McIntosh will look to get the football to his two favorite targets Lane Seymour and Kenneth Pruttis, who have made big play after big play in the postseason. But, according to Friede, the biggest key to knocking off Wibaux will be matching their physical style of play and establishing the run. And a key development in that area for Chinook has been the play of the offensive line, which is made up of Travis Hamilton, Gage Haugen, Zack Schellin and Jesse Dannels.

"When we get the ball, we need to do nice job of running the ball and controlling the clock," Friede said. "We also have some talent at quarterback and at receiver and our line has really improved, so it looks to be a great matchup and a great football game."

Like Chinook, Wibaux will rely heavily on its ground game to move the football. But, despite the Longhorn's preference for running, when they throw the ball, they are highly efficient. Noah Schneider and Jase Dschaak alternate at quarterback for Wibaux and have combined to throw 31 touchdown passes compared to just four interceptions.

Even though they can throw the football, the Longhorn's strength is still on the ground, especially with arguably the best running back tandem in 8-man football in Shawn Schaefferkoetter and Colton Tousignant. The two have combined to rush for more than 1,300 yards this season as well as 36 total touchdowns. The Longhorns have a total of seven players with more than 200 yards rushing on the season and that is the big reason why Wibaux averages nearly 400 yards and 65 points per game on offense.

"Wibaux has good size at all positions, they have good quickness and they are a physical team just like us," Freide said. "They are a team that we would be used to playing against, so I think it's a good matchup in that regard. They have a couple running backs and some good blockers and they are very good at rushing the football."

The Beeters' defense has been playing some of its best football of late and in their three playoff victories, the Beeters are giving up just a little more than 18 points per game. Defensively, Gunderson and Seymour are key players as are Jake Norby, Dannels, Derek Bell and Kevin Young.

"We will need to try to stack up some tackles for loss against them and force them to do some things they aren't really comfortable doing," Friede said. "We will need to force them into some turnovers and get them into some long down and distance situations, so we can get them out of their comfort zone."

On paper, the Beeters may appear to be out-matched against a bigger, stronger Wibaux team, but all season long Chinook has proved people wrong and will look to do so one more time on Saturday. If they can, then the Beeters will walk off the field as 8-man state champions for the second time in five years.

"We are not going to go down without a fight," Friede said. "We are going to look to start out the game, playing as hard as ever and we are not going to let up and whatever happens, happens."

The Beeters and Longhorns will meet for the 2014 Class C 8-man state championship Saturday. Kickoff in Wibaux is set for 1 p.m.

Class C Championship

No. 7 Chinook (10-2) at No. 1 Wibaux (12-0)

Saturday at 1 p.m.

in Wibaux

Radio: 101.3 KRYK FM

Full Coverage in Monday's HDN