Not quite a dream come true

STANFORD — The Box Elder Bears made the trip to Stanford with the hopes of bringing home the Class C Six-Man state championship. Yet, in the end, it wasn't meant to be.

After an 11-1 start to the season and a memorable playoff run that will live on for some time in the history books of Box Elder athletics, the Bears' great run came to an end Saturday at the hands of Denton-Geyser-Stanford (13-0), which defeated Box Elder (11-2) 60-34 to capture the Six-Man state title.

"DGS is a really good football team," Box Elder co-head coach Neil Rosette Jr. said. "Hats off to them. They deserve all the credit. They played a great game. But I am still really proud of these boys. We still did something that no one ever thought we could do."

The Bears, who lost to the Bearcats 35-34 in the final regular season game on Oct. 24, were looking to avenge their loss to DGS and in the early going it appeared the two teams were headed for another close game.

The Bearcats opened the scoring when Kendall Carpenter caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Kade Woodhall, who is normally a running back, to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Yet, the Bears would respond and they did so with a big play as Brandon The Boy hit Shane Ketchum for a 57-yard touchdown and with 5:14 left in the first quarter, Box Elder led 8-6.

The Bears lead, which turned out to be their only one of the day, didn't last long as Kade Woodhall scored on a 12-yard touchdown run to put DGS back in front. Then, after a Box Elder punt, the Bearcats hit pay dirt again, this time on a two-yard run by Rhet Woodhall and suddenly, DGS held a 20-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

"I have to give a lot of credit to our offensive line," DGS head coach Scott Sparks said. "Last time we played Box Elder, we really struggled running the football. We did a much better job of controlling the line of scrimmage, and being able to run the ball was huge for us. If we couldn’t have run the ball, I don’t think we would have won.”

DGS added another score early in the second quarter, when Carpenter found Kade Woodhall for a five-yard touchdown, putting the Bearcats ahead 26-8.

Facing an 18-point deficit, the Bears battled back and got another big play from Ketchum to get back in the game, as the senior caught a short pass from The Boy and broke a number of tackles on his way to a 51-yard touchdown, which cut the DGS lead to 26-14.

"I broke a bunch of tackles," Ketchum said. "I just kept driving my legs and kept pushing until I got into the end zone. I wasn’t going to be stopped halfway."

But, as they seemed to all day, the Bearcats had the answer and on their ensuing offensive possession, they converted a fourth-and-goal from the 10-yard line when Carpenter connected with Connor Bokma for a touchdown to make the score 32-14 with just over two minutes until half.

Needing a drive and some life, The Boy and Ketchum came through once again. On a third-and-10 from the DGS 20, Ketchum hauled in a 20-yard touchdown from The Boy, tapping his toes in the back of the end zone to secure the six points, which made the score 32-20 at intermission.

"Shane had a lot of great games for us this year," Rosette Jr. said. "And we expected him to have another good one today and he did."

At the start of the third quarter, the Bears were hoping for a defensive stand and a chance to cut into the DGS lead even further. But that opportunity never came as Kade Woodhall broke off a 25-yard touchdown run to push the Bearcats' advantage to 40-20.

In the first half, DGS struggled to stop The Boy to Ketchum and in the third quarter, Box Elder flipped the script to perfection. On a first-and-20, the Bears ran a trick play that saw The Boy run a route as a receiver and Ketchum, who took the snap, found him for a 41-yard scoring strike that trimmed the deficit to 40-28 with 4:32 left in the third.

Unfortunately, the Bears wouldn't score again until there was 20 seconds left in the game and, in the meantime, Box Elder simply couldn't stop the Woodhall brothers, Kade and Rhet.

Kade Woodhall scored a 31-yard rushing touchdown with 6:37 left in the fourth quarter to put DGS back up 20 and then after an interception by Rhet Woodhall, Kade scored again, this time on a 24-yard touchdown, which came on a fourth-and-four. The score extended the DGS lead to 54-28 and with just over two minutes remaining, Rhet scored from one-yard out to put an exclamation point on the Bearcats undefeated season.

"That's a very good football team that we beat today," Sparks said. "But we came together and this shows what happens when you are unselfish and put the team first."

Bodis Duran found the end zone late in the game for the Bears to make the final score 60-34. But it was too little too late for a Box Elder team that made history, regardless of the outcome.

"This is the greatest team in the history of Box Elder football," Rosette Jr. said. "There is no question about that."

The Boy threw for nearly 200 yards in the win and also tossed three touchdown passes. He was also intercepted once. Ketchum caught eight passes for 157 yards and accounted for four total touchdowns, three receiving and one throwing.

Kade Woodhall had a total of five touchdowns, three rushing and two receiving, as well as 207 total yards in the win for DGS, while Rhet Woodhall added 155 yards and three touchdowns. Carpenter also threw for 187 yards and three touchdowns in the win with one going to Bokma.

Even with the loss, the Bears finished as the Six-Man runner-up for the first time in school history and posted a record of 11-2 that included three playoff victories after the school had not even qualified for the playoffs in decades.

"We came out there and we left it all out on the field," Rosette Jr. said. "They are a tough group. They work hard for each other and even when they were walking off the field they were still saying, ‘I love you, man’ to each other. It was a journey. We are glad we got to this point and it was still a heck of a season."

"The first thing that pops into my mind is a legendary season," The Boy said. "I was glad I was the quarterback of this team for four years. Nobody thought we would finish second. The Great

Falls Tribune picked us to finish fourth in the North Division. So we proved a lot of people wrong, and I am proud of the way that we finished. We are still champions in my mind."

DGS 60, Box Elder 34

BOX ELDER 8 12 8 6 – 34

DGS 20 12 8 20 – 60

DGS: Kendall Carpenter 23 yard pass from Kade Woodhall (pass failed)

BE: Shane Ketchum 57 yard pass from Brandon The Boy (Bodis Duran kick)

DGS: K. Woodhall 11 yard run (kick failed)

DGS: Rhet Woodhall 1 yard run (Tyler Lee kick)

DGS: K. Woodhall 5 yard pass from Carpenter (kick failed)

BE: Ketchum 59 yard pass from The Boy (kick failed)

DGS: Conner Bokma 10 yard pass from Carpenter (kick failed)

BE: Ketchum 20 yard pass from The Boy (kick failed)

DGS: R. Woodhall 56 yard run (Lee kick)

BE: Ketchum 4 yard pass from The Boy (Duran kick)

DGS: K. Woodhall 30 yard run (Lee kick)

DGS: K. Woodhall 24 yard pass from Carpenter (pass failed)

DGS: R. Woodhall 1 yard run (kick failed)

BE: Duran 2 yard run (kick failed).