Hi-Line Football Roundup: Rivalry Renwed: Stars clip Bears

BOX ELDER - For the first time in 15 years, the Rocky Boy Stars and Box Elder Bears met on the football field Saturday in Box Elder and when it was over, it was clear that the battle had lived up to the hype.

In a back-and-forth affair that featured plenty of big plays on both sides of the ball, the Stars edged out the Bears 36-35. Chris Burns caught a 12-yard touchdown pass with around 30 seconds to go, getting Box Elder within one point. The Bears went for the win, instead of the tie and came up short.

"This has been a long time coming," Rocky Boy's Kordell Small said. "Winning this game feels so good. We worked really hard this summer and this just shows that hard work pays off."

Small, a senior, has played with the Stars for four seasons, but this is only the second season he has played varsity football and the win over the Bears, was the varsity win of his career.

"We always knew that we could compete," Small said. "It feels really good to get the win, it came down right to the end, but we found a way."

The victory was in large part due to Small, who had a hand in each of the Stars five touchdowns. He started the scoring with a 22-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and found the end zone again in the second to make it 14-7 Rocky Boy. Malique Rosette caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Jerel Anderson, trimming the lead 14-13. Later in the second quarter, Box Elder was driving for the lead, before Small intercepted a pass and returned in 65-yards for a score, giving the Stars a 20-13 halftime advantage.

In the third quarter, Small continued to make things happen, finding Frankie Bacon on 29-yard touchdown pass, before later scoring on a 32-yard run, making the score 36-21 in favor of the Stars.

However, the Bears didn't have any quit in them. Seth Duran found paydirt from nine yards out to get Box Elder with a touchdown at 36-29. That set the stage for Burns touchdown, which got the Bears within one, before the missed 2-point conversion decided the game.

Rocky Boy (1-0) will go for back-to-back wins against Hays-Lodge Pole next Saturday in Hays. The Thunderbirds forfeited this week's game to Centerville due to not having enough players with the required number of practices to play. Box Elder (0-1) will play at Cascade Friday.

Rocky Boy 6 14 16 0 – 36

Box Elder 0 15 8 12 – 35

RB-Kordell Small 22 run (run failed)

BE- Nacona Limberhand 7 run (N. Limberhand kick good)

RB - Small 17 run (Frankie Bacon run)

BE- Malique Rosette 68 pass from Jerel Anderson (run good)

RB - Small 65 Int return (run failed)

RB - Bacon 29 pass from Small (Bacon run)

BE - Limberhand 22 run (Limberhand run)

RB- Small 32 run (Small run)

BE - Seth Duran 9 run (kick failed)

BE - Chris Burns 12 pass from Anderson (pass failed)

Fort Benton 38, CJI 12

The Fort Benton Longhorns won their only game of the season in the final game of 2016 against Chester-Joplin-Inverness and Friday night, the Longhorns won the first game of this season 38-12.

The Hawks got an early touchdown from Spencer Richter, but the Longhorns closed out the first quarter with two scores of their own after Landon Taylor and Taylor Diekhans found the end zone making the score 12-6. Richter tied the game with another touchdown run, but after that, Fort Benton scored 26 unanswered points to notch the win.

Taylor managed a second touchdown run for the Longhorns, while Diekhans also added two more touchdowns, one on a 24-yard touchdown reception and another coming on a recovered fumble in the end zone. Fort Benton (1-0). The Longhorns will host Simms Saturday, while CJI (0-1) will host Chinook Friday night.

Fort Benton 12 6 0 20 – 38

Chester-Joplin-Inverness 6 6 0 0 – 12

CJI - Spencer Richter 5 run (pass failed)

FB - Landon Taylor 5 run (run failed)

FB - Taylor Diekhans 31 pass from Taylor (run failed)

CJI - Richter 1 run (pass failed)

FB - Diekhans 24 pass from Taylor (pass failed)

FB - Ethan Davis recovered blocked punt in end zone (Connor Schnabel run)

FB - Taylor 9 run (conv. Failed)

FB - Diekhans recovered fumble in end zone (run failed)

Big Sandy 28, Noxon 26

The Big Sandy Pioneers played host to Noxon Friday night in Six-Man action and thanks to a 14-point fourth quarter, Big Sandy wound up winning 28-26.

Kade Strutz scored twice in the first half to help the Pioneers take a 14-12 lead into halftime, but 14 points in the third from Noxon left Big Sandy trailing 26-14 with 12 minutes to go. Yet, a six-yard touchdown run from Tanner Allderdice, followed by a five-yard touchdown run from Strutz, his third of the game, was enough to complete the comeback. Big Sandy (1-0) will pay a visit for Roy-Winifred next Saturday.

Noxon 0 12 14 0 – 26

Big Sandy 8 6 0 14 – 28

Big Sandy-Kade Strutz 8 yard run, (Duke Darlington kick)

Noxon-Cody Cable 1 yard run, (pat failed)

Big Sandy-Kade Strutz 11 yard run, (pat failed)

Noxon-Levi Brubaker 55 yard int return, (pat failed)

Noxon-Nick Westman to Levi Brubaker 1 yard pass, (Cody Cable kick)

Noxon-Nick Westman to Rylan Weltz 12 yard pass, (pat failed)

Big Sandy-Tanner Allderdice 6 yard run, (Duke Darlington kick)

Big Sandy-Kade Strutz 5 yard run (pat failed)

Choteau 38, Chinook 0

If the success of the Choteau Bulldogs in their first game of 8-Man football is any indication, than they are going to have a pretty good season.

The Bulldogs, who were playing their first game Saturday at home against Chinook since moving down from 11-Man football to 8-Man football, dominated the Sugarbeeters 38-0. The Bulldogs scored eight in the first and 18 in the second to go up 26-0 at the half. Choteau added two more scores in the fourth to make the final 38-0. Chinook (0-1) will host CJI Friday night.