Longhorns, Pioneers look to advance in postseason

Postseason football chugs along in Montana and the Hi-Line is still represented in the playoffs. Both Fort Benton and Big Sandy won their opening games of the postseason last weekend and will look to win this weekend to advance to the semifinals. However, the road only gets harder from here.

The Longhorns will host St. Ignatius in the 8-Man quarterfinals Saturday afternoon.. The Longhorns have had a stellar season so far with a 7-1 record and a 42-22 win over Plentywood to begin the 8-Man football playoffs last weekend.

The explosive Fort Benton offense is led by the running game. Colter Ball, Andrew Ballyntine and Landis Arganbright all scored on the ground last week against Plentywood and will look to do it again against the Bulldogs.

As the Northern C's No. 1 seed in the bracket, the Longhorns will play Western No. 3 seed St. Ignatius. The Bulldogs have a 7-2 record this season and are riding a five-game winning streak into this weekend. The Bulldogs opened the postseason with a 34-12 win on the road at Joilet last weekend.

During the course of their winning streak, the Bulldogs have averaged 56 points a game. The St. Ignatius offense has many playmakers including quarterback Kellen McClure, wide receiver Bryce Umphrey and slot back Charley Adams Jr. The St. Ignatius defense led by defensive back Umphrey and outside linebacker Canyon Sargent has only allowed 6.4 points a game during the winning streak.

The Big Sandy Pioneers will try to win their second postseason game on the road in Stanford as they face Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Grass-Range-Winnett this Saturday afternoon. Big Sandy has a 7-3 record this season and are coming off a 52-40 win over Valley Christian in Missoula last weekend to open the Six-Man football playoffs.

After an 0-2 start to the season, the Pioneers have won seven of their last eight games. During that stretch, the Big Sandy offense led by quarterback Braydon Cline and running back Kody Strutz has averaged 43.5 points a game.

The DGS-GRW Wildcats enter this game as the Central No. 1 seed with their 8-2 record. In their postseason opener last weekend, the Wildcats pulled out a 26-24 victory over Broadview-Lavina.

The Longhorns will face St. Ignatius at home this Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The Pioneers will head to Stanford as they try to upset DGS-GRW Saturday at 1 p.m.