2017 Class B Playoffs (Semifinals)

The place for news, information and discussion of High School Sports.

Moderators: rtb, kmax, SonomaCat

Post Reply
User avatar
VimSince03
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 9442
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2014 5:43 pm

2017 Class B Playoffs (Semifinals)

Post by VimSince03 » Tue Nov 07, 2017 10:28 am

Playoff Bracket: http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/docu ... cket-B.pdf

Fairfield (#1 North) at Eureka (#1 West)

Fairfield Key Players - QB/S Ryder Meyer (Jr.), WR/DB Dawson Allen (Jr.), RB/LB Griffen Lee (Sr.), OL/DL Walker Heckman (Jr.), WR/DE Ethan Schenk (Sr.)

Eureka Key Players – QB/S Garrett Graves (Sr.), RB/LB Jake Kindel (So.), WR/DB Hank Dunn (So.), RB/DB Chet McCully (So.), WR/S Brenton Pluid (Sr.)

Eureka's first-team defense has yet to allow a point in the 2017 Class B Playoffs as Eureka dismantled Manhattan 36-0 last Saturday. In the first two games against Cut Bank and Manhattan, Eureka has outscored its opponent 76-6 (Cut Bank scored a touchdown in the 4th quarter of a first-round blowout). Once again, Eureka QB Garrett Graves was magnificent throwing for 230 yards on 15-25 passing for one touchdown while running for 77 yards and three more touchdowns. Graves also hauled in a pair of interceptions on defense. In total, Manhattan was held to 109 yards which was by far the Tigers lowest offensive output of the season. Manhattan turned the ball over five times on the day with Eureka safety Brenton Pluid matching Graves with two picks of his own. RB Chet McCully added 88 yards on the ground and Hank Dunn hauled in three catches for 72 yards and score for the Lions. Manhattan QB Jake Dyk did not have his best game as a Tiger while RB Tracer Stone (concussion) and WR Cal Holgate (turf toe) were limited with injuries. Regardless, it is going to take a very good effort by one of the three remaining teams to knock off the Lions.

The toughest of those teams is Farfield, Eureka's semifinal opponent. The Eagles withstood a late comeback from Huntley Project to defeat the visiting Red Devils 36-21 in quarterfinal action last Saturday. Fairfield took command early on building a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter with a touchdown pass from Ryder Meyer to Ethan Schenk and a Griffin Lee 1-yard run. WR Dawson Allen continued the scoring by taking a jet sweep 38 yards for a touchdown to give the Eagles a 22-0 lead in the 2nd quarter. Huntley QB Tylan Croy and Fairfield QB Ryder Meyer traded touchdown runs to make it 29-7 Fairfield at halftime. But the Red Devil defense stiffened in the second half as they held the Fairfield offense scoreless for the rest of the game. Croy hooked up with WR Keenan Reynolds for a 13-yard score to make it 29-13 after three quarters. MSU commit Lane Sumner opened the scoring in the 4th with a 50-yard scamper to suddenly make it a 29-21 game. Fairfield tried to ice the game with a Dawson Allen field goal from the Huntley 5-yard line but the sloppy conditions helped force the kick to go short/left so Huntley had a chance to drive 80 yards for a potential score and 2-point conversion. But Fairfield LB Kolbe Pitcher made the play of the game by picking off Croy on an out route and taking it 35 yards for the final touchdown of the game, sealing Fairfield a third consecutive trip to the State B Semifinals. On the day, Fairfield's defense forced six turnovers despite having problems with RB Lane Sumner and WR Keenan Reynolds almost every drive. The win gives Fairfield their 32nd win in 33 tries dating back to the start of the 2015 season which ended in a Fairfield championship. The Eagles fell to Loyola in last year's semifinal.

Many, including me, believe this is the true State B championship game. Fairfield beat both Shelby (13-10) and Loyola (34-10) during the regular season while Eureka took down Loyola (51-28) to essentially earn the #1 seed out of the West. Both teams have game-changing athletes as Eureka senior Garrett Graves and Fairfield junior Ryder Meyer are true dual-threat players at the quarterback and safety positions. Both teams play hard, disciplined football for four quarters so turnovers and field position will play a key role in this one. Because of the playmakers on both sides of the ball, this game could either be a shootout or a defensive struggle. This will also be the toughest team either team has faced all season. I would say the biggest advantage Eureka has in this game is their home field and QB Garrett Graves. I think Fairfield's biggest advantage is their offensive line and front seven on defense. Both teams have comparable athletes at the skill positions with a slight edge to Fairfield's but Eureka's RBs and WRs have made plays all season. Overall, this game should be one for the books.

Prediction: Eureka wins 34-30


Missoula Loyola (#2 West) at Shelby (#2 North)

Missoula Loyola Key Players – OL/DL Joe McElroy (Sr.), WR/DB David Koppang (Sr.), QB/LB Scott Twite (Sr.), WR/DB Cooper Waters (Jr.), OL/DL Braeden Beck (Sr.)

Shelby Key Players – QB/S Aaron White (Sr.), OL/DL TJ Reynolds (Sr.), RB/DB Zach Torgerson (Sr.), OL/DL Curtis Conant (Sr.), WR/LB Barrett Hansen (Sr.)

Missoula Loyola got another star performance from QB Scott Twite as the senior gunslinger threw three touchdowns en route to a 27-18 win over Colstrip. Junior RB Ryan Tirrell got the scoring started in the first quarter with a 1-yard plunge as the Rams held a 7-0 advantage going into the 2nd quarter. Colstrip RB Chadd Naillon got loose in the second period as he scored on runs of 99 and 5 to push the Colts in front, 12-7. Twite answered with consecutive touchdown passes to star WR's David Koppang and Cooper Waters to give Loyola a 21-12 halftime lead. Loyola struggled with Naillon all day as the senior RB took a hand-off 75 yards for his third touchdown of the game and got Colstrip to within 18-21 going into the 4th. But Twite would throw his final touchdown pass in the 4th quarter, a 25-yard pass to Waters, to seal the victory and guarantee Loyola another trip to the Class B semifinals. Dating back to 2011, the Rams have missed the Class B semifinals once (in 2014).

Loyola will be going on the road to Shelby, MT as the Coyotes got another game-winning kick from Wyatt Brusven in the final minute of a 16-13 victory. The 32-yard field goal came with 17 seconds left in the game after Shelby had come back from a 13-6 deficit heading into the 4th quarter. The frozen field played a key role early on as Shelby QB Aaron White fell hard to the turf in the 1st quarter and came off with what appeared to be a shoulder/elbow injury. Backup QB Damon Irvin had experience early on in the regular season as White went out with a knee injury in the 1st game of the year. However, he threw a pick immediately and Whitehall almost returned it for a touchdown as RB Sawyer Keener punched in the game's first touchdown two players later to put the Trojans up 7-0. Irvin later responded after Shelby's Kaden Leck recovered a Whitehall fumble to give the Coyotes the ball at the Trojan 9. Irvin then hit Wyatt Brusven for a 9-yard score but a failed PAT still put Whithall in front 7-6. Whitehall threatened to score before halftime but Brusven picked off a Max Feight pass in the endzone to make it a 7-6 game at the half. After some defensive stops, Whitehall QB Max Feight would score the second Trojan touchdown on a QB-sneak to make it 13-6 heading into the 4th quarter. QB Aaron White returned to the game in the 2nd half but the comeback started with a terrific goal-line stand by the Coyotes. Whitehall drove to Shelby's 3-yard line but failed to complete a 4th down pass to put the Trojan's up two scores. Going for it on 4th was not a bad call as Whitehall's defense had been very stingy all day and Shelby would have to go 97 yards to tie the game. I said last week that I wanted to see Aaron White play more football because of his ability to come through in the clutch at the QB position. He did just that leading a 97-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run from White. The next possession was looking good for Whitehall as they drove to midfield looking to retake the lead but Shelby DB Zach Torgerson intercepted Feight to give Shelby the ball back and a chance to set up Brusven's game-winning kick. Whitehall RB Sawyer Keener finished with 141 rushing yards on 26 carries for once touchdown while QB Max Feight threw for 150 yards and rushed for 42. But Feight's misfire on 4th and goal along with his two interceptions (one before half and one in the 4th) proved costly for the junior signal caller who had a spectacular season for Whitehall. The sloppy, cold conditions made it hard for both teams to get their powerful passing attacks going early on. Tough loss for the Trojans but a memorable win for the Shelby Coyotes and Mike White.

As I said, Aaron White was injured early in the season and ended up missing the Coyotes second game of the year against Missoula Loyola, a game they lost 9-0 in Missoula. RB/DB Zach Torgerson also missed that game for the Coyotes. This matchup pits two teams who are very efficient at throwing the football and can keep teams honest with an adequate running game. Both teams have stout offensive and defensive lines with swarming secondaries. The forecast for this Saturday in Shelby will be much better than it was down in Whitehall so the Coyotes should be better at throwing the football than last week. Missoula Loyola is playing very good football right now, especially on offense, as QB Scott Twite is finishing his senior season by putting together some excellent passing outings. Rams WR's David Koppang (Sr.) and Cooper Waters (Jr.) are two of the best receivers in the state and Twite does a good job of getting them the football in crucial moments. White has great chemistry with his receivers as well as Barrett Hansen (Sr.) and Wyatt Brusven (Jr.) are terrific for the Coyotes along with Zach Torgerson being the team's bell-cow back. in the first game, Shelby struggled to contain Twite as a runner and struggled to contain Loyola's ground attack as a whole. Shelby's offense also struggled to get anything going without White at QB. I would expect a very different game this Saturday in Shelby in comparison to the 9-0 Loyola victory back in September. Because he's proved me right the past two weeks, I'm gonna go with a game-winning field goal from Wyatt Brusven one more time in this one.

Prediction: Shelby wins 24-21
Last edited by VimSince03 on Thu Nov 09, 2017 9:21 am, edited 3 times in total.


"There's two times of year for me: Football season, and waiting for football season."

NwMontana
New Recruit
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 9:01 am

Re: 2017 Class B Playoffs (Semifinals)

Post by NwMontana » Wed Nov 08, 2017 3:42 pm

Fairfield @ Eureka (Sat. 1PM)
233 miles
Radio Broadcast: http://kzxt93.com
Video Broadcast: http://www.nfhsnetwork.com

Loyola @ Shelby (Sat. 1PM)
227 miles
Radio Broadcast: http://kgrzmissoula.com/
Video Broadcast: http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/shelb ... a213caaa49



ChiOCat
BobcatNation Hall of Famer
Posts: 3456
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 5:25 pm
Location: Down Under

Re: 2017 Class B Playoffs (Semifinals)

Post by ChiOCat » Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:41 am

Way to go Lions!!


"We are all vulnerable, and all fallible, with mortality our only certainty..." - Dr Kenneth Bock

Post Reply