The 6-Man football state championship will feature some new blood.
Froid-Medicine Lake and White Sulphur Springs won semifinal games on Saturday to advance to next week's championship, the first appearance for either program in the 6-Man title game.
Froid-Medicine Lake 42, Big Sandy 26
MEDICINE LAKE -- Mason Dethman had a hand in five touchdowns to help Froid-Medicine Lake to a 42-26 win over Big Sandy in the 6-Man football state semifinal round on Saturday.
The Pioneers got on the board first on the legs of star running back Kade Strutz, who found the end zone from 4 yards out to give Big Sandy a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.
Dethman, Froid-Medicine Lake's freshman quarterback, got loose in the second quarter, though, rushing for 11-, 34- and 27- yard touchdowns and finding Brett Stentoft for an 8-yard score through the air. Strutz added a 23-yard TD for Big Sandy in the frame, but Froid-Medicine Lake went into halftime with a 28-14 lead.
Strutz trimmed the Redhawks' lead to 28-20 in the third with a 39-yard touchdown run, and then got the Pioneers within 28-26 early in the fourth with a 1-yard scoring run.
But Froid-Medicine Lake finished the game off with touchdown runs from Dethman and Stentoft to secure the 40-26 win and program's first-ever 6-Man state championship appearance. Dethman finished the day with 147 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries. He added another 142 yards through the air on 13-of-19 passing. Stentoft had 37 yards and a TD on the ground as well as 47 yards and another touchdown through the air.
Strutz finished out the season with another outstanding performance: 240 yards and four touchdowns on 31 carries.
Froid-Medicine Lake will next host White Sulphur Springs in the 6-Man state championship after the Hornets cruised to a 54-13 win over Shields Valley on Saturday.
White Sulphur Springs 54, Shields Valley 13
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS -- Sam Davis threw five passing touchdowns to five different receivers as White Sulphur Springs shot past Shields Valley 54-13 in a 6-Man football state semifinal game on Saturday afternoon.
Davis was 10-of-13 passing for 130 yards and the five scores, while brother Andrew Davis tallied three touchdowns of his own, one from the throwing hand of his brother. Andrew Davis scored on 2- and 6-yard rushing touchdowns, while the receiving TD was an 8-yard reception.
Andrew Davis finished with 112 rushing yards and 27 receiving yards.
Alex Novark added 56 total yards, including 40 yards receiving. He hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Sam Davis, while also recording a team-high 14 tackles in the win.
Devon Novark caught a 34-yard touchdown pass, while Caden West and Tyson Hanson added 4-yard and 2-yard touchdown catches, respectively.
The unbeaten Hornets will travel nearly seven hours, 433.1 miles to be exact, to Medicine Lake for the 6-Man state championship game next weekend. Kickoff time between the Hornets and Redhawks has not yet been set, according to the Montana High School Association's official bracket.
