Three No. 1 seeds are through to the quarterfinal round of the 6-Man football state playoffs.
White Sulphur Springs, Big Sandy and Shields Valley each got first-round wins early Friday to punch their tickets to next week's quarterfinal round. Harlowton-Ryegate defeated Noxon 38-14 in a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday, and there are four more first-round games on Saturday.
White Sulphur Springs 78, Sunburst 21
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS -- Sam Davis passed for seven touchdowns as the No. 1-seeded White Sulphur Springs football team rolled past Sunburst 78-21 in the first round of the 6-Man football state playoffs on Friday.
The Hornets and Sunburst, the No. 3 seed out of the North, traded scores in the early going, but WSS caught a spark late in the first quarter and blew the game open in the second. Sunburst held a 14-12 lead midway through the first, but White Sulphur Springs scored 46 unanswered points to close out the half and take a 58-14 lead into the break.
The Hornets outscored the Refiners 30-7 in the second half to secure the win.
Davis completed 11 of `15 pass attempts for 334 yards and the seven TDs. Three of those scores went to Caden West, who finished with 145 yards on four catches. Shaw Davis added two rushing scores and 117 total yards.
Stanley Jarvis led Sunburst with 110 total yards and a touchdown on offense to go along with a kick-return TD.
White Sulphur Springs will host Savage in a quarterfinal game next weekend.
Big Sandy 57, Wibaux 6
BIG SANDY -- Kade Strutz had six rushing touchdowns and Big Sandy drubbed Wibaux 57-6 in the first round of the 6-Man football state playoffs Friday.
The Pioneers, the No. 1 seed out of the North and one of the state-title favorites, found the end zone just once in the first quarter on a 29-yard run from Strutz, but they put 26 points on the scoreboard in the second to take control. Strutz had three TDs in the second quarter, while Braydon Cline added the fourth on a 27-yard pass from Kody Strutz. Big Sandy led 32-0 at halftime.
Kade Strutz added two third-quarter touchdowns, and Kody Strutz was in on two more scores in the fourth quarter -- a 34-yard pass to Lance Rutledge and a 9-yard reception from Cline.
Kade Strutz finished the game with 279 rushing yards on 25 carries. Kody Strutz was 3-of-4 passing for 77 yards, and Cline was 4-of-5 passing for 84.
Wibaux, the No. 4 seed out of the East, managed only 135 yards of offense in the game. Colten Miske found Jonathan Harris for a 50-yard touchdown in the third quarter for the Longhorns' only points.
Big Sandy will host Bridger in a quarterfinal game next weekend.
Shields Valley 27, Richey-Lambert 16
WILSALL -- Kaden Acosta threw four touchdown passes -- two each to Dylan Flatt and Aidan Jenkins -- to help Shields Valley to a 27-16 win over visiting Richey-Lambert in the first round of the 6-Man football playoffs on Saturday.
Acosta threw three first-half touchdowns as the Rebels, the No. 1 seed out of the South, built a 21-0 halftime advantage. Acosta's first TD pass was a 5 yarder to Flatt in the first quarter, and his second was an 11-yard toss to Flatt in the second quarter. Jenkins took a pass 71 yards for a touchdown just before halftime.
Richey-Lambert had its chances in the first half but couldn't capitalize. The Fusion's opening drive ended in a fumble and their next possession an interception. Richey-Lambert was also stopped inside the 1-yard line on fourth down just two plays before Jenkins' long score.
"I think the goal-line stand was huge. We kind of talked all week that on defense our plan was we're just not letting up the big play," Shields Valley head coach Mitch Ward said. "If they want to kind of just move the ball, move the ball, we're going to be OK with it because we felt like when we got up against the goal line our defense was going to stand out. We did that time and time again (Friday) and I think that was huge for us."
Flatt, who is also a standout linebacker for the Rebels, left the game in the second quarter with an injury. He didn't return after halftime, and Richey-Lambert threatened to come back. The Fusion got on the board with a 6-yard run from Blaine Frisbie in the third quarter and were driving to end the period. The Shields Valley defense again stood tall, though, and kept Richey-Lambert from making it a one-score game.
Jenkins, who recently committed to play college football at Montana Western, scored on a 72-yard pass late in the fourth to push the Rebels' lead back to 27-8. Grady Gonsioroski tacked on a late Richey-Lambert touchdown to make the final 27-16 margin.
Shields Valley will host Power-Dutton-Brady in a quarterfinal game next weekend.
Harlowton-Ryegate 38, Noxon 14
HARLOWTON -- Colter Woldstad threw four touchdown passes, and Harlowton-Ryegate won its first playoff game since 2003, defeating Noxon 38-14 in the first round of the 6-Man football playoffs on Friday.
Woldstad hooked up with Johnny Mysse for a 13-yard score in the first quarter and then added two TD passes to Ryan Fenley in the second -- one from 27 yards out and the other from 40 yards. That gave Harlowton-Ryegate, the No. 1 seed from the newly former Central Division, a 20-0 advantage going into halftime.
Woldstad found Mysse for a 20-yard scoring connection in the third to push the lead to 26-0, but Noxon finally found some life. Josh Baldwin took a carry 39 yards to the end zone to put the Red Devils on the board. Noxon kept the Engineers' offense at bay the rest of the quarter, but Harlowton-Ryegate's defense got in the act. Cole Blatter recovered a fumble and returned it for six just before the third quarter ended.
Baldwin added another Noxon touchdown early in the fourth, but the Red Devils couldn't get anything else going. Harlowton-Ryegate's Jason Todhunter finished the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown as time expired.
The Engineers will next play Froid-Medicine Lake in next week's quarterfinals.
6-Man football scores
Big Sandy 57, Wibaux 6
Shields Valley 27, Richey Lambert 16
White Sulphur Springs 78, Sunburst 21
Harlowton-Ryegate 38, Noxon 14
Broadview-Lavina at Froid-Medicine Lake, 1 p.m. Saturday
Bridger at Hot Springs, 1 p.m. Saturday
Denton-Geyser-Stanford at Power-Dutton-Brady, 1 p.m. Saturday
Hobson-Moore-Judith Gap at Savage, 1 p.m. Saturday
