St. Ignatius 34, Joliet 12
JOLIET—St. Ignatius, the 8-Man West's No. 3-seed, made the more than 350-mile trip to Joliet and came out victorious on Saturday afternoon, handing the South's second-seeded J-Hawks a 34-12 defeat to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Bulldogs struck first on a 33-yard scoring run from Charley Adams, who burst around the right edge and accelerated through the hole past the defense. Junior quarterback Kellen McClure made it 14-0 on a 9-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Umphrey early in the second quarter.
Joliet answered on the back of its stud senior tailback Rye Brastrup, who carried multiple Bulldog defenders on a 27-yard run, setting up a 1-yard touchdown to pull the J-Hawks within 14-6. St. Ignatius, though, struck again through the air, as McClure found Canyon Sargent up the right sideline from 24 yards out to push the lead to 20-6.
Brastrup's second score of the game, a 20-yard reception on a screen pass, made it 20-12 before halftime, but St. Ignatius controlled the final 24 minutes.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a methodical scoring drive punctuated by a 4-yard run by Adams to push the lead to 28-12. McClure's third touchdown pass of the game was his second to Sargent, a 32-yard strike to put St. Ignatius up 34-12, as the defense shut the J-Hawks down the remainder of the half to seal a berth in the quarterfinals.
St. Ignatius will play Fort Benton, the North's top seed, next weekend after the Longhorns beat Plentywood 42-22 in the opening round on Saturday.
Fort Benton 42, Plentywood 22
FORT BENTON—Fort Benton came into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams, getting revenge on Simms the last week of the regular season, beating the only team who has beaten them this year, and they made another statement against Plentywood.
At one point, the Longhorns held a 35-14 lead and played a complete game of dominance. Colter Ball had three touchdowns on the day including a pick six.
Fort Benton will host St. Ignatius next week.
Scobey 60, Simms 24
SIMMS—With constant scoring in the first half and no punts from either team, this game looked like it come down to the wire in a shootout as (3E) Scobey narrowly led (2N) Simms 24-30 at half.
However, something clicked in the defense for the Scobey Spartans held the Tigers scoreless in the second half as they went on to route Simms.
Scobey advances to play (1S) Park City on the road next week.
8-Man first-round scores:
Belt 36, Culbertson 15
Drummond-Philipsburg 58, Sheridan 7
Fairview 34, Chinook 25
Park City 60, Alberton-Superior 40
St. Ignatius 34, Joliet 12
Thompson Falls 55, Circle 6
