FRENCHTOWN -- Frenchtown football coach Ryne Nelson expected another hard-fought game with Dillon on Friday, and the teams delivered again.
A year after losing a double-overtime thriller, Dillon got revenge on Friday, holding off Frenchtown for a 20-13 win to open the 2020 Class A football season.
"I don’t ever want to take for granted how hard it is to win a football game," said Dillon head coach Zach McRae. "Very proud of our guys for just going back to work. I'm assuming that Frenchtown obviously feels like they have some things to work on, too, we feel like we have some things to work on. But a really competitive, physical, athletic game. It’s what you’re going to get with Frenchtown. They are well-coached, they are very athletic, they are fun to play because they play physical, they play fast. Over the course of four quarters, we just trust our guys to make a few more plays than the other team, and this year we did that."
The Beavers struck first with Montana State commit Jace Fitzgerald hitting Cole Truman for a 24-yard touchdown. That put Dillon up 7-0 in the first quarter, but Frenchtown tied things up with a 1-yard scoring run from Peyton Hicks later in the period.
The 7-7 score would hold until halftime, but Dillon retook the lead in the opening seconds of the third quarter. Treyton Anderson returned the opening kickoff of the second half 90 yards for a touchdown to give the Beavers a 14-7 lead. Frenchtown answered again, though, with Wyatt Hayes finding Brandon Finley for a 2-yard touchdown pass. The point-after attempt failed, leaving the score 14-13 in favor of the Beavers.
Dillon's defense finished it off from there. Carson McGinley returned an interception 20 yards to push the lead to 20-13, and the Beavers held off a last-gasp effort from the Broncs to secure the win.
"Anytime you can beat a good opponent like Frenchtown, it’s special," said quarterback and defensive back Jace Fitzgerald. "Winning is hard, let alone on the road. It just felt good to get that revenge game, I guess, from last year."
Class A football scores
Columbia Falls 48, Polson 28
Corvallis 19, Stevensville 7
Dillon 20, Frenchtown 13
Libby 21, Whitefish 10
Ronan 42, Browning 0
