Undefeated top seeds Billings West and Missoula Sentinel took care of business in the quarterfinal round of the Class AA state football playoffs on Friday, recording lopsided wins over Helena Capital and Great Falls High, respectively.
Bozeman High, meanwhile, earned a hard-fought road win at Helena High to advance to next week's semifinal round.
Bozeman High 35, Helena High 28
HELENA -- Bozeman High built a two-score lead and then held off a Helena High rally for a 35-28 win over the Bengals in the quarterfinal round of the Class AA state football playoffs on Friday.
Bozeman quarterback Jordan Jones threw two touchdown passes -- one each to Logan Pailthorpe and Tucker Macbeth. Pailthorpe also added a kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Jess Wattenbarger and Kenneth Eiden IV added rushing touchdowns for the Hawks, who will travel to Billings West for a semifinal game next week.
Kaden Huot, who was returning from injury, had four touchdown passes in the loss.
Missoula Sentinel 42, Great Falls High 14
MISSOULA -- Missoula Sentinel faced an early 7-0 deficit in the Class AA state football quarterfinals on Friday, but the Spartans quickly responded and cruised to a 42-14 win over Great Falls High.
After Levi Torgerson put the Bison up on a 75-yard touchdown run, the Spartans scored 42 unanswered points. Donovan South and Soren Syvrud each had two touchdown runs in the win, and Zac Crews and Haiden Crews added touchdown catches from Dayton Bay and Camden Sirmon, respectively.
Sentinel, the Western AA's No. 1 seed, will host either Billings Senior or Kalispell Glacier in next week's semifinal round.
Billings West 49, Helena Capital 7
BILLINGS -- Taco Dowler had four touchdowns to help Billings West, the Eastern AA No. 1 seed, to a 49-7 win over Helena Capital in the quarterfinal round of the Class AA state football playoffs on Friday.
Dowler scored two first-quarter touchdowns and added two more in the third, including a 97-yarder on a pass from quarterback Isaiah Claunch. Claunch finished with seven touchdown passes in the game -- four to Taco Dowler, two to Neil Daily and one to Caden Dowler.
The Golden Bears will meet Bozeman in next week's semifinal round.
