BOZEMAN — Carter Dahlke scored the tiebreaking touchdown in the second overtime and then made the game-ending stop as Bozeman Gallatin survived a wild 35-27 victory over Bozeman Friday night at Van Winkle Stadium.
It’s the Raptors’ first win over the Hawks in school history.
Bozeman, the defending Class AA state champion, had won all five previous meetings between the two schools. The No. 2 Raptors (5-0), who had reached the semifinals in each of the past two seasons, saw a two-score lead on their rivals disappear in the fourth quarter but sent the Hawks (3-2) to their second straight loss.
Dahlke finished with three touchdowns, and his brother Reese added two more.
Carter Dahlke caught four passes for 192 yards and rushed 12 times for another 108 yards. Reese Dahlke gained 142 yards on 14 carries, and quarterback Grant Vigen finished with 278 passing yards.
Bozeman quarterback Kash Embry ran for 204 yards and threw for 105.
The teams combined for 912 yards of total offense, with the Raptors gaining 548 yards and the Hawks 364.
Gallatin took a 14-0 lead when Vigen connected with Carter Dahlke on an 80-yard pass. That came after Reese Dahkle rambled 79 yards on Gallatin’s first play from scrimmage, putting the Raptors up 7-0.
But, like all game, the Hawks found ways to make things tough on the Raptors.
Just before the end of the first half, Brady Casagranda pulled the Hawks within 14-7 on a 5-yard run. Carter Dahkle added his second touchdown, an 8-yard run, on the Raptors’ first drive of the second half to push the lead back to two touchdowns.
The Hawks responded again, first on a 1-yard plunge by Embry. On the next series, Bozeman’s Reese Sutherland recovered a Gallatin backward pass in the end zone, and the score was knotted 21-21 with 6:34 to play.
Following another Gallatin turnover that set the Hawks up in Raptors territory, Bozeman missed a 25-yard field goal with 27 seconds left. Gallatin’s Vigen was intercepted on a long pass at the goal line on the last play of regulation to send the game into overtime.
Both teams missed extra points in the first OT. Bozeman struck first on an Embry 3-yard run, before Gallatin came back on a Reese Dahlke score and the game went into a second OT tied at 27-27.
Getting the ball first in the second OT, Carter Dahkle scored from 6 yards out and Reese added the two-point conversion for the 35-27 lead in what turned out to be the winning score.
Elsewhere in Class AA …
No. 1 Kalispell Glacier 63, Missoula Hellgate 8
No. 3 Billings West 47, Billings Skyview 7
No. 4 Great Falls 42, Billings Senior 20
No. 5 Helena Capital 40, Helena 21
Butte 41, Kalispell Flathead 10
Great Falls CMR 23, Belgrade 14
Missoula Big Sky 15, Missoula Sentinel 14
