BUTTE — No. 3-ranked Bozeman High pulled away Friday night to win a rivalry that had been dormant for four years.
The Hawks reeled off 24 unanswered points to defeat No. 4 Butte 39-15 at Naranche Stadium in a rekindling of a matchup that was last played in the 2019 Class AA state championship game. But it was a back-and-forth game early on.
Butte capitalized on a Bozeman fumble in the first quarter when quarterback Bo Demarais hit Karson McEwan for a 78-yard catch and touchdown. A two-point conversion put the Bulldogs up 8-0, which is how things stood at the end of the first.
Bozeman made up for the early miscue and tied the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by Austin Baller followed by a two-point conversion of its own, knotting the game at 8-8 with 7:52 left before halftime.
Later in the second, Butte’s Hudson Luedtke caught a short touchdown pass not long after making a circus catch to keep the drive alive on fourth and 8. That TD gave the Bulldogs a 15-8 advantage.
But that lead did not last, as Bozeman’s Cordell Holzer followed with a 21-yard TD catch just before halftime and the Hawks tied it again, 15-15.
Bozeman took its first lead in the third on a 31-yard field goal by Rocky Lencione, then ran off 21 more points unanswered to close the game.
Elsewhere in Class AA …
No. 1 Kalispell Glacier 49, Billings Senior 7
No. 2 Bozeman Gallatin 28, No. 5 Missoula Sentinel 13
Great Falls 42, Missoula Hellgate 0
Great Falls CMR 36, Missoula Big Sky 21
Helena 21, Billings West 14
Helena Capital 35, Billings Skyview 10 (Thursday)
Kalispell Flathead 17, Belgrade 14
