BIG SANDY — The Box Elder Bears topped Big Sandy 61-32 on Thursday night to remain undefeated in the 6-Man North.
With just 10 miles separating Big Sandy and Box Elder, the Pioneers and Bears are natural rivals. But Box Elder (7-0) had not beaten Big Sandy (3-4) on the field since 2015 — until Thursday’s win.
Tuarie Stiffarm-Rosette started the scoring in the first quarter. The senior quarterback avoided two tackles in the end zone and fired a 70 yard pass to Alex Fourcolors for a touchdown that put Box Elder up 8-0. The Bears would score again on their next possession but on the ensuing kickoff, Karter Jurenka returned it 75 yards to put Big Sandy on the board trailing 14-8.
The Bears would answer with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Stiffarm-Rosette to Dreyden Anderson to make it 20-8, then Tracen Jilot recorded a pick-6 to push the lead to 26-8. Andersen broke loose for a 43-yard reception with 3:44 left in the second quarter for a 32-8 lead.
Big Sandy would score before half on a 71-yard run from Jurenka to leave it 32-16 at halftime. The Pioneers would get as close as 40-32 in the third quarter before Box Elder pulled away to ice the game.
Due to Heart Butte canceling its season, Box Elder is off next week but has secured the No. 1 seed in the North when the 6-Man playoffs begin. Big Sandy closes the season next week with Chester-Joplin-Inverness.
