KALISPELL — On Friday night, Butte senior running back Christian Vetter had an absolutely dominant performance on the ground, willing the Bulldogs to their second win in a row as they look to heat up down the stretch of the regular season.
“All I can really say about the offense is that the O-line really drilled some holes (Friday)," Vetter said after the Bulldogs' win at Kalispell Flathead. "They created some huge gaps and being able to break some tackles helps for really big breakaways. Me and my brother both got with each other, just showing the energy that you can break tackles and get huge breakaway plays from the O-line just starting off with making holes.”
But it wasn’t just the offensive line during Friday night’s game against Kalispell Flathead.
Vetter had lanes all night, but he made some nice cuts en route to his team's 42-13 win over the Braves.
“After that first big win against (Helena) Capital, we are really keeping the energy going," said Vetter."Really getting pumped up in the locker room and at practice, we have tons of energy now, way more than we did at the beginning of the season. We are keeping up on that and keeping the momentum rolling, which is going to be huge against (Missoula) Big Sky after a win streak like this that we are going to keep.”
By the time the clock hit double zeros at Legends Stadium, Vetter had accumulated 19 carries for 161 yards and one touchdown.
While the senior is having a great 2020 campaign, it hasn’t been an easy road after a torn ACL kept him sidelined his entire junior season.
“That was a bummer, after every single game I hated it," said Vetter. "So this summer has really been a grind for me. I’ve had to work hard to catch up with everyone else with keeping my knee back in shape, but I feel like I’ve made up for it. I’ve been working super hard and after a game like this, after missing a season like that, it makes me feel stellar. It feels good to be able to run like that again without feeling like I’m hesitating on my knee at all.”
The Bulldogs have a number of solid running options with Christian’s brother Gavin, who finished the night with 91 yards.
While head coach Arie Grey expected Christian to have a big presence in the offense, he’s impressed with where he and the whole team are at after Week 5.
“I’m proud of where he is at right now, he kind of brings that extra dimension because he’s got a great burst, he’s got great speed," said Grey. "If he gets a little bit of a window he’s able to hit it and he did that all night (Friday). I’m proud of him and really proud of the offensive line, the job they did, and the receivers blocking downfield. I mean, really kind of a total offense block. We challenged them a couple of weeks ago, the receivers about blocking downfield, and they did a great job (Friday) and Christian ended up making them pay.”
Vetter and the Bulldogs (2-3) take on the Missoula Big Sky Eagles (1-4) in Butte next week.
