by Scott Sacry
The Florence Falcon football team defeated the Jefferson Panthers 35-14 in the quarterfinals of the Class B state playoffs in Florence on Saturday, November 9.
The win was Florence’s 10th straight victory, and avenged their only loss on the season, which was a 14-21 loss to Jefferson in the first game of the year.
“We had a great plan coming into the game,” said Florence’s head coach Adam Goodnight. “We just had to give it time and the kids rose to the challenge. They played ticked off because of the previous loss and some other social media stuff. The kids felt disrespected and wanted to prove a point.” And prove a point they did with the 21-point victory.
As was the case last week, Florence got behind early, as Jefferson’s Luke Oxarart scored on a 36-yard TD reception to open the scoring. Florence responded as QB Mason Arlington hit WR Isaac Bates for a 10-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7.
Neither team scored in the second quarter, although the Falcons had the ball twice inside Jefferson’s 5-yard line without scoring. They failed to convert a 4th and goal in the 1st quarter, and late in the 2nd quarter they threw an interception on the 1-yard line.
So Florence easily could have had a 21-7 halftime lead. For their part, Jefferson had a handful of dropped passes, which, if caught, could have made a difference in the game.
Either way, at halftime it was seemingly anyone’s game to win. But as has been the case over the last four years, Florence found a higher gear and took control of the game.
Jefferson limited Florence’s running game (they only rushed for 66 yards) so the Falcons took to the air.
Led by Arlington, the Falcons took their first drive of the 2nd half down the field and scored on a 19-yard Arlington pass to Bridger Alexander. At the end of the 3rd quarter, Florence led 14-7.
Florence exploded in the final quarter, scoring three touchdowns, thanks in part to two fumble recoveries by Florence’s Bridger Alexander and Lee Blair.
Their first 4th-quarter TD came on a Jake Schneiter 7-yard run, then Bridger Alexander scored on a 4-yard run. Finally, Arlington hit Chase Wagner for a 9-yard TD to increase Florence lead to 35-7, effectively ending the game. Jefferson added a late, long TD reception to make the final score of 35-14.
Florence QB Mason Arlington continued to cement his place as one of the top quarterbacks in the state. The left-handed senior completed 22 of 29 passes and threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns.
Florence’s receivers were again outstanding. Drew Wagner had 6 catches for 128 yards, Bridger Alexander had 6 catches for 125 yards and a TD, and Brody Duchien had 5 receptions for 64 yards. Isaac Bates and Chase Wagner each caught TD passes.
“We have some of the best receivers in the state,” said Goodnight. “Some teams have one, maybe two guys, but we are six men deep at receiver. Also, I have to give a lot of credit to the offensive line; they have been getting better and better every week and were outstanding.”
On defense, Jake Schneiter, one of Class B’s leading tacklers, had 15 tackles, Drew Wagner had 11 tackles, Mattix Chase and Bridger Alexander each had 10 tackles, and Levi Winters and Mose Smith each had 9 tackles.
Florence to face Malta in semifinals
The three-time defending Class B State Champion Falcons have now won 14 straight playoff games. Florence advances to the Class B semifinals where they will travel nearly 400 miles to play undefeated and #2 ranked Malta on Saturday, Nov. 16.
“Malta is a great team and they are 11-0 for a reason,” said Florence head coach Adam Goodnight. “They will be a handful. Their QB is one of the better players in the state, they are balanced on offense, they can run and pass, and they have great skilled players, so it will be a big challenge for us. Nick is a tremendous coach and he has his team playing at a high level.”
Malta is the top seed out of the North and are 11-0 after defeating Three Forks 59-36 in the quarterfinals. Although Malta’s conference may not be as strong as some, the Mustangs have non-conference wins over Red Lodge (who is in the other semifinal), Jefferson and Missoula Loyola.
Goodnight is excited for the challenge. “They have a balanced offense so we need to pay them straight up and play assignment football on defense,” said Goodnight. “On offense, we also need to be balanced. We didn’t run the ball great against Jefferson, so we need to do better this week, but we have a strong passing game and we’ll lean on that. Our offensive line has been improving every week and we have some of the best receivers in the state. So mostly we just have to let our playmakers make plays. This time of the year there are no easy games, so we’ll have to coach our butts off and the players will have to play their butts off in order to be successful.”
Florence plays in Malta on Saturday, November 16 at 1 p.m. In the other semifinal game, Red Lodge hosts Manhattan on Saturday.