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| Volume XVIII, Number 11 | Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2002 | |
Sports at a Glance - All stories by Jean Schurman Football Cross Country Golf Soccer Football Victor tops West Yellowstone The Victor Pirates knew they would have their hands full Saturday when the West Yellowstone Wolverines came to town. The Wolverines have challenged all of the teams they have played this year and Saturday's game was no different. The Pirate defense was outstanding in the first half, limiting West Yellowstone to only 36 yards. After a scoreless first quarter, Victor's offense came alive in the second quarter when senior quarterback Cory Cromwell called a keeper and crossed the goal line for a touchdown. "It's fun to run," said the 6'5" quarterback. "We were ready for them but they were tough." Coach John Schaefer told the team "when we don't make mistakes, we're as good as anyone" after their first touchdown. After holding West Yellowstone scoreless and sacking their quarterback Aubrey Smith twice, the Pirates scored again when Robert Fowler caught a 20-yard pass from Cromwell for the score. After the two-point conversion by Brian Wemple, Victor went into the half with a 16-0 lead. Smith was sacked six times in the game. West Yellowstone made some adjustments at the half and came back and scored three and half minutes into the third quarter. Smith called his own number and dodged Pirates for 10 yards for the touchdown. Victor went back to their go-to running back, Brandon Lane, who plunged two yards for another touchdown. "With McKinley and JP (JohnPaul Kastner) blocking for me, it made it easier to run," said Lane. West Yellowstone again got on the board when Keith Johnson scored a touchdown from a yard out. With the two-point conversion, the Wolverines were closing the gap. Lane again got the nod for the Pirates and raced 30 yards for another touchdown a minute into the fourth quarter. Lane finished the day with 187 yards rushing. But West Yellowstone wouldn't quit and came back to score once more. The Pirates settled back down to play tough defense and held the Wolverines at bay, defeating them 38-20. "They deserved the win," said Schaefer. "Brandon (Lane), Ryan McKinley, they all worked really hard and played hard." Victor will host Sheridan for Homecoming this Saturday at 1 p.m. Victor and Sheridan are currently at the top of the Western C South division with records of 3-0 in conference play and 4-2 in overall play. In other football action, Florence defeated Deer Lodge, 33-6, in 5B action. The Falcons' Clint Padgett scored from five yards out to put the first score on the board in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Florence put 19 points on the board to give themselves a commanding lead. Riky Wallace lunged three yards for a touchdown, Doug Ward called his own number and stepped over the line from one yard out and Padgett broke loose for another touchdown of 55 yards. Ben Bessette scored the final Florence touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Wardens' only score was in the third quarter when Brett Lawson caught a 62-yard pass from Matt Freze. Florence is currently tied with Loyola for third place in the 5B conference. The Falcons have a record of 2-1 in conference play and 3-3 overall. Anaconda defeated Stevensville in Anaconda on Friday night. The Yellowjackets relied upon back-up quarterback Cory Davis to muster the team. Tyson Johnson was still out with an injury he sustained against Hamilton. Stevensville got on the board first when Davis hit Carson Curley from 11 yards out for the six points. The two-point conversion failed. Anaconda came back to score twice in the third quarter, both the result of blocked punts. The No. 3-ranked Dillon Beavers kept their undefeated record in place after defeating Hamilton 29-0. Hamilton could not untrack their offense, finishing with 149 total yards. Bryan Hansen completed s in the game. Corvallis fell to Butte Central, 35-0, in another Southwestern A conference game. At the south end of the valley, Darby was run over by the Frenchtown Broncs, 55-0. The Broncs are ranked No. 3 in the state power poll. Cross Country Allred wins again Athlene Allred of Corvallis added another gold medal to her collection Saturday when she took first place at the Hamilton Invitational cross country meet. The quiet Corvallis senior crossed the finish line three seconds faster than second place Kaci Calaway of Bigfork. Her time was 18:35 while Calaway's was 18:38. The two have been dueling all fall and have great respect for each other. "She always keeps me on edge," said Allred of Calaway. "We talk to one another the last mile and that helps." Calaway placed ahead of Allred last week in Missoula at the prestigious Mountain West Classic. Allred was ninth in a field of 213 which saw Zoe Nelson of Kalispell set a national record for the year. Allred was pleased with that finish, saying "it was a tough field." She won the Corvallis, Frenchtown and Ronan meets this fall. The Western A divisional meet will be held Friday in Whitefish. Allred says she is ready for the task and feels good about the race. "I"m doing so much better," she said with a small smile. Others out for the top spot include Polson's Kasey Harwood and Lauren Dalton of Bigfork. Hamilton's Jordan Gurgiolo finished twelfth with a time of 20:35. Darby's Tiffany Abrahamsen finished in 27th place and Katie DeWalt was 28th. Bigfork took the team scoring with 27 points followed by Polson (64), Salmon, Idaho (102), Plains (121), Thompson Falls (157), Libby (173), Frenchtown (201), Hamilton (230), Arlee (231) and Corvallis (309). Polson's Fritz Friez won the boys with a blistering time of 15:20. Jason Sperry of Darby was the first Bitterrooter to cross the finish line. He had a time of 16:59 which was good enough for 11th place. Other runners from the valley who finished in the top 30 were 18. C. Theisen, Dar, 17:21; 19. C. Fehr, Cor, 17:25; 20. J. Stone, Ham, 17:34; and 27. M. Abrahamsen, Dar, 17:54. Team scores for the boys were Polson 57, Plains 68, Frenchtown 105, Whitefish 129, Thompson Falls 179, Corvallis 187, Darby 193, Bigfork 199, Hamilton 223, Arlee 231, Ronan 239, Salmon (Idaho) 347. Golf Although they don't have a girls team, the Stevensville Yellowjackets will send the top golfer and number four golfer to state this week in Shelby. Margaux Alvarez shot an 83 to top the Western A Divisional. Hamilton's Haley Goosey placed second with a score of 94 and Allie Bethel of Stevensville finished fourth with a score of 96. The top four golfers advance to state. On the boys side, Scrapper Siphers of Stevensville finished in third place with a score of 77. Soccer update Hamilton still on top The Hamilton girls defeated Whitefish at Whitefish's homecoming to remain atop the Western A conference in soccer. Hamilton and Whitefish battled back and forth, holding each other scoreless in a very physical game until Hamilton's Elena Boer scored in the 49th minute of the game. Keeper Ashlee Eckhardt of Hamilton had 114 saves for the Broncs. With the win, Hamilton is in first place with a record of 5-1-3 and 18 points. Their overall record is 6-2-3. Columbia Falls is second with a conference record of 5-1-2 and 17 points. Corvallis and Hamilton battled to an 0-0 tie on Thursday. Corvallis coach Michele Zentz was very pleased with her team's efforts. "I think we totally out played them. We were getting offensive chances but just didn't convert and defensively we were the first to the ball." The momentum carried Corvallis through to Saturday when they made the long trip to Libby. Keisha Sprenkel scored twice to power the Blue Devils over Libby, 2-0. Corvallis is currently in third place behind Hamilton and Columbia Falls. The Blue Devils, who have a 4-1-4 record, will face Columbia Falls on Saturday in the season finale. If Corvallis defeats Columbia Falls and Whitefish does too, the Blue Devils will finish in second place and host a play-off game. The Hamilton boys rolled over Corvallis Thursday night, 6-0. Kyle Melton had two goals and an assist. Melton is currently the Western A scoring leader. Also scoring for Hamilton were Daniel Saberbine, Kyle Pasichnyck, Cole Lakes and Robert Hill. Hamilton lost to Whitefish, 3-0, on Saturday. The physical play of both teams netted 31 fouls, five yellow cards and one red card. Hamilton is currently in second place behind Whitefish. Stevensville earns berth Stevensville defeated Belgrade, 5-3, to earn a berth in the divisional playoffs. Athena Bradshaw scored a hat-trick with three goals. The freshman also had an assist in the game. Julie Kleese scored the other two goals in the great offensive effort. Tandi Kazek had six saves for the game. Stevensville lost to Livingston, 2-0, in their second game of the day. The Yellowjackets have a record of 4-4-1 and 13 points in conference play. They are 4-6-1 overall. Polson leads the Eastern A conference, followed by Livingston, Stevensville and Billings Central. The Stevensville boys tied Livingston at 2-all Saturday. Jacob Miller scored his 15th goal of the season to open the scoring for the Yellowjackets. Roarke Baldwin tied the game in the 28th minute for Stevensville. Stevensville must defeat Polson and hope that Livingston is defeated in order to make it to the play-offs. Saturday will be Senior Day for the soccer teams. Introduction of senior boys will begin at 11:45. There are three seniors with one playing all four years. Senior girls will be introduced before their game at 2 p.m. There are seven senior girls, three of whom have played together in high school all four years. |