It had all the trappings of a great football match up. Both teams came into Saturday night’s playoff game with statistics on their side. The Bitterroot Blaze came into the semi final game leading the league in defense. The Bear River Valley Rockets held the top spot in offense. It should have been a classic battle. But it wasn’t.

After some initial jitters and a few nerves, the Blaze, who had had the last two weeks off, came alive, and the Utah team didn’t know what hit them. Or rather who hit them.

“They said they thought they could come out and throw against us but I don’t think they’ve played against a defense like this,“ said Tad Sheridan of the Blaze coaching staff. “We come out and bring pressure from all different sides.”

The Blaze scored first when Justin Nixon broke loose for 75 yards and the first touchdown of the night. The PAT by Erik Peterson was good and there were still three and a half quarters to go.

The Rockets, from the Logan/Salt Lake area of Utah, came right back on offense. John Walker found a hole and raced 30 yards to move the Rockets up the field. A few penalties on both sides prolonged the quarter but the Bear River Valley team scored with 19 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Dave Williams raced nine yards for the TD and Bryan Freeman kicked the PAT.

The Blaze defense began making adjustments and it soon paid off with Rocket quarterback Mike Jenkins finding out just how hard the turf in Tiger Stadium is. By the end of the night, Jenkins had picked himself up off the turf three times. Blaze linebacker Chris Jones had two sacks and Patrick Evers had another sack.

“There had been a lot of talk all year about how weak Montana is in football and how great and how outstanding Utah is,” said head coach Joe Murawa. “We had a statement to make tonight.”

With the lightning fast speed of the defense stymieing the Rockets at every turn, the frustration of the Bear River Valley team was evident. After punting the ball away the Blaze took over and marched up the field. However, the Rockets rallied and held them to only a field goal from 33 yards out.

But the Blaze were not done. Nixon scored from the four-yard line to put the Blaze up by 10 at the half. An interception by Christian Brown set up the TD.

It looked like someone had buttered the ball at the half. The teams traded fumbles back and forth before the Blaze settled down. Nixon broke free for 17 yards to set up the next Blaze touchdown. This time quarterback Bucky Brawley called his own number for the four-yard run. However, the PAT was blocked.

“We were firing on all 10 cylinders,” said Brawley of his team. “That was the Number 1 offense in the league. They are absolutely frustrated and don’t know what the heck happened to them.”

It was the No. 1 defense in the league that happened to the Bear River Valley Rockets. With their speed and pressure the Blaze took control of the game. The defense and the offense were hitting like gladiators and the Utah team was feeling the consequences.

"I hurt in places I didn’t know I could hurt,” said outside linebacker Jim Green of the Rockets.

The Blaze continued to roll down the field, racking up 50 points in the 50-7 rout. Nixon finished the game with 203 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. (He accused Brawley of "stealing" his touchdowns after the game.) Brawley had two TDs, 25 yards in rushing and was 8-17 passing with no interceptions. Tyler Jolley also had a stellar night for the Blaze. He ran for 63 yards on 10 carries and had one touchdown. Matt Blakey was 1-2 passing for 24 yards and one touchdown as well. He passed to Chris Brawley for one touchdown.

The final Blaze touchdown of the night was an 85-yard interception return. Peterson kicked the PAT.

The win by the Blaze sets up a rematch against the Missoula Phoenix in Montana’s own version of the Super Bowl. The Blaze have defeated Missoula twice this season, handing the Phoenix their only two losses of the season.

When they began their season this spring, the Blaze also lined out 10 steps. Each game was a step. This week in Darby will be Step 10, the league championship.

The Blaze will bring their blazing speed and pressure defense, according to Sheridan. “We have a deep team. We got a lot of guys here and everyone of them loves to play and loves to hit. This is probably the best defense I’ve ever seen or coached. The team speed on defense is by far the best,” summed up Sheridan.

Missoula defeated the Davis County Vipers, 34-28, in Utah on Saturday night, setting up the championship game. That game will be in Darby on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

“We want to stand on that 10th step,” said Murawa. “We want to stand on the top.”

Sports Talk

Thirty-five years is a long time for a work in progress. But that’s what women’s sports is, a work in progress. The time was 1972. I had just graduated from high school in Victor where the only sport a girl could compete in was track.

Now these legs are not made for running, especially when there was a horse around so I never competed in track. Instead I cheered from the sideline or, as was the case my junior year, became the statistician for the basketball team (boys only). I became very adept at remembering who shot what where and who fouled whom. I did it because I loved sports and wanted to be a part of them any way I could.

I don’t remember listening to the news for reports of Title IX and really don’t remember hearing much about the act that would become the law of the land. All I do remember thinking is how unfair it was that boys got to compete and girls didn’t.

As the fledgling law made its way through the halls of schools, more and more girls got involved. But most had to make do with whatever was given to them, hand-me-down uniforms, late night practices and shortened seasons.

Through litigation and education the girls seasons that we now enjoy are monitored and rules are in place to make sure the playing field is level for all athletes. I’m still reserving my opinion on the season change for basketball and volleyball but perhaps I’ll change my mind and see the benefits. My observations as a parent first and now as a sports reporter have been that more people watched girls basketball games when they were in the fall. Now, the fan base is split and if given a choice, most fans will still opt for watching a boys game.

I don’t know why this is so. Girls games are just as exciting with more of a ‘pure’ style of basketball being played than the ram and bang physical game of the boys. However, the girls are getting rougher and more physical as well.

But it doesn’t really matter what the sport is – soccer, golf, basketball, or even football – if there are two games on one day, you can be sure that the boys will draw more of a crowd than the girls will.

That was certainly true on Saturday. The Bitterroot Blaze semi-pro men’s football team had a very nice crowd at their playoff game in Darby. All the trappings of a football game were there and it was a great atmosphere.

Not so in Victor. It was there the Missoula Venom women’s semi-pro football team were playing the Boise State Broncs from Boise. These women were out there for the sheer love of the game. Although they play with six players on the field as opposed to 11, the fundamentals of the game were the same, hit hard and often and score lots of touchdowns.

If I didn’t live just down the road from the school, I never would have known about the game and as it was, I didn’t get there until almost the end of the game. The "crowd" consisted of a handful of family and friends who came to give their support.

Oh, I didn’t tell you, but the Missoula Venom, they are pretty good. Although they lost on Saturday, 44-26, it was only their second loss of the season. In addition, the Missoula team has been invited to play in the championship game in Atlanta, Georgia, against San Louis Obispo. Not bad for any team from Montana, regardless of gender.

Title IX gave women the opportunity but now, women must step up and make some noise. It’s okay to draw attention to your games. You might just convert a fan or two - one game at a time.

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