Chiefs corrall 'Cats

COLUMBIA FALLS - Ronan (5-4) got to end their season a lot better than all but one of the playoff teams will this year - with a win. They upended the Northwestern A Conference leading Columbia Falls Wildcats with a 28-20 victory and did it in dramatic fashion.

"That's great for these kids," Ronan head coach Jim Benn said. "I'm proud of them."

With just fourteen seconds left in the game, junior quarterback Robbie Gauthier hit senior Cole McArthur in the endzone for the victory.

"There wasn't anyone around Cole, he got off the ball quickly," Benn said. "He's probably the most improved kid in the program, far and away. For him, that's something he'll never forget for his whole life."

Benn came in wanting to control the ball and keep the explosive offensive players on Columbia Fall's roster off the field.

"We left our no-huddle stuff at home," he said.

As a team, the Chiefs gained 328 yards on the ground while the defense had a stranglehold on the Wildcats potent rushing attack, allowing just 81 yards. They allowed just 75 through the air.

"That was far and away the best I've seen the defense play in the three years that I've coached here," Benn said.

With injuries nagging the team all season, the Chiefs toughed it through for one more game with very little depth on the bench.

"We had very, very little margin for error," Benn said. "Some of the kids never stepped off the field."

Columbia Falls jumped on the scoreboard first when running back Nate Thompson scored from eight yards out.

Thompson finished the season as the Northwestern A leading rusher with more than 1,600 yards.

Gauthier scored on a 16-yard run and junior running back Jack Humphreys found pay dirt from eight yards out to take the 12-6 lead in the first quarter. In the second, Gauthier would score again on a one-yard run as the Chiefs put up 20 unanswered points.

Thompson rounded out the scoring in the first half with a five-yard touchdown run and Ronan walked into the locker room at halftime with the 20-14 lead.

"I think the Columbia Falls kids played hard," Benn said. "The game could have gone either way."

After a scoreless third quarter, the Wildcats tied things up with another rushing touchdown by Thompson. However, they failed to take the lead on the extra-point conversion, giving Ronan some momentum with time winding down.

"When they missed the extra point, I knew we were going to win the game," Benn said.

Ronan calmly drove down the field, running the ball and converting a fourth and seven with a pass to Humphreys. The final score gave the Chiefs their second straight winning season. Before last year, the last time Ronan had a winning record was in 1998.

"Consistency within a program builds tradition," Benn said. "I'm really proud of that group of seniors. It was a tough season. They played the hard way, the whole way."