Chiefs face a 'do or die' situation in upcoming game against Deer Lodge

MISSOULA — The Ronan High School football team didn’t capitalize on its opportunity to position themselves to win conference with a 38-0 loss to Loyola-Sacred Heart Friday at Rollin Field.

A victory over the Rams would have positioned the Chiefs to win conference with the final two conference games against Deer Lodge and Mission.

Ronan now finds itself with its collective back against the wall in a ‘must win’ game against Deer Lodge. In last season’s game against Deer Lodge, the Chiefs were involved in a 84-64 shootout.

Detwiler, who was an assistant coach for the Chiefs last season, said the Deer Lodge game was the “longest in his career.”

“It felt like an 8-man Class C game and it was unreal,” Detwiler said. “I looked at my watch at halftime and the time was 9:45. The Deer Lodge game was the longest game I had ever been a part of. It was the most frustrating and satisfying game. Everyone was looking around at each other asking ‘did we lose or did we win? I don’t know.’”

Last season, Deer Lodge RB John Bannon rushed for a state record 512 yards against the Chiefs’ defense.

“Bannon is small, strong and plays hockey in the off season,” Detwiler said. “Because of his hockey experience on solid ground, he’s very sturdy. He’s a good running back. We just didn’t tackle well (against him), and if you miss a few tackles against him, he will put up state record numbers.”

The Chiefs are an improving defense this season but according to Detwiler they still have “some work to do.”

“Our tackling isn’t where we would like it to be and we could always improve on this year,” Detwiler said. “I think defensively we are playing a little bit better this year. As far as tackling and stuff like the different drills this year, it’s a coaching philosophy. I am a defensive guy with a defensive mindset, and in my mindset, if you prevent the other team from scoring you are going to have a pretty good chance to win.”

Against the Rams, the Chiefs generated only five first downs and Detwiler said the Rams were the best team his Chiefs played all season.

QB Mock was 10-of-19 for 80 yards and an interception. Brendon Blood was 8-of-12 for 60 yards and an interception in the loss. WR Happy Cheff caught five passes for 55 yards and Aaron Misa also had four receptions for 41 yards.

“We had some pretty big-time penalties at some not very opportune times,” Detwiler said. “It killed the momentum going on with all of the penalties. Stuff like that really doesn’t help at all.”

Detwiler said there is a possibility, if they can qualify for the playoffs, that they would play Loyola Sacred-Heart again but it wouldn’t be until the state championship game if they were hypothetically able to make it.

“We did not play up to our ability what so ever against Loyola,” Detwiler said. “I see them going to the finals, playing for a state championship, and going deep into the playoffs, if not playing for the state title this year. They have a very solid football team, and a combination of that and us not playing well, things didn’t really go our way that night.”

Copperheads air it out in win over Bulldogs

ANACONDA — The Mission Bulldogs lost to Anaconda 43-6 on Anaconda’s senior night Friday at Anaconda High School.

The Copperheads’ QB Braxton Hill was quite a factor against a young, inexperienced Bulldogs’ defense, according to Mission head coach Jake Bosley.

“Braxton is pretty decent, threw the ball quite a bit, and they had some big receivers to throw to,” Bosley said. “We had some freshman corner backs covering someone that is 18-years-old and 6-foot-6. We were trying to press them with a 14-year-old who weighs about 120-pounds.”

Despite the loss, Bosley said he was “impressed” with his team’s defensive performance.

“We brought Braxton down once and did hurry him quite a bit,” Bosley said. “We got quite a few hurries. Our defense has really stepped it up, and our rush game has increased and had quite a few players get tackles.”

Benton Adams finished with nine tackles, Gus Bosley had eight tackles, and Wacey McClure finished with seven tackles and two defensive pass deflections. Hayden Currie also recorded his first-ever career sack of the season and his high school career.

Mission is still having trouble generating a significant amount of offense, according to Bosley.“On offense, we were able to produce only two first downs the whole game,” Bosley said. “However, we had four freshman for the majority of the game, and especially when you have freshman playing against seniors, you are going to give up quite a bit.”

Troy Mitchell scored the Bulldogs’ only touchdown of the season on the last play with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Bosley said his team comprised mostly of freshman has gained a significant amount of varsity experience.

“Our roster is mostly freshman because of injuries,” Bosley said. “However, our team has really risen to the occasion and they are gaining some good varsity experience they will have next year and the year after. We will really see dividends from that.”