Bulldogs earn respect falling short to one of the state's best teams
The Mission High School football program has one primary objective headed into the 2019 football season, and that is to make the playoffs after back-to-back seasons of narrowly missing the Montana High School Association Class C, 8-man football playoffs.
For the past two seasons, Bulldogs coach Tyler Murray knows his team has been on the cusp, and after his team’s first victory of the season, the Bulldogs were looking for their second consecutive win against the Clark Fork Mountain Cats, arguably one of the best teams in the state of Montana and a team picked by many media outlets to be one of the perennial favorites to win it all.
In spite of taking a commanding 20-0 lead in the first quarter over Clark Fork, Mission was unable to sustain its momentum, and the Mountain Cats outscored them 54-12 during the remainder of the game to continue their unbeaten path with a 54-32 win Friday night at Mission High School.
Last week, the Mountain Cats surprised the Montana High School Class C, 8-man football world by toppling Flint Creek, a team that won two consecutive MHSA Class C, 8-man football titles, by defeating them 74-42 and snapping their 26-game win streak.
The Mountain Cats carried the momentum into the second game of the contest, but it wasn’t an easy victory over Mission.
The high-octane offense, catapulted by running back Trey Green, was a big driver behind Clark Fork’s offensive production.
Mission High School coach Tyler Murray was impressed with the Cats’ ability level they demonstrated in their second consecutive victory against a team many believe is bound for the playoffs.
Murray praised Green’s ability to run the football and even said he felt his team wouldn’t see a player of his ability level for the rest of the season.
“I don’t think we will see a kid like Trey unless we play them again,” Murray said. “Trey is pretty unique. He is strong, he is pretty thick and is 5 feet, 8 inches tall. He is hard to tackle because (his center of gravity) is so low to the ground.”
Murray assessed that Green, and the rest of the dominant Clark Fork offense, made the game difficult for one of the MHSA Class C, 8-man football’s top units in the game.
“I think our kids watched a lot of film and (we) understood what we wanted to do coming out of it,” Murray said. “Clark Fork just got a couple of big plays. There were situations where we had them for a four-yard loss, and they would make an 80-yard gain out of it.”
Now the Bulldogs will try to make it two out of three when they travel to play Troy.
The Trojans, a team that struggled and ended up at the bottom of the Western MHSA, Class C, 8-man football standings, are much improved, according to Murray.
The Bulldogs may have lost the game to Clark, a team that many experts have picked to win the entire state tournament, but Murray said he felt like the victory was a ‘statement game’ for the Bulldogs.
Mission has certainly put itself on the map, as they prepare to try to win their second game of the season. During the 2017 and 2018 seasons, they combined to go 8-10 with the majority of their critical personal returning, which suggests they could be primed to make a run, and gain momentum against Troy, which has traditionally struggled over the past two seasons, and had it’s opening week’s games against Arlee, and Flint Creek, a combined 132-38.
Murray said Troy is more talented than they had been in past seasons, and the Bulldogs aren’t taking playing the underdog Trojans for granted. They are treating this game, and approaching it like any other week moving forward, Murray stated.
Mission is hoping to qualify for their first-ever MHSA Class C, 8-man playoff bid, this season, and they are looking to qualify for the first time since 2002.
Two seasons ago, the Bulldogs transitioned from Class B, 11-man to Class C, 8-man, and now are in their third season under head coach Tyler Murray, who began his career at the Bulldogs’ head coach in 2017.