Unbeaten Braves face winless CM Russell

Truth be told, Flathead head football coach Grady Bennett would just as soon the circumstances surrounding this Saturday's Class AA football game with Great Falls Russell were a little different.

"I wish they were 2-0. We could just make it a showdown of undefeated conference teams," Bennett said.

Instead, "we've got to go into the lion's den in a sense," he said.

The Braves (2-0, 2-0) take on CMR (0-2, 0-3) Saturday because Great Falls High plays host to Billings West Friday.

Game time is 7:30 p.m.

The Rustlers have now run their losing streak to seven games (counting back to last year).

But fans shouldn't count on that.

"It's so easy to look at records," Bennett said. "But they're just two plays away from being 2-0 in conference. They're as hungry for a win as any team we've ever played," he said.

The Rustlers lost their season-opener 34-31 to Helena High in double overtime, then fell 11-10 to Missoula Big Sky when a snap sailed over the punter's head.

Last week, they lost an intrastate matchup 27-10 to Highland High of Pocatello, Idaho, ranked No. 2 among Idaho's Class 5A schools.

Offensively, the Rustlers "actually spread it a lot like we do. They run that shotgun offense, but they run a lot of speed option out of it.

"They probably don't throw as much, but they spread the field and they want to run."

Running back Christian Prosperie started the season with a 261-yard performance against Helena and ran for 115 yards last weekend.

"He touches it, he could score on every play," Bennett said.

"Defensively, they're very fast, physical and they run to the ball very well," he added.

"They're the same old CMR quality team you always see on film. They're physical and disciplined. We're going to have to go over and play very well.

"We know we have to play a certain way."

One thing the Braves to which the Braves are looking forward - getting a little deeper into their offensive playbook.

Their last two games have been basically over by the half.

"We scored a lot of points early and didn't have a chance to work on our playbook," Bennett said.

The first week, against Billings Skyview, Flathead scripted its' first 10 plays. They had 21 points by the time they reached play 8.