Football Preview: Flathead at Missoula Big Sky

by The Daily Inter Lake
| October 8, 2009 2:00 AM

TODAY: Flathead Braves (1-5) at Missoula Big Sky (4-2)

KICKOFF: 7 p.m. at Missoula County Stadium

LAST WEEK FOR FLATHEAD: Flathead trailed 21-0 at the half and wound up losing at home to Bozeman 34-14. Travis Ozegovich scored both Flathead touchdowns on short runs in the fourth quarter. He finished with 71 yards rushing on 16 attempts and had one reception for five yards. Jackson Spooner had two receptions for 17 yards. Spooner had three tackles on defense. Mike VanArendonk, who broke his thumb on his passing hand at Billings West, was back at quarterback for the Braves in the second half. He was 4 of 9 passing for 24 yards and rushed for 45 yards on seven carries. Bozeman outgained Flathead 396-202.

LAST WEEK FOR MISSOULA BIG SKY: Billings Senior pulled the upset, knocking off the then-No. 4 ranked Eagles 32-30. It was Senior's first victory of the season. Big Sky outgained Senior 495-350, but fumbled six times, losing all six. Big Sky led 10-0 at the half, with Glen Maricelli (34 carries for 213 yards) scoring on a 9-yard run. He scored twice in the second half on runs of 2 yards. Quarterback Erin Deneault was 17 of 28 passing for 264 yards and one TD. He did not throw an interception. "Senior played with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm," Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said. "We are going to need to bring that same kind of enthusiasm." One way for that to happen, says McCarvel, "is to make plays." McCarvel expects Big Sky to take better care of the ball this week. "Big Sky made a few mistakes (last week), which is very uncharacteristic of them. They had a few turnovers. I'm sure that won't happen at home (this week)."

LAST YEAR - Flathead and Big Sky tangled on a Saturday night at Legends Stadium with Big Sky pulling out a 20-17 victory. That dropped Flathead to 0-3 on the season, while Big Sky improved to 2-1. Flathead rolled off six straight wins after that setback.

SERIES: The Braves lead 20-9-0. They are 8-4 versus the Eagles the last 12 years. Flathead had beaten Big Sky three straight times going into last year's meeting.

STREAKS: Big Sky had won two straight before losing to Senior. Flathead has dropped five in a row after opening the season with a win at Butte.

CARRY OVER: VanArendonk provided Flathead with a lift when he took over quarterback duties in the second half last week. "He provided us with a spark, did a nice job," McCarvel said. "We have to build on the second half that we played against Bozeman."

THURSDAY NIGHT II: This marks Flathead's second Thursday night contest of the fall. The Braves hosted Helena Capital on Sept. 3, with the Bruins rolling to a 39-0 victory in Week 2 of the season. "It makes the week go fast," McCarvel said of the Thursday outings.

TOP HEAVY STANDINGS: The Class AA standings is top heavy with winners. Helena Capital is the lone unbeaten team, but nine teams own records of 4-2 or better in the 14 team league. C.M. Russell is 5-1, while seven teams sport 4-2 marks. Flathead is one of three teams with one victory, and only two teams are winless - Butte and Great Falls.

COMMON FOES: Flathead and Big Sky have both played Billings West and Missoula Sentinel. And they both did it back-to-back. West defeated Flathead 35-7, while Sentinel rolled to a 40-16 victory over the Braves. Big Sky downed West 27-21 in the season opener, and followed with a 21-16 win over rival Sentinel.