Broncs vs. new-look Cats
Columbia Falls wide reciever Kaleb Johnson (19) stiff arms Bulldog defender Christopher Forrest in the first half of last Friday’s games in Columbia Falls. Johnson had six receptions for 127 yards and two touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 28-14 victory. Johnson will be a key player for the Wildcats during Saturday’s home playoff game with Hamilton.
It's a rematch of sorts when Hamilton travels back to Columbia Falls on Saturday for the opening round of the Class A state football playoffs. The kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Hamilton made this same trip the first Friday in September and left Satterthwaite Memorial Field with a 32-12 nonconference victory.
It was the season opener for the Broncs, while Columbia Falls dropped to 1-1.
Eight weeks later, a lot has changed.
"We're not the same football team," Columbia Falls coach Bill Coleman said.
"We're not doing the same things offensively and defensively.
"And they are similar to that second game," he said of Hamilton.
"They haven't changed all that much."
That said, look for Columbia Falls vs. Hamilton Part II to be a much different affair this time around.
"I don't know if the process changes all that much," Coleman said of preparing for the same team twice in a season.
"We treat this like a brand new game. We do know what to expect having played them before."
Columbia Falls (6-3) wrapped up the regular season with an impressive 33-14 victory over rival Whitefish last Friday. Hamilton (5-3) concluded its season with a 30-8 loss to Dillon.
Columbia Falls and Hamilton have played four common foes this season, going 2-2 against those teams. The Wildcats and Broncs both lost to Dillon and Polson.
"By far, our worst game," Coleman said of the loss to Hamilton.
"We didn't execute on offense, we gave them a short field on offense. We got behind and were never in the game."
Hamilton's Paul Donaldson ran for almost 200 yards in that meeting and scored three touchdowns. Quarterback Josh Brenneman ran for a touchdown and passed for another.
"They're an old school, I type team," Coleman said of Hamilton.
"They power at you. Donaldson killed us."
Defensively, Hamilton plays conservatively.
"We want to put them in a bind defensively and exploit that until they make an adjustment," Coleman said.
"Then we'll adjust to that."
Hamilton's defense will be
stretched this time to contend with Columbia Falls talented skilled players.
Quarterback Mitchell Wassam was 11 for 17 passing and 210 yards last week on a cold and rainy night. For the season he's 85 for 176 for 1,327 yards. Wassam has 19 TD passes.
Running back John Woody has rushed for 732 yards on 134 carries, which averages out to 5.46 yards per carry.
Kaleb Johnson was one of the top receivers in Northwestern A with 30 receptions for 653 yards and 12 touchdowns. Nate Thompson has 22 receptions for 241 yards.
"I really like the way we're playing now," Coleman said.
"We're executing in all phases of the game, we can run the ball effectively, we can throw the ball effectively.
"Our performance last Friday night was big for us," Coleman continued.
"Just for our own self pride. We hadn't play well at home and we when we played well, we didn't win."
That all changed in a hurry.
"So far, a really good week of practice," Coleman said.
"It feels like we had momentum coming out of last week. We're playing fast and with a lot of confidence. That's a good position to be in."