Blue Hawks fall to Townsend

At the road’s end was Townsend.

Coach Jared Kosekla and his Blue Hawk football team opened the season with a brutally long road trip to Townsend Friday and received a 45-0 beating from the powerful Bulldogs.

Koskela knew Townsend was going to be a challenge, but expected his boys to respond better than they did.

“We have to focus on the fundamentals, when you are unsure of yourselves you should always be able to fall back on the fundamentals,” he said. “And we just never did gain our footing in Townsend. We made way too many simple, simple mistakes, and you just can’t do that against a good team like that.”

Koskela is hoping that the Hawks can regroup this week when they host Cut Bank, which is also 0-1 after losing to two-time defending State B champion Eureka last week.

“Both teams are going to be hungry for a win,” he said, “and we look pretty evenly matched on paper. I am excited for our kids. I have a lot of faith in them, we just need to go out there and play with confidence.”

Koskela said the play of junior defensive end Nate Wilhite was one of the few bright spots for the Hawks in Townsend. Wilhite ended up with five quarterback sacks in the game. “Nate had a great game,” Koskela said. “He is going to be a threat from his defensive end position this season.”

Koskela wants his boys to be more mentally tough. “A lot of this game is in your head, you have to believe you can do it,” he said. “And that is what we are trying to convey to the kids. We are trying to coach that kind of toughness where you have the ability to work yourselves through things that happen in games.”