Blue Hawks shut down Charlo

The Hawks were tested but eventually came through with blue and gold flying colors.

Led by their salty group of seniors making their final regular season appearance ever on hallowed Previs Field, the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks improved to 8-0 with a 22-0 win over the Charlo Vikings Friday night under the lights.

The victory clinched no worse than the No. 2 seed from the Western Division for the unbeaten Blue Hawks, who were ranked No. 3 in Montana among all 8-Man teams in the most recent power poll.

Coach Jared Koskela expected a tough, physical game with the Vikings, and coach Reese Cox and his boys gave the Hawks all of that and more. "Charlo is a good team. They played good defense against us," he added, "exposed some things we need to do differently with our blocking schemes."

The tough sledding started early as the Hawks drove the ball downfield on the game's opening drive, but were held on downs at Charlo's 21-yard line.

Fortunately for the Hawks, Kade Pardee came up with an interception on a third down pass from Charlo quarterback Coyle Nagy to give Thompson Falls the ball at Charlo's 29. A few plays later, Pardee scored the game's first touchdown on a three-yard run. After the conversion pass fell incomplete, the Hawks led 6-0.

After several more changes of possession, the Hawks took over at the 40-yard line after Dane Chojnacky stopped Nagy short of the first-down marker on a fourth down run with 1:42 left in the second quarter.

With less than a minute remaining in the half, quarterback Roman Sparks threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Lucas Andersen for a touchdown and, after the conversion run failed, the Hawks increased the lead to 12-0 at halftime.

The Hawks wrapped up scoring in the second half with a one-yard touchdown run by Sparks in the third quarter, followed by a successful two-point conversion pass from Sparks to Jordy Fisher midway through the third quarter to extend the Hawk lead to 20-0. A bad snap into the end zone on a punt attempt gave the Hawks a two-point safety with a 4:13 left in the game to complete scoring.

Koskela thought the Hawks could play better and says he found some things to work on with the testing the Hawks received from the Vikings.

"We had trouble converting on fourth down, we need to execute better," he said. "We played well enough to win but I would like to see us finishing better."

Thompson Falls now has the week off before the playoffs begin the following week. The Hawks are assured of hosting a first round game if the playoffs do take place as expected.

The Blue Hawks' effective one-two punch of Sparks and Pardee were again the statistical leaders on offense against Charlo. Sparks ended up gaining 108 yards on 22 carries and completing five of nine passes for another 54 yards, while Pardee picked up 99 yards rushing (on 21 carries) and completed one of two passes for five yards.

Lucas Andersen had one pass catch for 38 yards, brother Derek Andersen one catch for 17 yards and Sparks caught one pass for five yards.

On defense, Chojnacky was again a terror to the opposition, pulling down 10 tackles, including three quarterback sacks and another tackle for a loss.

Lucas Andersen had 15 tackles, including eight solo stops, Trae Thilmony 13 (with two QB sacks and three tackles for a loss), Erik Strom had nine tackles and Pardee six.

Chojnacky was given credit for making the tackle on the safety, Derek Andersen recovered a fumble and Pardee had an interception.

Koskela says the Hawks will spend the next few weeks preparing for one of the biggest games of his and his young team's lives. "We are putting in hours and hours of watching game film, we want to be ready for whoever we end up playing," he said. "We are looking forward to it, these kids have put years and years of playing together into this, and they want to make a statement in the playoffs."