Blue Hawks bull past Simms Tigers 50-6

Want some? Come get some then.

Answering the physicality of the big, bad Simms Tigers with some bruising play of their own, the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks overpowered the Tigers 50-6 in the first round of the Montana 8-Man football playoffs Saturday.

Now 9-0 and unbeaten at Previs Field since 2018, coach Jared Koskela and crew will make the incredibly long trek to Scobey for an 8-Man quarterfinal date with the Scobey/Opheim Spartans at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The No. 1 seed from the east, Scobey streaked past Cascade 50-0 in that first round game in Scobey last week. The Spartans sport an 8-1 win-loss record with the lone loss coming to Westby-Grenora by a 28-22 score way back on August 28.

Koskela has been studying film of the Spartans and says Scobey/Opheim is very good at adjusting to the style of different opponents. “I have been impressed with how they adjust their play-calling, they have changed their method of attack several times,” he said, “but I feel comfortable in how we match up with them. We are a pretty good team too.”

Indeed, the victory over Simms may have been the Hawks’ most impressive yet, and that’s saying something in a season where Thompson Falls has averaged almost 49 points per game while allowing less than five with six shutouts.

For their part, Scobey averages 48 points per game while allowing around 11, and the Spartans have shut out two of their opponents.

Koskela expected a smash-mouth, physical game with Simms Saturday and that’s exactly what the Hawks got, in the early going at least. “We knew they were going to try to run the ball down our throats,” he said, “and knew we would have to answer that with some tough run defense.”

After winning the coin toss, the Hawks’ Kade Pardee returned the opening kickoff 49 yards to give Thompson Falls a first down at the Simms 30-yard line. From there, the Hawks marched in for the game’s first touchdown after a nine-play drive, scored on a two-yard run by Roman Sparks.

Pardee caught a pass for six yards and had a nine-yard run, and freshman Hayden Hank had two carries for 11 yards from his new-found fullback position on that drive.

The Tigers’ ground-it-out game plan seemed to work on Simms’ first possession where the Tigers used bruising fullback Lane Hinderager, who lists at 215 pounds, on repeated runs into the middle of the Hawk defense.

The Tigers pounded the rock all the way down to the Thompson Falls 24-yard line before the Hawks held Simms to a five-yard gain on a fourth down and seven to go, giving Thompson Falls the ball at their own 19.

From there the Hawks marched 61 yards in nine plays, capped by a seven-yard run for the touch by Sparks early in the second quarter. Sparks picked up 50 of the yards on that drive and Pardee the other 11. Sparks completed the two-point conversion pass to Lucas Andersen and the Hawks led 14-0.

The Hawks took full control of the game after that in the second quarter. Pardee started the game-clinching run with an interception on Simms’ next drive, giving the Hawks a first down at the Simms 30.

On the first play from there, Lucas Andersen took a handoff and threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to twin brother Derek Andersen to make it 20-0, and Pardee ran in the conversion to make it 22-0.

Simms lost track of the down count on the Tigers’ next drive and that ended up costing the visitors dearly. Inside their own 10-yard line and obviously thinking it was only third down, when it was actually fourth down and over 20 yards to go, the Tigers sent Hinderager up the middle on a short run and the Hawks stopped him cold, taking over the ball at the Simms seven-yard line.

On second down after that, Pardee scored on a five-yard run and, after Sparks found Lucas Andersen with the two-point conversion pass, the rout was on as the Hawks now led 30-0.

Pardee scored another touchdown for the Hawks on a four-yard run a little later and the Hawks took a 30-6 lead into halftime.

Pardee completed almost identical touchdown passes of 10 and nine yards to Sparks in the third and fourth quarters to complete scoring. Pardee also pitched a two-point conversion pass to Sparks following the final touchdown.

Pardee finished the game with 78 yards passing and 83 rushing, throwing for two scores and running for two others. Sparks led the Hawk ground attack with 109 yards rushing and scored two TDs rushing and two receiving.

Derek Andersen caught three passes for 86 yards and one touchdown.

Defensively, linebacker Trae Thilmony was once again the Hawks’ stalwart, pulling down 17 total tackles, including 11 solo stops with one tackle for a loss. Pardee added 12 tackles, including six solos, and had a quarterback sack, while Dane Chojnacky wreaked havoc again, totaling nine tackles with two quarterback sacks.

Elijah Ratliff added seven tackles and broke up a key pass play early in the game, Lucas Andersen had six tackles, Sparks five, Jordan Fisher, Erik Strom and Cody Burk three apiece, Brandon “Beano” Fisher two and Will McPherson one.

Although Saturday’s game in Scobey looks like it could be a high-scoring affair, the weather of Montana and the will of the players on each side, especially on defense, could be the deciding factors.

“The weather definitely looks like it could be a factor,” Koskela said, “and that seemed to affect us as much as anything in Fairview last year (the Hawks lost to the eventual champs 66-6 in the ’19 quarterfinals). We need to respond better to the weather this time and we should, after having seen what it’s like over there last year.”

A good defensive effort would make the weather woes go away somewhat. “Defense wins championships,” Koskela said, “and I like the way we have been playing on that side of the ball.”