Hot Springs, Noxon face off on the field

In a game with serious playoff implications, coach Jim Lawson's Hot Springs team traveled to face off against coach Bart Haflich's Noxon squad last Tuesday night. Heading into the matchup Noxon held a one-game advantage over the Savage Heat in the Montana 6-man western division.

Hot Springs was quick to make an opening statement with an electrifying 65-yard kick return for a touchdown by quarterback Jack McAllister. The Savage Heat were able to add two more first-quarter scores courtesy of a three-yard touchdown run from senior running back Kyle Lawson and a 42-yard rush from McAllister. Down 22-0 heading into the second quarter was not the start coach Haflich had hoped for. "We didn't come out of the gate like we wanted to. We dug ourselves a hole early and weren't quite mentally prepared," he stated. "We've got to continue to work on mental toughness and not go into games with preconceived notions."

The second and third quarters gave McAllister the opportunity to show off his arm strength as the senior quarterback connected on three touchdown passes of 50 yards or more to Lawson, freshman Weston Slonaker and senior Vania Afonin. It was a night to remember for McAllister as he filled the stat sheet by completing six of eight passes for 222 yards and three scores while rushing for two scores in addition to his opening kick return touchdown.

With Hot Springs ahead 46-0 in the fourth quarter, Noxon star fullback Cade VanVleet was finally able to break through for a 13 yard rushing score, bringing the final tally to 46-6. Coach Lawson commented after the game that his team's game plan was to try and limit VanVleet as much as possible. "We really tried to stop VanVleet. He is such a powerful runner and I was happy with how we were able to key in on him." Coach Lawson went on to praise the defensive performances from Mcallister, (19 tackles and a sack) Lawson, (16 tackles), and Slonaker (two sacks).

Haflich's Noxon squad looked to rebound last Saturday as they played their second game of the week, this time traveling to face a tough White Sulphur Springs team. Unfortunately Saturday's game followed a similar script as Noxon fell behind early and were unable to overcome the big deficit as they were defeated 55-8. While Haflich wasn't pleased with the result, he did point to a strong second quarter in which Noxon was able to outscore White Sulphur Springs and make some defensive stands. The Red Devils will look to replicate that second quarter as they welcome Valley Christian on Friday for their final regular season game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

Coach Lawson's Savage Heat also faced the challenge of playing two games in one week as they took the long bus ride to West Yellowstone for a Saturday matchup with the Wolverines. The game started off slowly for the Savage Heat as they clung to an 8-0 lead after the first quarter. The second quarter saw Hot Springs come to life in a big way however, when Lawson's team put up an incredible 46 points. The scoring onslaught was powered by three Mcllister touchdown runs as well as two rushing and one receiving score from Kyle Lawson.

Hot Springs held on to win the game 66-8 to earn their second victory of the week and propel themselves into a tie for second in the division. The Savage Heat will host No. 2-ranked White Sulphur Springs Friday in a game that will decide the champion for the division. "That's always a big game for us. They have a ton of team speed and depth," Lawson said. "There's a lot riding on it." Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.