Hot Springs secures conference lead with win

The Hot Springs Savage Heat football team had a bit of a slow start this season, losing their first two games on the road. Since then, however, it’s been nothing but Ws for the team. Last weekend, they extended their win streak to five as they got a win on the road over Lima, 63-12. The win most likely puts Hot Springs at the top of the Western C conference, ensuring that they will host their first playoff game.

In their last five games, Hot Springs has outscored their opponents 241 - 62. The closest game has been against Noxon, a contest which Hot Springs won by just 12.

“Those first couple games it seemed like we struggled with certain things and obviously we had a lot of young kids playing,” Coach Jim Lawson said “The improvement we’ve been seeing has been pretty tremendous. We started out 0-2 with non-conference games, but we are still undefeated in the conference, which has been big for us.”

“The guys knew what was at stake so they really wanted to go down and get the win,” Coach Jim Lawson said of the contest at Lima. “We’ve been scoring more points on offense and lots of different kids have had the opportunity to score.”

Senior Garth Parker had three touchdowns for Hot Springs on Saturday, running the ball into the endzone three times in the second quarter. Parker also had two sacks in the game, one in the first quarter that gave the Savage Heat a safety. “He had another really good game,” Lawson said of the senior

Weston Slonaker also delivered for Hot Springs, with two rushing touchdowns and another score on a pass from quarterback Nick McAllister. “Weston made some big plays for us. He always does,” Lawson said. Quarterback McAllister threw for three other scores in Saturday’s game, including a 37-yard pass to Jody Page and a 7-yard pass to Johnny Waterbury, both in the first quarter, and a 5-yard pass to David Chapman in the third. Brighton Keller also got a touchdown for Hot Springs on a 1-yard run into the endzone.

“Overall we did a good job on defense and were able to mix it up on offense between running and throwing,” Lawson noted. “Our blocking was really good this week and our pass coverage was really good.”

Though the first-round playoff game is just about a week away, Hot Springs has one more contest to finish out the regular season. The Savage Heat will host West Yellowstone on Saturday, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. “We’re looking to go out and finish the season with a win,” Lawson stated, adding that one of the biggest challenges for his team this year has been keeping people healthy and recovering from injuries.

“It’s been a lot of fun watching the kids improve and getting more people involved every week,” Lawson said. “Our offense has really come to life over the last several weeks.”