Blue Hawks close out season with win

This week, the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks won their last game of the season against the Anaconda Copperheads. This was their first win of the season with a final score of 42-0. “When things click with this group they click really well. Everything we tried seemed to be coming together and the team was having fun with it. It was a great ending to an up-and-down season. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. The seniors deserved this lasting memory for all the hard work they have put in,” said Hawk head coach Jared Koskela.

The Hawks had a rough start, throwing an interception on the first play of the game. They were able to bring the Copperheads to punt but a roughing the kicker penalty brought up a fourth down and short. Despite this, the Hawks held a strong line to regain possession.

The Hawks successfully threw a long ball to bring them within 10 yards to the endzone. Shortly after, senior captain Breck Ferris had a strong run to outside, securing the first touchdown of the game. 6-0. “Momentum was there, the effort was there, we played like a team, we didn’t give up, and we just kept charging,” said Ferris.

The Hawks were able to quickly regain possession after a fumble from the Copperheads. The Hawks worked their way downfield, working their way through many fourth downs before throwing the ball into an open endzone for their second touchdown, 13-0.

On the next Copperheads possession, their quarterback threw another interception to none other than Blue Hawk lineman and senior captain, Beano Fisher. This interception set the Hawks up within 20-yards to the endzone. A pass into a crowded endzone scored their third touchdown of the game, extending their lead to 20-0. “We came out tonight with a lot more fire than we have had all season. Everyone just came together towards the end here wanting to get a win to end the season, and send the seniors off with something good. Great energy, great offense, great defense, everything just went really well in our favor. Everyone put everything on the line and we got our win because of it,” said Fisher.

The Copperheads continued to struggle as a failed option caused a fumble in the backfield being recovered by Hawk junior captain Max Hannum. On the Hawks’ next possession, they struggled downfield before being spotted 1 yard away from the endzone. Blue Hawk senior captain Elijah Ratliff ran to the outside, being met by a crowd of Copperheads but struggling into the endzone for their fourth touchdown, bringing the score up to 27-0. “I thought we executed really well on offense. On defense, we just kept the same energy. We just didn’t let them move the ball,” said Hannum.

Later in the half, the Hawks stopped the Copperheads on a fourth down with less than a minute to go before halftime. The Hawks kept possession while working downfield until there were just 15 seconds left before halftime. With one final play, Ratliff threw the ball across the field to an open receiver to leave the score at 35-0 before halftime. “We finally showed off our potential tonight. It just sucks that it took till week nine to do so. I really hope to see the underclassmen buy into the system to see what the results really could be and finish off their senior years the way we wish we would’ve,” said Ratliff.

On the Hawks’ first possession in the second half, they slowly but surely worked the ball downfield before Ratliff dove into the endzone for the final touchdown to finalize the score, 42-0. The rest of the second half went by quickly with neither side being able to score in time.

“I would like to thank the parents, admin, and community for the support this season. I would also like to give credit to my assistants Ray Brown, Ray Buchanan, and Kade Van Elswyk for their hard work and getting me out of my comfort zone, and to the managers Kael Brown, Kaden Cox, and Lexi Anderson for doing the legwork on things we cannot see but truly appreciate,” said Koskela.