Flathead Valley Montana Sidelines: Kalispell, Montana News

For the second straight year, Columbia Falls won its first-round game in the Class A football playoffs. Last year, the Wildcats beat Corvallis 27-26 before losing to Billings Central 27-13 in the quarterfinals. Over the weekend, the Wildcats defeated Hamilton 15-8 at home and will face Butte Central, the top seed from Central A, in the quarterfinals. Columbia Falls is the No. 2 seed in Northwestern A.

Polson, the top seed from Northwestern A, is coming off a first-round bye and will play Belgrade in the quarterfinals. Belgrade beat Havre 7-0 in the first round. Ronan, the third seed from Northwestern A, lost 38-0 to Dillon in the playoff opener. All quarterfinal games are scheduled for Saturday Nov. 7.

In Class AA, Glacier travels to Billings to take on Billings Skyview in a first-round playoff matchup. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday Nov. 6. Below are updated brackets for all of Montana's high school football playoffs.

-Class AA
-Class A
-Class B
-Class C (8-man)
-Class C (6-man)

Playing at home on Halloween, the Whitefish Bulldogs fell short in their bid for a fourth Class A boys state soccer championship. The Bulldogs lost 5-1 to Billings Central, which won the title a year after falling to Libby in the championship game. Billings Central's girls also won the state title, sneaking past Libby 4-2 in overtime over the weekend.

In Class AA, Glacier High School's girls bowed out of the state soccer tournament in three games, losing to Billings Senior 2-0 to end their season on Oct. 30. Billings West won the title. The Glacier boys dropped out in consecutive games, losing to eventual champion Billings West in the first round and then Butte.

Here are the full results from the Class AA and A soccer tournaments:

-Class AA girls
-Class AA boys
-Class A girls
-Class A boys

Charlie Dotson, a graduate of Flathead High School, was named the Frontier Conference "Offensive Player of the Week" for his performance last Saturday against Montana State University-Northern. Dotson, 6-2 and 210 pounds, is a sophomore running back for the University of Montana Western. He rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries in the 24-13 Montana Western victory. He also caught one pass for nine yards.

On the season, Dotson leads his team with 356 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He is seventh in the conference in rushing yards and second in rushing touchdowns. Montana Western plays Carroll College next on Oct. 31.

Congratulations to Dotson who, in only his second season, looks well on his way to a fine career at Montana Western.

I wrote a preview story for the Class A state football playoffs, which you can find here. To sum up the story, it looks like Northwestern A has two of the most dangerous running attacks in the state (Polson and Ronan), as well as a fine overall squad in Columbia Falls. This year, the Wildcats have veered from their reliance on the rushing game from the past several years and established a dual threat with the passing game. Quarterback Mitchell Wassam led the conference with 19 touchdown passes during the regular season.

Polson is the top seed from the northwest, followed by No. 2 Columbia Falls and No. 3 Ronan. I have provided a full bracket for the Class A playoffs, as well as brackets for Class B, C (8-man) and C (6-man). First round games are this weekend on Oct. 31. The Class AA postseason begins on Nov. 7. I will post that bracket when made available.

-Class A bracket
-Class B bracket
-Class C (8-man)
-Class C (6-man)

With first-place finishes by the Columbia Falls boys and Whitefish girls, the Flathead Valley had a clean sweep at Class A state cross country meet this past weekend. In Class AA, the Flathead Braves came up just short of giving the valley a third champion. The Braves finished second behind Bozeman in the Class AA boys meet.

For Columbia Falls, it was the first cross country championship in school history. The Wildcats placed four runners in the top 11, led by senior Shawn Whitman, who came in fourth.

For Whitefish, it was the third straight girls state championship. Junior Jessica Sagen, junior Bailey Eaton and senior Loni Hanson finished fifth, sixth and seventh.

Click "read more" for complete results from the Class A, B, C and AA cross country meets, with local runners in bold.

On Oct. 31, the Whitefish Bulldogs will try for their third Class A soccer championship in the last four years and fourth overall. But they will have to get past Billings Central, the team team that ruined their bid for a third straight crown last year. Central defeated Whitefish 2-1 in the state semifinals in 2008. The Bulldogs beat Corvallis 2-1 over the weekend to advance to the championship game.

Whitefish will host the game at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31 at the Smith Fields. Cost of admission is $7 for adults and $6 for students. The Whitefish girls lost to Billings Central 5-0 on Saturday to end their season.

Click here for the boys bracket and here for the girls bracket.

Glacier High School plays a crucial football game tonight at Missoula Big Sky with heavy playoff implications. With two games to go, including tonight's, the Wolfpack are in a five-way tie for fourth place in Class AA with a 5-3 record. One of those five teams is Missoula Big Sky. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Missoula County Stadium.

The top eight teams out of 14 from Class AA make the state tournament. Helena Capital remains undefeated, with C.M. Russell and Missoula Sentinel filling the second and third spots. But after that, the playoff picture is jumbled. This weekend should help sorts things out.

Here are the full Class AA standings:

Helena Capital – 8-0
C.M. Russell – 7-1
Missoula Sentinel – 6-2
Billings Skyview – 5-3
Bozeman – 5-3
Helena – 5-3
Glacier – 5-3
Missoula Big Sky – 5-3
Billings West – 4-4
Billings Senior – 2-6
Butte – 1-7
Flathead – 1-7
Great Falls – 1-7
Missoula Hellgate – 1-7

Both the Whitefish boys and girls soccer teams advanced to the semifinal round of the Class A state soccer tournament with victories over the weekend. Led by Meredith Reed's three goals, the Whitefish girls cruised to a 4-0 victory over Frenchtown on Saturday. They advance to play defending champion Billings Central in Billings on Oct. 24. Central beat Stevensville 5-0 in the first round. Whitefish, a No. 2 seed, is seeking its third state championship.

The Whitefish boys came back from a 1-0 deficit on Saturday to defeat Livingston 2-1. The Bulldogs, who are the top seed from the northern division, will play Corvallis on Oct. 24 at 2 p.m. at the Smith Fields in Whitefish. Corvallis beat Belgrade 2-1 in overtime in the first round. Whitefish is seeking its fourth Class A championship.

Here are the semifinal matchups, with all games played on Oct. 24:

Girls:
Whitefish @ Billings Central
Hamilton @ Libby

Boys:
Corvallis @ Whitefish
Libby @ Billings Central