Scottie Football Post Season Run Ends In Bigfork

Glasgow faced an uphill – and across-the-state – battle Nov. 5 when they faced the top-ranked Class B football team in the state in the state quarterfinals. The Bigfork Vikings ended the Scotties' postseason run with a 52-12 victory.

Bigfork went big at home, building up a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Vikings snatched a Glasgow pass just over halfway through the second and followed it with a march up the field to pad their lead.

The Scotties, though, would not let the first-half clock run down without a fight. Khye Gamas interjected himself into the passing lane to come down with a Vikings ball. He returned it 32 yards for Glasgow, moving the Scotties into scoring position with under 10 seconds to play.

Glasgow made good on their chance as quarterback Mason Donaldson found Wyatt Babb with a nine-yard pass for the touchdown. The Scotties went to Tatum Hansen on the rush for the two-point attempt but were shut down. Bigfork carried a 21-6 lead into halftime.

The Vikings came out just as strong in the second half. They added a 42-yard touchdown with 7:28 left in the third. Aiden Hoerster came through with the block to deny Bigfork the PAT. The hometown increased their lead less than two minutes later with an interception that resulted in a touchdown to give the Vikings a 33-6 advantage.

Hoerster started the fourth quarter for the Scotties with an interception and a 32-yard run to double Glasgow's score. The Vikings denied the Scotties another scoring opportunity just over four minutes later though, picking off another Glasgow pass in the end zone. They followed it with a long touchdown run.

Bigfork continued to earn their top-ranked status with two more touchdowns before the clock ran out on the game and the Scotties' season.

Glasgow put 125 yards of total offense on 24 carries and 12 passes. The Scotties had 24 carries for 52 rushing yards and 12 catches for 73 receiving yards.

Hansen led the team with 22 carries and 50 yards. Toryn Richards added two yards on two carries and Donaldson had -2 yards on two carries.

Babb had five catches for 36 yards, including a touchdown. Mo Fast added 28 yards on three receptions while Ashton Potter added 11 yards on one catch. Jack Cornwell had one catch for no gain while Connor Hudyma was knocked back three yards on his catch. Donaldson was 12-of-28 on passes with one touchdown and four interceptions.

On the other side of the ball, Glasgow allowed Bigfork 46 points and 416 total yards: 303 rushing yards on 42 carries and 113 yards on seven (of 16) passes.

"Tough way to end the season. Credit Bigfork, they are a tough and athletic team, but we would love to have another crack at them," said assistant coach Sam Tedrow. "Defensively we did a lot of good things in this game, but small mistakes added up to large ones.

"Vaugn Miller had a heckuva game for the second week in a row. He's going to be a force next year as an inside backer."

Miller led the Scotties again with 14 tackles – seven unassisted and three for loss, a pass break-up, and an interception with a four-yard gain. Richards notched 12 tackles, all unassisted. Potter followed with seven tackles, six unassisted, as well as a pass break-up. Babb added six tackles, five unassisted, one for loss and a hurry; Fast five tackles, two unassisted, one for loss and a hurry; Kohl Kittleson five tackles, one unassisted and a forced fumble, and Hansen four unassisted tackles, one for loss and two hurries.

Ethan Nickles and Khye Gamas both came up with three total tackles, two unassisted each while Hoerster had another three, one unassisted. Gamas added one interception for 32 yards while Hoerster came through with a 32-yard touchdown on his interception and a blocked kick.

Grady Nielsen had two tackles, one unassisted, and a fumble recovery. Donaldson, Mason Hunter, Dylan Linder, Coy Nelson and Nate Hentges added one tackle each.

For Special Teams, Kittleson had three kick-offs for 58 yards, a 19.33 average per kick. Babb had 152 yards on six punts for a 25.33 average with one blocked. Gamas had five kick-off returns for 72 yards. Richards, Hudyma, Hunter and Hoerster had one return each with Richards gaining 13 yards, Hudyma no gain, Hunter nine yards and Hoerster 10 yards.

The Scotties lose seniors Ashton Potter, Jack Cornwell, Aiden Hoerster, Mason Donaldson, Morgan Fast, Ethan Nickles Mason Swenson, and Dylan Linder.

"I would like to thank our seniors for the leadership and the countless hours they have given to Scottie Football. This team was a lot of fun to coach and I have really enjoyed this year with them. I'm proud of the way they competed game in and game out," said Dylan Hughes, assistant coach.

"Going to miss this senior class, they brought a lot to the table both on the field and as individual young men," echoed Tedrow as he also turns an eye to the future. "This loss leaves a sour taste in the mouth, but hopefully will motivate our younger guys to put in the extra work in the offseason. The sky's the limit for this team moving forward!"