Great Falls High vs. CMR takeaways: Crosstown football game embodied spirit of the rivalry

The 59^th crosstown football game Friday night played out exactly as a rivalry game should.

Heading in, Great Falls High was likely a lock for the Eastern AA’s No. 4 seed no matter the result with Billings Senior playing undefeated Bozeman High, and C.M. Russell High was already eliminated from playoff contention.

The Bison and the Rustlers battled it out for a full 48 minutes as the regular season concluded, with both sides having chances to swing the game in either direction.

Great Falls High was stopped twice by CMR on fourth down plays at the goal line, while the Rustlers twice drove deep into Bison territory but were stymied by penalties.

Ultimately it was an 81-yard kickoff return to the house by Great Falls High senior Brevin Brockie that proved the difference in the 7-0 contest as the Bison took their sixth consecutive win over CMR.

It was the first game in the series in almost a decade to be decided by just one score when the Rustlers took it 19-12 in 2014.

Great Falls High hosts a first-round playoff tilt Friday at Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m. against Missoula Sentinel, the No. 5 team out of the Western AA.

Here are some takeaways from last Friday’s crosstown contest.

Bison defense stout heading into postseason

The Great Falls High defense is playing at a high level at the right time. The Bison held CMR to 74 yards rushing and pitched its third shutout of the season.

Prior to the crosstown game, Bison head coach Coda Tchida told the Tribune he felt the secondary was “coming into its own,” and Grant O’Neill and Brevin Brockie each tallied an interception Friday. The secondary now has five picks in the last two games.

Defensive end Cooper Collins has 12 sacks this season, which leads all of Class AA and also leads the Bison with 18 tackles for loss. Linebacker Mason Kralj and the safety O’Neill have combined for over 160 tackles through nine games, good for over nine stops per game apiece.

“I’m really proud of the defense the last two weeks,” Tchida said. “They’ve really shown that they’re a top-tier defense.”

Hoiland steps up for CMR

Ben Hoiland, a starting receiver, hadn’t taken a varsity snap at quarterback until Friday night but played with poise as he was thrust into action with an injury to starter Caleb Taylor.

Hoiland completed 16 passes for 162 yards and helped lead some good drives for the Rustler offense despite only having experience under center at the sub-varsity level.

“He’s an athlete and that’s what you need at quarterback,” CMR head coach Dennis Morris said. “Ben played some sub-varsity quarterback, so he’s not unfamiliar. He goes through quarterback school with us, too. It kind of limited us in what we could do to make it a little more simple for him. He did a great job running it. I couldn’t be any more proud of him.”

Rankin racking up runs

Braedon Rankin only had five carries on Friday but he made them count. One of three tailbacks used by Great Falls High along with leading rusher Izayah Brown and Ryder English, Rankin had runs of seven and 22 yards on Great Falls High’s final drive for first downs as the Bison killed clock and forced CMR to call all three timeouts.

“Rankin played a ton of plays on defense and I wanted to keep him fresh for defense as much as possible,” Tchida said. “Izayah was only playing offense for us tonight, so I thought he could give us a boost there. We put them both in the backfield and they both did some good things on that last drive to chew up the clock and make it so they had to go 80 yards on that last drive.”

Clement goes out with 2-way game

CMR senior Kaiden Clement played a ton of snaps all season on both sides of the ball, but Friday was tasked with taking the lead tailback role with top rusher Keegan Fuller out with an injury.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound athlete finished the contest with over 100 yards of offense with 68 on the ground on 17 tough carries and three catches for 36 yards.

From the defensive end position, he had a tackle for loss and helped blow up a Bison attempt from inside the 2 on fourth down.

Brockie stepping up in late stretch

Great Falls High senior cornerback Brevin Brockie had a pair of big plays Friday, scoring the game’s only points on the kickoff return touchdown to kickstart the second half. He also snagged an interception on the Rustlers’ final drive to allow the Bison to kneel it out.

It was Brockie’s second straight game with a touchdown after returning a pick for a score two weeks ago against Billings Skyview.

“So happy for him, he’s come a long ways,” Tchida said. “He’s improved so much from game one against Glacier until now. Honestly he’s probably one of the best corners in the conference and then you throw Scottie Klinker over there on the other side. It’s tough to beat those two on the outside. I’m extremely proud of Brevin, he’s done extremely well for us and I’m excited to see what he can do in the playoffs next week.”

Future bright for CMR as star seniors depart

The Rustlers season ends with a 3-6 overall record, but the team gained a great deal of experience moving forward.

Sophomore quarterback Caleb Taylor threw for over 1400 yards and 11 touchdowns in eight games, and junior Keegan Fuller was one of the conference’s leading rushers with over 700 yards and four touchdowns despite missing the last game with a concussion. Sophomore Drew Etcheberry and the junior Hoiland also saw significant snaps at receiver and each had two touchdowns.

Defensively, sophomore Hunter Lee was the team’s second-leading tackler behind Dorian White with 59 stops and tackle Nick Donester led the Rustlers with nine sacks and 14.5 total tackles for loss. The secondary also gained experience with players such as junior Ian Dalgarno and sophomore Damon Montano.

The Rustlers lose standouts such as receiver/defensive back River Wasson, Clement, two-way lineman Shawn Tadlock and leading tackler Dorian White. Morris said the seniors did a fine job this season mentoring a young roster.

“That’s a double-edged sword, because the future for CMR football is super bright,” Morris said. “We have kids playing that quite honestly should be playing JV football. I hate to lose a Dorian White or a Kaiden Clement, but they filled a huge role for the program mentoring these young guys and showing them how the game is supposed to be played. I always hate losing seniors, but they played a big role and the future looks good.”

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Great Falls High vs. C.M. Russell embodied crosstown rivalry