Missoula Sentinel powers past Great Falls High in first round of AA playoffs

It wasn’t one big play that broke the game open Friday night for the Missoula Sentinel football team.

It was a victory won by a thousand cuts.

Danny Sirmon rushed for two touchdowns and tailback Ryan Haidle added another on the ground as the Spartans (6-4) knocked off Great Falls High 28-7 at Memorial Stadium in the first round of the Class AA playoffs.

Sentinel (No. 5 West) rushed for over 200 yards as a team on 49 attempts – led by Haidle’s 79 yards and tough running from the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Sirmon – as it ended the season for the Bison (No. 4 East) and advanced to a second-round contest against Kalispell Glacier next week.

“I think they found out who their quarterback is moving forward in their next game against Glacier,” Bison head coach Coda Tchida said of Sirmon. “Again, he’s a great athlete, an absolute stud. And their O-line played well and the little running backs found some holes and seams.”

With an injury to veteran Riley Allen, sophomore Rudy Hess started at quarterback for the Spartans before giving way to Sirmon, a University of Montana commit who regularly plays tight end.

Leading 7-0 at the half, Sentinel bulldozed its way down the field on eight runs from Sirmon and Haidle, with the latter finding paydirt from three yards out.

Sentinel engineered a 17-play scoring drive on its next possession that bled into the fourth, capped by a Sirmon sneak from the 1 to go up 21-0. Sirmon converted a long third down earlier in the drive, as his pass just dropped over the outstretched hand of Great Falls High’s Ryder English, finding fellow Griz commit Grady Walker for a 21-yard gain.

The Bison were unable to sustain much offensively, only achieving four first downs well into the fourth quarter, with two coming on Sentinel penalties.

Great Falls High was held to 32 yards rushing on a night with temperatures in the low teens, led by senior Izayah Brown with 15 yards. Senior quarterback Riley Collette finished 5-for-14 passing for 63 yards, with almost half coming on a 31-yard scoring strike to receiver Cole Azar late in the game.

“Offensively for us, we just didn’t execute,” said Tchida, who completed his second season as head coach. “We’d have 10 guys executing and one guy not doing their job and it set us back. We needed to sustain some drives. We needed to get the running game going and we just didn’t. We’re a run-based team and when we’re behind the sticks it sets us back.”

The Great Falls High season ends at 5-5.

“I think overall we had a great season,” Tchida said. “The score was a lot closer than it indicated, (Sentinel) just played a great game and had a great gameplan going in and I congratulate them.”

Sentinel 0 7 7 14 – 28

GFH 0 0 0 7 – 7

Second quarter

SENTINEL - Danny Sirmon 7 run (Caden Dirnberger kick) (0:11)

Third quarter

SENTINEL – Ryan Haidle 3 run (Dirnberger kick) (7:39)

Fourth quarter

SENTINEL – Sirmon 1 run (Dirnberger kick) (8:42)

SENTINEL – Brady Kolendich 3 run (Dirnberger kick) (3:54)

GFH – Cole Azar 31 pass from Riley Collette (Caleb Litzinger kick) (2:39)

Photo provided courtesy of Matt Ehnes of Jared's Detours.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Missoula Sentinel beats Great Falls in Montana AA football playoffs