Prep football takeaways: Great Falls High seniors 'set standard,' team to return experience

The season ended for the Great Falls High football team Friday, falling to Missoula Sentinel 28-7 in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs at Memorial Stadium.

The Bison finished the season 5-5 overall but were 4-3 in Eastern AA play to earn the No. 4 seed and a home playoff game for the second year in a row.

Here are some takeaways from the postseason tilt and the Great Falls High season.

Sentinel game plan straightforward, effective

There wasn’t anything fancy about the Spartans plan of attack on Friday, but they executed it to near perfection from the final drive of the first half onward.

With starting quarterback Riley Allen out for another game, Sentinel started sophomore Rudy Hess under center. They were held without a first down until deep into the second frame by the Bison defense.

The Spartans then turned to 6-foot-6, 240-pound Danny Sirmon — normally a tight end — and began to pound the ball. Sirmon’s numbers didn’t jump off the stat sheet, with just 53 yards on the ground, but he was consistently gaining positive yardage. The Sentinel offensive line was also opening up lanes for the committee of ball carriers, with Ryan Haidle leading the way with 79 yards and a touchdown as it put together long, sustained drives to take control.

The Spartans took the lead for good with 11 seconds to go in the first half as they drove 93 yards for a score.

“They held onto the ball a long time and made our defense tired,” Great Falls High head coach Coda Tchida said. “I thought our defense held up in the first half. You could kind of tell we were getting tired toward the end of the second quarter and they scored that (touchdown) and I think that woke them up offensively.”

Great Falls High senior class ‘set the standard again’

The Bison lose a number of standout players to graduation, including defensive end Cooper Collins, tailback/cornerback Ryder English and running back Izayah Brown.

Collins led all of Class AA in sacks with 12 and finishes his career with 22, which is second all-time in program history to former teammate Wyatt DeVoss (28).

Safety Grant O’Neill was fifth in the state in tackles with 85, and corner Brevin Brockie was tied for third with four interceptions.

English finished the season second to Collins on Great Falls High with 12 tackles for loss as a defensive back while also averaging 6.6 yards per carry with six touchdowns on offense. Brown had the fourth-most rushing yards in the AA with 801 in the regular season and six scores as well.

“I told the seniors, from game one to now, they’ve essentially grown up in front of our eyes,” Tchida said. “The effort, the attitude they’ve given all year, I’m grateful for that. One game doesn’t define a season. I think we had a lot of big wins. I can go back to the game against (Billings) Senior on a Thursday night, that was a huge win for our program. They set the standard again for our program.

“I think we did take a step forward. All of the things we do in our program, I think we’re doing it the right way. I can’t thank them enough and I wish them the best moving forward. They’ll always be a part of the program and can come back and ask me anything they want. I’ll do anything I can for those kids.”

Bison to return experience, talent

The future is promising for the Bison, as a number of underclassmen earned a lot of snaps this season.

Junior quarterback Riley Collette gained a full season of experience after starting two games as a sophomore, passing for over 1,100 yards and 11 touchdowns to five interceptions.

Junior Braedon Rankin came into his own as an effective running back, averaging over 9 yards per carry and was also third on the team in tackles with 57 at linebacker.

Junior linebacker and captain Mason Kralj was once again among the AA leaders in tackles with 82 stops and 10.5 for loss and also logged a number of snaps at tight end, catching a touchdown against Missoula Hellgate.

Sophomore defensive end Colter DeVoss racked up six sacks on the year and junior defensive tackle Isaac Tolan had four quarterback stops and 10 tackles for loss overall.

Trace Hulett, a junior defensive back, had a pair of interceptions on top of a team-leading five passes defended and a forced fumble.

“This season has been great and I’m proud of the effort of everyone involved, the coaches and the kids,” Tchida said. “We can’t hang our heads on one game. Our junior class is a special class. They live for football. They’re going to be a great senior class. They’re dedicated, hard-working. The sophomore class, they’ve got to grow, but the senior class (next year) is there to lead. They’ve bought in here and I think the future is bright for us next year and beyond.”

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Great Falls High School football team to return much experience