Billings Central does it with no passing. Kyle leads the receivers--has his personal varsity best.

Rams stop Beavers
By Bill Foley The Montana Standard (Butte)- 11/16/2008

DILLON — In September it was a shootout.

Saturday, it was a defensive struggle.

The end result, though, was the same when the Dillon Beavers and Billings Central Rams met on the football field.

Billings Central left Vigilante Field with a 21-7 win to advance to the Class A state championship game. The win was the 23rd straight for the defending champion Rams (11-0), who will host Miles City next Saturday at Daylis Stadium.

Miles City beat Frenchtown 43-16 in Saturday's other semifinal game.

"Defense won the game for us today," Billings Central coach Jim Stanton said. "Coach (Randy) Chilton had those kids ready."

The scoreboard showed a 14-point BC win. For the most part, however, the game came down to a matter of inches.

Down 14-7 and facing a fourth-and-1 at the Billings Central 18-yard line late in the game, the Beavers (8-3) ran a quarterback sneak with senior Bryce Carver.

The officials measured for a first down, and it came up inches short.

"It was a yard or so, and we thought we could get it," Dillon coach Terry Thomas said of the move that gave the ball back to Billings Central with 4 minutes, 46 seconds left. "We were a little short."

"In the fourth quarter it came down to us and the fourth-and-one, and we didn't get it."

The Dillon defense, which allowed just one second-half first down, got the ball back for one last chance.

On fourth-and-10 from the Dillon 49, Carver appeared to hit classmate Tanner Strozzi for an 11-yard reception. As Strozzi hit the ground, though, the ball popped out and into the waiting arms of junior Cole Cattelan, who had two of Billings Central's four interceptions.

The Beavers defense tried again to get the ball back. With Billings Central facing a fourth-and-1 at the Dillon 37, the Beavers were out of time outs and out of luck.

The Rams called time out with 30 seconds left to set up the play, and the Beavers sold out to stop the run.

Senior Tyler Hawkins broke loose on a sweep left and raced for the game-clinching touchdown with 23 seconds on the clock.

The other two BC touchdowns came in the second quarter.

Senior Aleksei Grosulak, who was held to 59 yards on 19 carries, busted through the middle for a 2-yard touchdown with 6:27 left before halftime.

The score came one play after sophomore Max Tolstedt swept right for a 20-yard run.

On Dillon's next play, a defensive lineman got a hand on a Carver pass, and junior Kevin O'Brien made a diving catch for an interception at the Dillon 26.

Seven plays later, O'Brien swept right for at 2-yard TD run with 3:03 on the clock.

Extra points by junior Than Schopp made it 14-0 at the half.

Billings Central racked up 153 of its 249 yards — all rushing — in the first half. The Rams had 15 yards of offense in the third quarter.

"In the first half the only play they really got us on the sweep," Thomas said. "We took their fullback away for the most part up the middle, then we were able to rally to most of their counters."

The Beavers forced the Rams three-and-out on five of their seven second-half possessions.

Carver recovered a fumble to end another BC drive.

"They put the stop to us in that second half," Stanton said. "We had no answers, and couldn't pick up a first down."

Seniors Brandon Robinson, Matt Sawyer, Sage Knox and Tyler Dyk led the defensive charge along with junior Derrick Hucke, sophomore Monte Folsum and freshman Zeke Koslosky.

"They made us work really hard for yardage, and we made them work for yardage," Thomas said. "It was more of a defensive battle this time around."

Dillon, which had just 24 yards of offense in the first half, started moving the ball in the third quarter.

Carver capped a nine-play, 71-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run on a draw with 30 seconds left in the third.

The drive started with a 22-yard Carver pass to senior Travis Rehm, and it took advantage of a face mask (against Kyle) and pass interference penalty.

"I was proud of the way our kids kept battling offensively and found to different ways to get the ball going down the field," Thomas said. "In the second half they were able to punch that one in and then move the ball a little bit in the fourth quarter. They certainly threatened.

"It's just one of those days were we came up a hair short."

The Rams held off all the Beaver threats in the fourth quarter.

Billings Central sacked Carver five times — two by Cattelan and one by Schopp and seniors Josh McQueen and Michael Henthom — and held the Beavers to just seven yards rushing.

Sophomore Justin MacDonald also had a Billings Central interception.

"There defense is pretty salty, and it took everything we could to move the ball," Thomas said. "But boy our defense played awesome, too."

Carver passed for 111 of his 140 yards in the second half. He hit senior Kyle deGolia six times for 50 yards.

Strozzi caught six passes for 35 yards, while Rehm hauled in four for 43. Juniors Toby Shepherd and Garrett Banning also caught passes.

Banning caught a 4-yard pass on the first play of Dillon's second possession. He took a hard hit from McQueen and left the game with a neck injury.

Banning was strapped to a board and carried off the field. The public address announcer said in the fourth quarter that Banning was heading for a CAT scan and said he was going to be OK.

Hawkins ran for 91 yards on 13 carries to lead the Rams, while O'Brien ran 13 times for 74 yards. Grosulak, who entered with 1,513 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season, was held to 15 yards in the second half.

Grosulak rushed for 267 yards and five touchdowns — including a 7-yard game-winner in overtime — in Billings Central's 41-35 win over Dillon Sept. 13 at Daylis Stadium.

The Rams won their first state title in 39 years on the same field last year. Next week they'll try to make it back-to-back against a team they beat 14-8 three weeks ago.

"We played them the last game of the regular season and, of course, my brother Dan is the head coach. So we're really familiar," Stanton said. "Who would have thought we'd have been in this position? We're going to go there next week, have some fun and play hard. It will be the last game we have to play."

Billings Central 0 14 0 7 — 21

Dillon 0 0 7 0 — 7

Second Quarter

BC — Aleksei Grosulak 2 run (Than Schopp kick), 6:27

BC — Kevin O'Brien 2 run (Schopp kick), 3:03

Third Quarter

DIL — Bryce Carver 2 run (Carver kick), :30

Fourth Quarter

BC — Tyler Hawkins 37 run (Schopp kick), :23

BC DIL

First downs 10 12

Rushes-yards 55-249 22-7

Comp.-Att.-Int. 0-2-0 18-29-4

Passing yards 0 140

Total yards 249 147

Punts-Ave. 6-35.7 5-43.6

Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 10-81 3-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — BC, Hawkins 13-91, O'Brien 13-74, Grosulak 19-59, Max Tolsteadt 3-21, Cole Cattelan 6-5, Team 1-(-1). Dillon, Sam Parke 3-7, Carver 19-0.

PASSING — BC, Cattelan 0-2-0-0. Dillon, Carver 18-29-4-140.

RECEIVING — BC, none. Dillon, Kyle deGolia 6-50, Travis Rehm 4-43, Tanner Strozzi 5-35, Toby Shepherd 2-8, Garrett Banning 1-4.

Central marches into Class A championship game

By The Gazette Staff
DILLON - Billings Central didn't get its usual 100-yard-plus rushing performance from Aleksei Grosulak.

But it didn't matter.

The defense put the clamps on Bryce Carver and the Dillon Beavers Saturday to register a 21-7 victory and get a shot at a second straight Class A championship.

No. 1-ranked Central (11-0) won its 23rd straight game and will play host to No. 2 Miles City (10-1) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Wendy's Field at Daylis Stadium.

Miles City made it an all-Eastern A final by whipping Frenchtown 43-16 in Saturday's other semifinal. Central edged Miles City 14-8 in their regular-season meeting Oct. 25 in Billings.

Grosulak came in averaging 151 yards a game, including a 256-yard effort in a 41-35 overtime victory over Dillon on Sept. 13. He was limited to 59 yards on 19 carries.

With the Beavers spending so much attention on Grosulak, it opened things up for Tyler Hawkins and Kevin O'Brien. Hawkins gained 91 yards and sealed the victory with a 37-yard run with 23 seconds remaining in the game. O'Brien added 74 yards on 13 carries and scored a touchdown.

Central still rolled up 249 yards rushing, but it was the play of the defense that was the big difference.

"Without a doubt, the defense won the game for us," said Central coach Jim Stanton, who will coach against his brother, Dan, in the championship game. "Coach (Randy) Chilton had those kids ready."

Central held the Beavers to just 147 yards, cutting off the running lanes, especially by quarterback Carver. Carver ran 19 times for zero yards and he didn't do much better passing, going 18 of 29 for 140 yards.

Central intercepted Carver four times. Cole Cattelan made two, and Justin McDonald and O'Brien had one each.

"Lexi (Grosulak) played well and so did Max Tolstedt," Stanton said. "We had him spy on the quarterback a lot and he did a nice job."

Central broke up a scoreless game in the second quarter when Grosulak and O'Brien scored on two-yard runs.

"They took away Lexi and we were able to get outside," Stanton said. "In the second half, they shut us down."

Dillon closed within 14-7 on a two-yard run by Carver with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

Still trailing 14-7 and facing a fourth-and-1 at the Billings Central 18-yard line late in the game, the Beavers (8-3) ran a quarterback sneak with senior Carver.

The officials measured for a first down, and it came up inches short.

"It was a yard or so, and we thought we could get it," Dillon coach Terry Thomas said of the move that gave the ball back to Billings Central with 4 minutes, 46 seconds left. "We were a little short.

"In the fourth quarter it came down to us and the fourth-and-one, and we didn't get it."

The Dillon defense, which allowed just one second-half first down, got the ball back for one last chance.

On fourth-and-10 from the Dillon 49, Carver appeared to hit classmate Tanner Strozzi for an 11-yard reception. As Strozzi hit the ground, though, the ball popped out and into the waiting arms of junior Cattelan, who had two of Billings Central's four interceptions.

The Beavers defense tried again to get the ball back. With Billings Central facing a fourth-and-1 at the Dillon 37, the Beavers were out of time outs and out of luck.

The Rams called time out with 30 seconds left to set up the play, and the Beavers sold out to stop the run. Senior Hawkins broke loose on a sweep left and raced for a 37-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left that provided the final 14-point margin.

"I was proud of the way our kids kept battling offensively and found to different ways to get the ball going down the field," Thomas said. "In the second half they were able to punch that one in and then move the ball a little bit in the fourth quarter. They certainly threatened.

"It's just one of those days were we came up a hair short."

Central sacked Carver five times - two by Cattelan and one by Schopp and seniors Josh McQueen and Michael Henthom - and held the Beavers to just seven yards rushing.

Sophomore Justin MacDonald also had a Billings Central interception.

"There defense is pretty salty, and it took everything we could to move the ball," Thomas said. "But boy our defense played awesome, too."

Hawkins ran for 91 yards on 13 carries to lead the Rams, while O'Brien ran 13 times for 74 yards. Grosulak, who entered with 1,513 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season, was held to 15 yards in the second half.

Grosulak rushed for 267 yards and five touchdowns - including a 7-yard game-winner in overtime - in Billings Central's 41-35 win over Dillon Sept. 13 at Daylis Stadium.

The Rams won their first state title in 39 years on the same field last year. Next week they'll try to make it back-to-back against a team they beat 14-8 three weeks ago.

"We played them the last game of the regular season and, of course, my brother Dan is the head coach. So we're really familiar," Stanton said. "Who would have thought we'd have been in this position? We're going to go there next week, have some fun and play hard. It will be the last game we have to play."

Central beat Dillon 28-13 last year in the championship game to finish 12-0.

Billings Central 0 14 0 7 - 21

Dillon 0 0 7 0 - 7

Second Quarter

BC - Aleksei Grosulak 2 run (Than Schopp kick), 6:27

BC - Kevin O'Brien 2 run (Schopp kick), 3:03

Third Quarter

DIL - Bryce Carver 2 run (Carver kick), :30

Fourth Quarter

BC - Tyler Hawkins 37 run (Schopp kick), :23

BC DIL

First downs 10 12

Rushes-yards 55-249 22-7

Comp-Att-Int 0-2-0 18-29-4

Passing yards 0 140

Total yards 249 147

Punts-Avg 6-35.7 5-43.6

Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 10-81 3-20

Rushing - BC, Hawkins 13-91, O'Brien 13-74, Grosulak 19-59, Max Tolsteadt 3-21, Cole Cattelan 6-5, Team 1-(-1). Dillon, Sam Parke 3-7, Carver 19-0.

Passing - BC, Cattelan 0-2-0-0. Dillon, Carver 18-29-4-140.

Receiving - BC, none. Dillon, Kyle deGolia 6-50, Travis Rehm 4-43, Tanner Strozzi 5-35, Toby Shepherd 2-8, Garrett Banning 1-4.