ONE MORE TO GO

HOT SPRINGS — The entire Hot Springs football season has been played with one goal in mind.

Now there’s just one more step to reach it.

The Savage Heat (12-0) dominated Valier 58-8 last Saturday and will play Westby-Grenora this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Plentywood for the Class C six-man state championship.

“From day one, [the state championship] has been the goal,” Hot Springs coach Jim Lawson said. “It’s definitely been that motivation throughout the year. That’s what they wanted — to make it all the way to the end of the season and win one of those.”

Hot Springs continued its dominant run with a 50-point win in the state semifinals, their 11th win of the season by at least 50 points. The only victory that wasn’t, Sept. 9 at Lincoln, was by 49 points.

The offense, led by Montana’s all-time touchdown leader Trevor Paro, has been explosive all season, but the defense was also exceptional against the Panthers. Valier’s only score came on a 60-yard Colton Wheeler kickoff return in the first quarter.

The Hot Springs defense has shut out six opponents and allowed more than one touchdown in only two games.

“The players are smart,” Lawson said when asked why his defense has been so stout.

“I think a big part of it is them getting off the ball so quick. We’re not really big but we just make sure we get them to the right spots at the right time and don’t make mistakes — we don’t miss tackles.”

Hot Springs wore down Valier with a punishing running game and held a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Savage Heat scored three more touchdowns in the second quarter to pull in front 36-8 at halftime.

Paro finished with 174 yards on 16 carries and scored four touchdowns. Kane Lawson added 68 yards on the ground and caught a touchdown pass from Paro in the second quarter.

Quarterback Marco Degel went 7 for 7 passing in the win and threw two touchdown passes, both to Sean Shea.

“You have to work hard for everything for everything you get against [Valier],” Jim Lawson said. “We got a pretty effective run game going and we kept that going most of the game. We just kind of did what we’ve been doing all season and that’s sticking with the ground game and playing good defense.”

Saturday’s championship game will be played in Plentywood instead of Grenora, North Dakota, which is where Westby-Grenora typically plays its home games. The drive is still nearly 10 hours from Hot Springs to Plentywood, and because of the long trip the team will leave on Thursday.

The Savage-Heat saw Westby-Grenora in the state quarterfinals in 2014 and lost 32-23.

“You get a lot of spread formations, they do a lot of different things,” Lawson said. “They’re kind of a crazy team to prepare for in the sense that they do so many things and formations. It’s just a real mix and they like to pass the football a lot.

“You throw in their speed athletes into that, too, and they can definitely cause a lot of problems for teams.”

Hot Springs won the Class C six-man state championship in 2012, the only title in school history.

Valier 8 0 0 0 — 8

Hot Springs 16 20 8 14 — 58

HS — Trevor Paro 11 run (Marco Degel kick)

V — Colton Wheeler 60 kickoff return (RJ Weickum kick)

HS — Paro 42 run (Degel kick)

HS — Kane Lawson 18 pass from Paro (kick failed)

HS — Sean Shea 27 pass from Degel (kick failed)

HS — Shea 15 pass from Degel (Degel kick)

HS — Paro 39 run (Degel kick)

HS — Paro 1 run (James Detienne pass from Degel)

HS — Lawson 21 fumble return (Luke Waterbury run)