Bridger ends season for Hot Springs in heart-breaking fashion

By CHUCK BANDEL

Valley Press

Football over the years has been described and labeled in many fashions.

It’s a game of inches, America’s game, a brawl, controlled chaos and a myriad of other fan-generated monikers.

It can make you very happy or break your heart.

It was all of those and more Saturday afternoon when the Bridger Scouts and Hot Springs Savage Heat collided in a round one, Montana high school 6-man football playoff game.

The final outcome was not decided until the last seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock as a Hail Mary pass covering 50-plus yards left Hot Springs just a few precious yards shy of a comeback “win for the books” as the visiting Scouts escaped with a 41-38 victory.

In this COVID-19 and wildfire smoke shortened and altered season, the two teams entered the battle with one loss each.

Hot Springs (3-1) was coming off its only loss of the season, a lopsided loss to White Sulphur Springs that was the Heat’s second game in 48 hours due to scheduling related issues and cancelled games.

Bridger sported a 5-1 season mark playing in south central Montana 6-man.

Hot Springs, known for its explosiveness on offense, got thing rolling early after starting from their own 15-yard line following the opening kickoff.

Several strong runs and a key yardage gobbling pass moved the ball deep into Bridger territory in opening minutes of the game.

On fourth-and-goal from the 6, Heat quarterback Jack McAllister flipped a short pass into the end zone that was corralled by junior wideout Kyle Lawson for the game’s first touchdown.

A successful point after touchdown kick gave Hot Springs an 8-0 lead with 6:07 to go in quarter number one.

The Savage Heat then held Bridger to a punting situation on their opening drive and the Scouts coughed it up on the kick, a fumble which was pounced on by the host team.

Bridger’s defense then regrouped and forced Hot Springs into a punting situation where, on fourth-and-15, a fake punt attempt was blocked by the Scouts and recovered on Hot Springs 35-yard line.

The visitors were held to no gain on the next three plays and were facing a fourth-and-15 when Scouts quarterback Chance Goltz connected with receiver Zach Althoff on a 35-yard passing TD with just 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The successful PAT kick tied the game at 8-8 as time expired in the opening frame.

Both teams defenses stiffened in the second quarter resulting in a battle of punters before Hot Springs was able to break the Bridger defense.

After getting the ball back on downs from the Scouts at the Heat 30, Hot Springs got a pair of first down runs from Lincoln Slonaker and Lawson which helped moved the ball to Bridger’s 8.

From there, McAllister ripped around end and found his way into the end zone for six points. The PAT kick attempt was blocked leaving Hot Springs with a 14-8 lead with just under three minutes to play in the half.

Those final three minutes of the first half were about as action packed as it gets.

After McAllister’s TD run, the Scouts drove the length of the field and were just a few yards away from tying the game when a short pass to the end zone was picked off by McAllister, who romped down the visiting sideline on a 73-yard journey that took the ball to the Bridger two.

One play later, McAllister plunged over the goal line giving Hot Springs a 20-8 lead with two minutes to play in the initial half.

That score was short-lived. On the ensuing kickoff the Scouts’ Rod Zentner hauled in the ball at the Bridger 5 and outran the Hot Springs sextet on his way to a 75-yard return TD.

With 1:46 left in the first half, McAllister rolled to his left and found Slonaker all alone in the middle of the field. The 42-yard pass-catch-run combination resulted in a Hot Springs TD that gave the Heat a 26-14 lead with a scant 54 seconds to go.

A fumble recovered by Slonaker snuffed out a Bridger drive as the first half came to a close.

Bridger got the ball first in the third quarter and quickly moved downfield on a drive that was capped by a 13-yard touchdown strike from Goltz. That score moved Bridger within four points, 24-20 with most of the third frame left to play.

It was then Hot Springs’ turn. A series of runs by Lawson and McAllister moved the football to the Bridger 12, where McAllister plopped a short pass into Lawson’s hands and a touchdown that put the hosts up 32-20.

The Savage Heat would get the ball right back when McAllister pounced on a Scouts fumble that set Hot Springs up on the Bridger 32.

The subsequent Hot Springs drive set up a fourth and goal situation from the Bridger one yard line. McAllister then dove over the goal for another TD, boosting the Hot Springs lead to 38-20 with 1:32 to go in quarter three.

After the kickoff and a short drive downfield, Goltz, a 6-4 junior, broke loose and ran 35 yards for a Bridger score as time ran out in the third quarter.

With the score 38-27 in favor of Hot Springs, Bridger forced a fumble on the Heats’ next drive and recovered the ball on Hot Springs 33. Goltz then threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Baylor Pospisil, cutting the Heat lead to 38-35 with 7:12 to go in the game.

On Hot Springs next drive, McAllister flipped a pass under pressure that was intercepted by a wide open Pospisil, who returned it 33 yards for a Bridger score and their first lead of the game.

The two combatants traded defensive stops as the clocked ticked toward zero. With four seconds remaining and Hot Springs in control on its own 5, McAllister let a Hail Mary pass fly seemingly the entire length of the field, where it was caught as the crowd rose in unison.

However, a last second tackle by Bridger stopped the ball just a few yards short of the end zone and sealed the Bridger comeback victory as time ran out for Hot Springs.

The win advances the Scouts to the next round of playoffs where they will likely face White Sulphur Springs. For Hot Springs, this virus and smoke plagued season is over, leaving them with a 3-2 season record.

The game was played the day after near record setting snowfall blanketed most of the region with as much as two feet of powdery white.

Prior to the kickoff, a dedicated group of Hot Springs workers managed to completely clear more than 18 inches of snow from the playing field, leaving it basically unscathed by winter’s wrath.