Hot Springs outsprints Custer-Hysham, 78-51
Hot Springs senior John Waterbury (23) tackles a Custer-Hysham runner during their 6-player first round playoff game Saturday in Hysham. (Photo by Teresa Waterbury)
Fans who attended the Hot Springs at Custer-Hysham playoff contest, must have thought they went to a track meet and a football game broke out.
The two six-player high school football teams clashed in the first round of the Montana six-player championships this past weekend and Hot Springs outsprinted Custer-Hysham 78-51.
Yup, 129 points in a football game with 10-minute quarters, and that’s probably not even close to a scoring total record.
Offense rules the roost in the six-player world. So does speed.
The win by Hot Springs keeps them alive in the state playoffs and earns them a home game this Saturday in quarterfinals versus Highwood, an unincorporated “town” east of Great Falls. Kickoff is set for 1 pm at Hot Springs High.
After beginning the year with an uncharacteristic pair of losses, the Savage Heat and coach Jim Lawson have roared back and are in the thick of the state title race.
Senior running back Weston Slonaker got the Heat on the scoreboard first when he capped a Hot Springs drive with a one-yard TD plunge. The point after touchdown (PAT) kick was no good, but in the early moments of the first quarter, Hot Springs was up 6-0.
Custer-Hysham (the Rebels) tied the score a short time later with a seven-yard touchdown run. The PAT try was no good, knotting the score at 6-6.
On Hot Springs’ next possession, Slonaker found the end zone for the second time, this one a seven-yard run. Junior foreign exchange student Pedro Vidotti kicked the PAT, which in six-player football is worth two points, putting the Heat ahead 14-8.
Custer pulled even on their next time with the ball, capping a drive with a 20-yard TD pass from quarterback Larry Duncan. The PAT was no good.
On the ensuing kickoff, sophomore wide receiver Ben Aldridge, who has emerged as a standout this season, hauled in the kick at the five yard line and raced 75 yards for a return TD. Vidotti added the PAT kick and as the first quarter came to an end, Hot Springs held a 22-12 lead.
The two teams continued their offensive fireworks in the second quarter when they combined for seven touchdowns. Custer’s scores came on two passing plays, one from 18 yards out and the other from seven yards. The Rebels also scored on two TD runs of one yard each. None of the PAT attempts were successful.
Hot Springs, meanwhile, a 44-yard touchdown reception by Slonaker and a seven-yarder hauled in by Aldridge. Both TDs were thrown by senior quarter Nick McAllister. Slonaker also scored via a seven-yard run, his fourth touchdown of the first half.
At the halftime intermission, Hot Springs held a 44-38 advantage.
The third quarter was all Hot Springs, beginning with a 27-yard touchdown run by McAllister. Slonaker then scored his fifth touchdown of the game on a 36-yard stroll to paydirt. He added TD number six for the game a short time later when he plunged over the goal line from three yards out.
McAllister added his second touchdown of the third quarter via a 21-yard run, then handed off to Daniel Slonaker, sophomore brother of Weston, and he scooted 18 yards with another Savage Heat touchdown.
When the third quarter was over, Hot Springs had exploded out to a 78-38 lead.
Duncan threw for two touchdowns for Custer-Hysham in the fourth quarter, his fourth and fifth passing scores of the quarter, but it was way too little, way too late to overcome the mammoth Hot Springs lead.
Custer-Hysham's season came to an end with the loss, which dropped them to 6-4 on the year. Hot Springs is now 7-3 on the year, the same record as their next opponent, the Highwood Mountaineers, who beat Bainville 52-0 last week.