Blue Hawks lose in Joliet, 23-14
It will likely be good for some home cooking for the road-bound Thompson Falls Blue Hawks B-11 football team.
They’ve been on the road for the first two weeks of the season, with a road game still on the agenda next Friday (Sept. 13) in Manhattan.
They’ve earned a split of the first two games against quality Class B, 11-player opponents, pulling out a last-minute, 48-45 win over Conrad two weekends ago, then dropping a hard-fought battle with Joliet this past Friday. The Joliet game was played in Butte to split the otherwise daunting number of travel miles involved.
Joliet improved to 2-0 on the infant 2024 season with a 23-14 win over the Blue Hawks, a game that was decided in the fourth quarter. That was the same situation with T Falls’ last-minute win over Conrad in the season opener for both teams.
And this coming Friday they take on a 1-0 Manhattan team that went 11-2 last year.
This past Friday in Butte Joliet got on the scoreboard first via a 31-yard touchdown run and a successful point after touchdown (PAT) that put them in front 7-0. That score held up through the rest of the first quarter as both teams played solid defense.
In the first half of the second quarter, the Blue Hawks capped a touchdown drive with a one-yard plunge into the end zone by senior quarterback Bryson LeCoure. Kaiden Robins added the PAT kick to tie the score at 7-7.
Before the second quarter came to an end, Joliet regained the lead on a 10-yard TD run and a PAT kick that put the J-Hawks ahead 14-7 at the half.
Joliet stretched the lead with a safety in the third quarter, putting them ahead 16-7. But Thompson Falls answered with a touchdown run from 19 yards out by Robins before the third quarter came to an end. That score and a successful PAT kick by Robins pulled T Falls to within two points, 16-14.
Both defenses clamped down the rest of the way, with the only score being a three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter by Joliet. The PAT kick was good, boosting the J-Hawks to a 23-14 lead as time ran out.
LeCoure was the leading rusher for the Blue Hawks, running for 104 yards on 15 carries. Sam Burgess had 55 yards on the ground on five totes, and Robins finished with 29 yards on 12 rushes.
Robins also had 24 yards receiving for the game.
On defense, LeCoure led T Falls with seven, while Robins chipped in four tackles.
The Blue Hawks travel to Manhattan this Friday for a 7 p.m. game versus the Tigers. They play their first home game of the season Friday, September 20 when they host Jefferson High (Boulder, MT) at Previs Field in T Falls.