In this year’s Class B football playoffs, the road to the championship almost inevitably led through Florence, Montana. And for Jefferson High, the quest stopped there.
The Panthers entered the 2021 campaign with special promise—a talented squad laden with seniors, many of whom had played together since grade school. They went 5-3 in the regular season, losing tight games to some of the state’s toughest teams, two of which happened to be in their conference. And in the playoffs, they shut out Red Lodge by 7-0 and then pummeled Whitehall, 42-0.
But Florence-Carlton was in a different place, boasting both Class B’s top-ranked offense this year (43.5 points per game) and the stingiest defense (7.9 points allowed). It had blanked Cut Bank, 37-0, and defeated a good Columbus team, 28-8, to reach the semifinal.
