It’s playoff time, and Jefferson High’s football and volleyball teams enjoyed strong first weekends as both launched what they hope will be runs toward state championships.
The football squad made the long trip to Red Lodge to face the Red Lodge-Roberts-Belfry co-op team, which had finished second in the Eastern District during the regular season. The Panthers saw their first snow of the season, though most of what fell was absorbed by game time, as well as their first artificial turf. (The Panthers had prepared by practicing earlier in the week on Montana State University’s turf in Bozeman.)
The game would prove to be a defensive battle. Red Lodge received the ball to start—and three plays later, it was forced to punt. The Panthers immediately took to the ground, as they would all afternoon: Riley Stock picked 9 yards, Luke Oxarart drove for a first down, and Dylan Root ran for 12 on third down.
But the Panthers had to punt, too. Caleb Smartnick’s solid kick through the cool air put Red Lodge deep in its own territory. The Rams moved the ball to the 35, but Root put an end to that with a sack. Then it was Jefferson’s turn—but on fourth down and 2 yards, time ran out in the scoreless first half.
The Panthers finally broke through in the third quarter after Zach Zody came up with a huge interception. Starting from the Panther 40, Zody ran for 5 yards, then Root followed with a run to the Ram 48 for a first down. A deep pass from Zody to Tom Meyer put the ball on the Red Lodge 7, and on third and goal, Zody ran in for a touchdown. Root’s extra-point kick put Jefferson up 7-0. (Quarterback Braden Morris was out with a broken ankle he sustained during the last play of Jefferson’s final regular-season game on Oct. 22, in which the Panthers fell to Broadwater High, 13-7.)
Things looked grim in the fourth when a snap went over Zody’s head. And on fourth and 29, a Panther punt got hung up in the wind for short range, giving the Rams good field position. But the Panther defense clamped down, and a couple of penalties gave Jefferson some breathing room.
With less than two minutes left, Red Lodge came out passing: One completion brought the Rams to their 31, another took them to the 35, then a long pass put them on the Panther 29. But Tyler Harrington prevented a touchdown when he intercepted a pass in the end zone—and the Panthers had the ball with 1:30 remaining.
Jefferson was able to run down the clock and secure the win, to the joy of players and fans who had made the trip. Root led the team with 137 yards rushing, Meyer had 37 yards receiving, and Jake Genger had 15 tackles and a fumble recovery
Everyone assumed that Jefferson would be making the long trip to Malta for its next game, since Malta was the number one seed in the North. But Whitehall, the fourth seed in the West, bucked the odds, coming away with a 34-22 win. The upshot: Instead of traveling to Malta, the Panthers will host Whitehall in the second round on Saturday at 1 p.m.
It turned out that all the teams in the West and the South won their playoff games, eliminating the North and East divisions from the title run. I don’t believe I have ever seen that happen. Florence-Carlton beat Cut Bank 37-0, Columbus took Baker 50-8, Broadwater bested Shepherd 38-8, Bigfork shut out Glasgow 49-0, Eureka defeated Fairfield 42-12, and Sweet Grass County came back with 20 points in the fourth quarter to beat Huntley Project 32-28.
Volleyball
The Panther volleyball team cruised through the district tournament in Manhattan undefeated, securing the title for the second year in a row.
First up was Three Forks, which had defeated Sweet Grass County earlier in the day. Dakota Edmisten started the scoring with a kill, and Baylee Toney’s block gave the Panthers a quick 6-0 lead. A block by Sophie Livesay made it 12-2, and Sydney Mace put over two aces to pad the lead to 19-6. Rachel Van Blaricom slammed over a hard kill, Edmisten took over with three kills and Van Blaricom finished it off with a soft kill to take the first set, 25-14.
In the second, Three Forks tied the score at 3, but kills by Edmisten, an ace by Toney and a block by Livesay put the Panthers up 7-3. Van Blaricom started shooting hits over the net to put the Panthers up 19-6, and a Toney kill made it 23-7 on the way to a 25-7 win. The third set was much the same. After Van Blaricom’s kill made it 22-6, subs took over, and the Panthers took the sweep, 25-9. Edmisten and Van Blaricom combined for 32 kills, Gracie Leiva had 18 assists, and Emma McCauley made 12 digs. Livesay added eight blocks, and Mace served two aces.
The win put Jefferson into Friday morning action against Broadwater, the only team it had lost to in the regular season. The first two sets were crowd pleasers, as the teams stayed close all the way. The Bulldogs jumped a 3-1 lead and held a 1- or 2-point edge until Edmisten snuck a kill into the corner then followed with two more kills to put the Panthers up 15-14. From there it was a barn burner: Down 20-18, the Panthers came back to tie the set on a Van Blaricom kill at 22; as the gym got loud, Edmisten made it 25-24 with a hard kill and the Panthers took the win 26-24.
The second set was just as tight; the biggest lead by either team was 4 points. After several ties the Panthers took a 23-20 lead, but that was short lived as Broadwater came back to tie the set at 24. Finally, Van Blaricom put the set away with a kill for another 26-24 win.
The third saw the Panthers go up 12-9 on McCauley’s ace, and a couple of kills by Edmisten made it 16-13. But then the flow changed, and the Bulldogs came back to go up 18-17. Blocks by Livesay and Toney made it 23-21, and Toney followed with a kill to make it 24-21. Final: 25-21. Van Blaricom had 14 kills, 28 digs and one block in this one, while Edmisten notched 18 kills, 12 digs, and two blocks. Mace made 15 digs, 12 assists, and an ace, and Leiva had an ace, 18 digs and three assists. MacKenzie Layng added six digs and an assist.
Broadwater beat Manhattan in the consolation bracket—and so got one more chance to take down the Panthers, this time for the title. This was another back-and-forth affair: Jefferson fell behind early, 8-6, took a 17-16 lead, tied the score at 22, and finally lost the first set, 25-23. But they came back in the second: a Toney kill made it 5-2, kills by Van Blaricom and Edmisten made it 14-10, and the Panthers closed out the set with a 6-1 run for a 25-19 win.
The third set was tied several times before Jefferson took the win 25-22. But the fourth wasn’t as close: The Panthers went up 10-3, and they went on to win, 25-15. Edmisten powered over 37 kills in the match, Toney and Mace each had four blocks, and McCauley made 18 digs.
Broadwater took second and Manhattan third; they will join Jefferson in the divisional tournament this weekend at Huntley Project. Jefferson’s opening match is against Joliet at noon on Thursday.
