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.
In the end, the Panthers couldn’t get much offense going, and Florence-Carlton had as much as it needed: The Falcons rolled 52-7 on Saturday and advanced to the state championship game. Jefferson returned home with a very respectable top-four finish.
The Falcons scored the game’s first two touchdowns before Tyler Harrington put the Panthers on the board by stripping the ball from a Falcon player and running it in for a touchdown. Dylan Root’s extra-point kick was good, and the scoreboard showed 14-7. That would prove to be the only points the Panthers would get off the tough Florence-Carlton defense, and the Falcons added many more points as the game went along.
Florence-Carlton will host Bigfork in the championship this Saturday. The Falcons defeated Bigfork 63-26 in the regular season.
For the Panthers: Congratulations on a great year.
