Jefferson High School’s volleyball teams cruised through another week undefeated — with the varsity pulling out its first five-set match of the season to topple Broadwater, its closest rival.
The varsity squad took on Sweet Grass County on October 6 and pulled out the match in four sets. The Panthers sprinted to an early 13-3 lead on an ace by Maddy Johnson, three kills by Dakota Edmisten, and four more by Rachel Van Blaricom. Kills by Abby Youde and Hope Dobyns made it 19-7, and the substitutes took it from there, with a sneak by Sydney Mace capped off the 25-15 win.
The Herders came back in the second set, jumping to a 9-2 lead and extending the margin to 21-13. The Panthers started hitting their way back into the game, but their 10-4 run wasn’t enough; Sweet Grass took it, 25-23.
The third set saw Jefferson return to form. A hard kill by Edmisten made it 6-1, another by Van Blaricom made it 12-7, and Sam Zody tipped the ball over to give the Panthers a 14-8 lead. The Herders pulled to five, but kills by Edmisten and Dobyns gave the Panthers a 25-19 win.
In the fourth, the Herders built a ten point lead, and it looked like the match might go to five, and down 24-16, a comeback looked impossible — but hold on! A pair of aces by Maddie Leiva made it 21-24, and the Panthers kept chipping away. When they scored the winning point, Panther fans had just witnessed an unbelievable comeback, with a 14-2 run making the final 26-24.
Grace Alexander, who refuses to let anything get by her, led the squad with 44 digs. Leiva accounted for 24 assists and 3 aces, while Edmisten had 19 kills and 17 digs, Van Blaricom 17 kills and 14 digs, and Johnson 2 aces.
On Thursday the Broadwater Bulldogs came to “Pantherville,” hoping to avenge their only district loss of the season. Early on, it looked like they might do that, taking the first game 25-20. Jefferson started game two with a 7-3 run, and a block by Brooklyn Pancoast gave the panthers a 19-12 lead. Johnson’s two aces in a row extended the margin to 23-18, and Van Blaricom finished it off with a pair of kills for a 25-18 win.
The Bulldogs led narrowly for most of the third. Down 23-21, the Panthers’ hopes looked dim, but a kill by Van Blaricom, a block by Pancoast and an ace by Johhnson sparked a 26-24 win. In the fourth, the teams were tied four times until the Bulldogs pulled away for a 25-22 win.
For the first time this year, the Panthers had been pushed to four games, and now they faced a 15-point fifth game. You could see the fire in their eyes as they pounded their way to a 6-0 lead. Two blocks by Youde made it 14-4 and a Grace Alexander kill gave the Panthers a deciding 15-6 win.
It was a great and fun match. Alexander had 49 digs, one ace, one kill, and one assist; Van Blaricom added 20 kills and 18 digs; Leiva 4 blocks, 26 assists, and 7 digs; Edmisten 30 kills, 2 blocks, and 20 digs; Zody one ace, 21 assists, and 24 digs; and Emma McCauley one ace, one assist, and 8 digs.
The sub-varsity teams also stayed unbeaten, with both the C and JV squads defeating Sweet Grass County, Broadwater, and East Helena.
The Panthers were set to play Whitehall on Tuesday. After that, there’s one more regular-season match, in Manhattan on Thursday (note the change of date). The District 5B tournament is October 29-30 in Manhattan. Matches will be played in two separate gyms with an hour between matches for cleaning and disinfecting, and fans will only be allowed to watch their own team. More information will follow in next week’s Monitor and from Jefferson High School.
Football
After a three-week losing streak, the Jefferson High School varsity football team got back on track in style with a convincing 45-12 win over Three Forks, its second win of the season.The game’s early going certainly didn’t hint at that lopsided finish. After the Panthers kicked to the Wolves to start the game, Jake Genger intercepted a pass, and Braden Morris scored on a quarterback keeper soon after. Dylan Root notched the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 8:16 left in the first.
Three Forks put its first points on the board after intercepting a Morris pass and returning it to the 10. The PAT was no good, making it 7-6. The Panthers came back with a pass from Morris to Joey Visser, but the Wolves answered another touchdown after numerous Panther penalties to pull to within 14-12.
Then, Jefferson found its groove. Another Morris pass to Genger sent the Panthers into the half with a 21-12 lead. And the second half was all Jefferson: Two plays in, Morris ran in for a touchdown, making it 28-12 with 11:39 left in the third. Jace Oxarart put the Panthers up 35-12 with a touchdown with 2:38 left in the third. And Zach Zody ran in an interception for a 42-12 lead. A field goal by Root made it 45-12 at the end of three, and the underclassmen took over for the final period.
The Panthers are off this week and then finish the regular season on Oct. 23 at league leading Manhattan. Game time is 7:00 p.m.; two family members are allowed per suited Panther player.
Manhattan and Broadwater, currently tied for first place in the district, face off this Friday. Whitehall holds the advantage for third place and Sweet Grass County, Columbus at Jefferson are fighting for fourth. Three Forks is sitting last with no conference wins.
Cross Country
Jefferson High’s “Hoofers” tuned up for next week’s State championship with a meet in Townsend on Oct. 10. The smoke that filled the air in Helena didn’t make its way to Townsend, and the Panther runners fared well.
Logan Hornung improved on last week’s personal best by 43 seconds, crossing the finish line in 18:14. Logan Gillmore followed at 18:54, Christian Gillmore at 20:00, Mikey Emter at 20:17, Dylan Mikesell at 20:35, Dominik Davis at 21:44, and Brendan Gallagher at 21:44.
Delaney Stearns led the lady “Hoofers” with a time of 22:38, followed by Becca Nelson at
25:19, Austie May at 27:09, Hailee Stiles at 27:45, and Becca Abbott at 30:47.
The State meet is in Kalispell on Friday, Oct. 23. This is a change in date due to COVID-19.
Class A and B schools will run on the 23rd and the class C and AA schools will follow on the 24th. On the 23rd, the A girls will start at 10:30 a.m., A boys at 11:30 a.m. After the boys race, the areas will be cleaned before the B girls, which include Jefferson’s, run at 2 p.m., followed by the boys at 3 p.m.
Good luck at State, Panthers!
Correction:
Last week’s Sports Plus reported that Joey Visser had blocked a punt and run it in for a touchdown in the Whitehall game. The Panther in question was actually Jake Genger.
Very sorry for the mistake.
