It was a busy week at Jefferson High leading up to a robust Homecoming celebration. The painting of the J on the hill above Boulder will have to wait a week — that got washed out by rain — but the rest of the celebration went on as planned.
The volleyball squad kicked things off on Thursday against Columbus. The Lady Panthers were coming off a thrilling five-set victory two days earlier in Three Forks, including an epic 32-30 third set. Sophomore Cameron Toney led the charge against the Wolves with 23 kills, 22 of which were assisted by junior MacKenzie Layng.
Against Columbus, Jefferson came away with a 3-1 win — but it wasn’t all easy going. The Panthers had a hard time getting started in the first set, and the Cougars took advantage. After an ace by Erica Shields, the tips went to the Cougars, which built a 19-9 lead. The Panthers pulled to within one, but lost the first, 25-19.
Back-to-back aces by Emma McCauley gave the Panthers a 5-4 lead in the second, and Arena Faler put down two kills made it 9-6. Clara Genger came up with a big block and the Panthers went on to win the second set 25-19.
Ryian Eveland’s block and Toney’s hard kills kept Columbus on their toes. Jefferson built a 17-8 lead in the third and went on to win 25-17. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead in the fourth on a pair of aces by McCauley, then went on to win 25-18.
On Saturday, the volleyball teams traveled to Choteau for a tournament. The Panthers defeated Great Falls Central, 21-12 and 21-14; split with Belt 21-19 and 10-21; lost to Choteau 19-21 and 12-21; and split with Malta 18-21 and 19-16.
The Panthers, now 5-1 in conference play and second to undefeated Broadwater, host a tournament this Saturday at JHS, with nine teams competing. The gyms should be packed.
Football
Coming off its gripping defeat of top-ranked Florence-Carlton the week before, the Jefferson football squad was looking forward to its Homecoming match-up with Broadwater High, another top-10 team. The Panthers made this one close, but they couldn’t pull it out.
Most of the damage came in the first few minutes. Broadwater scored on its first possession, then got the ball back and scored again to go up 14-0. The Bulldogs added a third touchdown with 2:25 left in the first to go up 21-0.
Luke Oxarart finally put the Panthers on the board with a running touchdown, and Dylan Root kicked the PAT to make it 7-21. Root added a field goal from the left side to make it 10-21 at the half.
In the third quarter, Sam Zody intercepted a Broadwater pass and returned it to the 18, then Oxarart took it in for six points. Root’s PAT was good, and suddenly the Panthers were down by just four, 17-21, with 10:16 left in the third.
But the Bulldogs added another touchdown to go up 27-17, and Jefferson couldn’t answer. The Panthers, now 3-2 on the season, will host Big Timber on Friday night, which should be another great game.
Cross Country
The cross country teams traveled to East Helena last Saturday. For the girls, Izzy Morris finished in 26:09, Meredith Rieder in 26:28, Mikaela Morris in 26:33, and Austie May in 27:53.
Among the boys, Luke Mest came in at 19:37, Dominick Hurlbert in 20:06, Christian Gillmore in 21:02, Dylan Mikesell in 21:42, and Matthew Zelenka in 24:16. Mack Boyd and Bridger Marks ran in the JV race. This Friday, the “hoofers” will be at Three Forks.
With additional reporting by Eliza McLaughlin.
