Manhattan Christian leans on athleticism, capitalizes on Lone Peak’s flags and fumbles
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
After Ophir Middle School dominated Manhattan Christian School, winning 48-0 on Friday afternoon, Big Sky football fans hoped to see the barrage continue at the high school level, or at least a competitive battle under the lights. Instead, they endured the opposite.
The Manhattan Christian Eagles set the tone early, exposing blown coverage with a long touchdown pass on their first offensive possession.
From then on, Lone Peak couldn’t stop the slide. Junior quarterback Will Helms rushed for a few chunk plays, and passed with some success to junior running back Eli Gale, but the Big Horns couldn’t assemble a scoring drive. To make matters worse, they were flagged three times for false starts on their own punt attempts in the first quarter alone.
By halftime, quarterback Christian Triemstra led the explosive Eagles’ offense to a 42-0 lead.
The second half began with a glimmer of comeback hope as the Big Horns forced the Eagles to punt, and began moving the ball effectively. A strong contingent of Lone Peak students remained faithful on the sideline. But the Big Horns failed to convert on fourth down, and the Eagles responded with a 60-yard rush to the goal line. Despite the makings of a goal-line stand, Triemstra threw on third down for the Eagles’ seventh touchdown.
“I mean you knew what to expect from them, right? Athletic play by athletic guys, and that’s what we saw,” head coach Dustin Shipman said after the game. “… They’re well coached, they played tough, they played physical, and we didn’t.”
By the end of it, the Eagles earned a 54-point lead, and the Big Horns faced a zero on their side of the scoreboard.
Shipman said the team lacked discipline on Friday, pointing to at least five turnovers on offense, and numerous offsides and false start penalties on punts, “something we practice every single day.”
It was a frustrating night for everyone, but Shipman’s message to the team is simple and clear: they need to play clean.
“We gotta clean these mistakes up, we gotta play physical,” Shipman said. “This is football, we gotta play physical and we can’t make mistakes—not if we want to make any kind of a playoff run, at all.”
Bright spots ahead of homecoming
He said every week, it’s the same few kids playing their hearts out—juniors Eli Gale, Ebe Grabow and Will Helms—and on Friday, those players did flash a few isolated highlights.
On defense, Gale nearly grabbed an interception at the end of the first quarter, and a few plays later, forced a fumble, recovered by Helms. Gale was also a spark in the struggling Big Horn offense. He rushed and received with power and relative success, keeping a few drives alive.
Down 16-0, Grabow returned a kick beyond half-field, bulldozing a tackler on his way down to the turf. He caught a pass from Helms on a well-executed hitch route, and showed his usual ability to gain yards after the catch.
Shipman said the quarterback play needs to be better. After an interception thrown by Helms, Grabow stepped in at quarterback in the second quarter as the Big Horns attempted a wildcat offense. He began with an eight-yard run but fumbled on the second play. He later threw an interception and fumbled again during the Big Horns’ final drive.
Despite the game’s lopsided outcome, Shipman also gave credit to Lone Peak’s offensive and defensive line.
“We worked hard with our linemen all week, and honestly, the line played a pretty solid game,” Shipman said.
He said it’s a long season—three games and a bye week remain—and he feels pretty good about their 3-2 record heading into the team’s next matchup, hosting Powell County High School (Deer Lodge).
“We’ve got a lot of work to do next week,” Shipman said. Coaches mentioned that former Montana State University receiver Clevan Thomas Jr. will attend practice to lead some drills this week. Shipman said “CT” has been helpful with the team throughout the season.
When the Big Horns face Deer Lodge on Oct. 4—both homecoming and the Big Horns’ final home game—the energetic crowd will be eager to see if the team can put Friday’s woes behind them.
