Great Falls High blanks Billings Senior

Quarterback Ashton Platt threw for two touchdowns and Reed Harris and Ryder English added rushing scores as the Great Falls High football team moved past Billings Senior 28-0 Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

Cornerback Romeo Orozco snagged two of four Bison interceptions, with defensive lineman Raven Hensley and defensive back Noah Johnson grabbing one each.

A 34-yard Harris run near the end of the first half set up a Platt scoring toss to Mason LaPlante from four yards out with three seconds left as Great Falls High took a 21-0 lead at the break.

The Bison, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern AA entering the game, moved to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in conference play with one game to go in the regular season.

“When we’re healthy, we’re a great football team,” Bison head coach Coda Tchida said. “We’re well-rounded on offense, defense. Tate O’Neill did a great job on kickoffs tonight, he did a great job on PATs…Overall, if we’re healthy, and our guys are prepared and ready to go, we can play with any team. I have no doubt in my mind. And to shut out a Billings Senior team like that tonight, the defense played outstanding.”

Running back Rafe Longin, who was out most of the past two games with an ankle injury, ran for 86 yards and Ryder English racked up 89 yards, including a 34-yard rush to paydirt in the only touchdown of the second half.

Star of the Game

Reed Harris, Great Falls High: Harris finished the night with 110 yards rushing and the score on top of three catches for 41 yards. Most of his runs came on keepers lined up in the shotgun at quarterback.

The senior, typically a linebacker on defense this season, lined up at defensive end on Friday and also handled the punting duties for the Bison, averaging 34 yards a kick.

“We’ve been holding that back a little bit, keeping him at receiver, but when you have an athlete like that, you’ve got to let him loose,” Tchida said, referring to Harris taking snaps at QB. “Defensively, we knew (Senior’s) run game was good with their quarterback so switched up our defense a little bit to have him contain. As you can tell, when he’s in there, it’s tough for offensive lines to deal with him.”

Turning Point

Great Falls High led 14-0 early in the second quarter, with Platt hitting receiver Elijah Stanfield for a 73-yard touchdown in the first and Harris kicking off the second quarter with a 20-yard run on a keeper.

The Broncs mounted an 18-play drive in response that took nearly eight minutes off the clock down to the Bison 16, but Orozco nabbed his first of two picks off quarterback Peyton Oakley in the end zone on fourth down.

On the ensuing drive at the Senior 40 with 22 seconds left in the half, Harris took a keeper 34 yards down to the 4, spinning off one tackle and dragging multiple defenders with him to the ground.

Two plays later, Platt hit the tight end LaPlante for a four-yard score as Great Falls High took a commanding 21-0 advantage into the locker room.

“I’m excited about how well they played tonight,” Tchida said. “All the preparation that we put into this game and the outcome we expected happened, so now we can look forward to next Friday night with crosstown and get ready for CMR.”

What It Means

The Bison locked up a home playoff game with the victory, as they were tied with the Broncs and C.M. Russell High at 2-3 in conference play for the No. 4 seed entering Friday. The Rustlers fell to Billings West 27-3 on the road Friday to fall to 2-4 in the Eastern AA and 3-5 overall, meaning Great Falls High (5-3) holds the tiebreaker of overall record regardless of the outcome of next week’s crosstown game.

Extra Points

-Senior quarterback Ashton Platt returned from injury after missing two games with ankle injury, completing just six passes but for 121 yards and the two touchdowns.

“The great thing with Ashton is he doesn’t lose a beat. He’s a very smart kid, he’s reliable and does the job that we ask him to do," Tchida said. "He’s not going to put the ball in danger, he’s going to make the right plays and he’s going to run when he has to. And then he makes great throws. He’s really a great quarterback for our team in what we want to accomplish as an offense. I’m so proud of him coming back after two weeks with a high ankle sprain, and just stepping up and being the leader that we expect for our football team.

-Junior Ryder English, coming off a five-touchdown game against Billings Skyview last week, continues to be a highly effective runner for Great Falls High as Longin works his way back from injury. English handled most of the running back duties in the fourth quarter to close out the game, scoring the touchdown early in the fourth while averaging nearly nine yards per carry.

-While “big-man” touchdowns are fairly rare in football, it’s also not too often that you see interceptions from defensive linemen. Senior Raven Hensley did just that Friday, snatching a pick off a ball tipped at the line early in the fourth quarter, leading to an eruption from the Bison sideline. The pick led to English’s touchdown the very next play.

Senior 0 0 0 0 - 0

GFH 7 14 0 7 - 28

First quarter

GFH - Elijah Stanfield 73 pass from Ashton Platt (Tate O’Neill kick) (3:51)

Second quarter

GFH - Reed Harris 20 run (O’Neill kick) (10:03)

GFH - Mason LaPlante 4 pass from Platt (O’Neill kick) (0:03)

Fourth quarter

GFH - Ryder English 34 run (O’Neill kick) (8:04)

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Great Falls High blanks Billings Senior