By Bruce Sayler
Butte Central Maroons celebrated on the field like they were Toronto Blue Jays Friday night, or at least Super Bowl champions.
It was for them, for now. Butte Central knocked off Dillon 38-27 on Bob Green Field to close the regular season and win a spot in the state Class A playoffs which begin next week. The Maroons’ first win over the Beavers since 2014 eliminated Dillon from postseason play.
Senior quarterback Ryan Peoples passed for 337 yards, including four touchdowns, and freshman defenders Henly Mansanti and Noah Sutton intercepted passes to make the win an all-school class endeavor. Junior GG Fantini not only caught a 67-yard touchdown aerial from Peoples, but also broke a 97-yard kickoff return to flash his speed and running power.
The win and Senior Night were both celebrated before a good crowd on a football night warm for late October.
“I’m so proud of our guys to get down 7-0 and there’s that Dillon mystique in football – they have such an incredible program,” Butte Central head coach Don Peoples Jr. said. “And, our guys took a lead at halftime. It was a huge response.”
The coach noted that the Maroons were a little short-handed with three regular lineman out because of injuries and the team starting four freshmen and three sophomores on the field.
Senior Colt Hassler, junior Gunnar O’Brien and sophomore Burkley Lakkala were the linemen limited to cheering on the sidelines because of health issues.
It was a Senior Night game for the Maroons, too, and the last they’ll likely play on Bob Green Field as high schoolers. Peoples, Hassler, Nagle, Keltan Keane, Tony Stajcar and JJ Taylor were the seniors introduced with their parents at halftime. Keane actually has missed the season because of an ACL tear suffered on the opening kickoff of the team’s first game of the year.
Nagle caught two touchdown passes, kicked four extra points and scored on a two-point conversion when he snared the errant snap out of the air and outraced the Dillon defense to the end zone.
“I can’t tell you how proud of I am of the kids,” coach Peoples said. “We had four freshmen, three sophomores and a banged-up offensive line out there. The efforts – I can’t tell you how proud I am. We had only four seniors playing tonight.”
His nephew, the quarterback, tossed TD passes of 4 and 19 yards to Nagle, 67 to Fantini and 20 to Joshua Sutton.
“Our coaches had great offensive and defensive gameplans,” coach Peoples said. “And, I thought Ryan played an incredible game. He extended plays, found receivers and got some yardage on his feet, which was important.
“We really challenged Joshua, GG, Jack, Henly and Treigh (Hollow) to make plays and they all made plays. This game was so emotional for us. We knew we’d be going to the playoffs with a win. I’m so proud of the kids.”
Butte Central’s first playoff game since 2019 will likely be on the road against Whitefish, a familiar playoff opponent for the Maroons as coach Peoples mentioned.
The rivals butted heads through a scoreless first quarter before Dillon broke onto the scoreboard at the 6-minute, 8-second mark of the second period when talented, athletic junior quarterback Canin Christiansen hooked up with senior speedster Jrney Mataafa for a 41-yard touchdown pass. Sawyer Tackett kicked the extra point.
The Butte Central response was immediate.
Fantini scooped the ball off the turn on the kickoff and burned up the west sideline for his 97-yard touchdown return, aided by good blocking. Nagle’s two-point run put the Maroons in front, 8-7, and they stayed there the rest of the game.
The Butte Central defense pinned the Beavers at their own end of the field and they were going to punt on fourth down from their own 21-yard line. However, the center snap looped over the punter and scooted through the back of the end zone for a Maroon safety and the Butte Central lead was 10-7.
Dillon had to kick to the Maroons after the safety and Butte Central had the momentum. Peoples scrambled out of trouble and fired a pass down the west sideline that Hollow lunged for and caught on a 41-yard completion to the Dillon 19. The short drive ended in Peoples’ 4-yard dart to Nagle in the end zone just 3 seconds before halftime. Butte Central owned a 17-7 advantage midway through the game.
Both teams scored two touchdowns in a fast-and-fierce third quarter. Dillon tallied firs ton Christiansen’s 20-yard strike to Paxton Puyear to pull to within 17-14 of the Maroons.
But, it wasn’t for long.
On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Peoples linked with Fantini, who broke three tackles and tore across and up the field for the 67-yard scoring play, growing Butte Central’s lead back to 10 points, 24-14.
The Maroons gained more breathing room when Mansanti picked off a Christiansen pass at the Butte Central 25-yard line and returned it 12 yards. The interception launched a touchdown drive that saw Peoples throw a 19-yard TD pass to Nagle after he and Jaxon Hiatt teamed on a 56-yard aerial play to position the Maroons inside the Dillon 20.a
Butte Central’s lead was 31-14, but not yet a command. Dillon wasn’t done and closed to 31-21 by the end of the third quarter as Christiansen and Tackett combined on a 34-yard touchdown pass.
However, the Maroons were able to hold off the Beavers. They went to the ground and got a 17-yard run on a keeper by Peoples, then gained 21 more on a dash by Fantini. Peoples threw to Joshua Sutton for a 20-yard touchdown for a 38-21 difference with 7 minutes left on the clock.
Dillon stuck back as Christiansen threw passes to Tackett, Puyear and powerful workhorse running back Hank Hagenbarth on a march. The pass to Hagenbarth finished it, going 28 yards to the end zone.
Butte Central picked up two first downs in a time-consuming possession that finally ended in a punt. The Beavers went to the air to try to score again and maybe get an onside kick for another possession and score. Noah Sutton thwarted all that by intercepting Christiansen in the end zone and running the ball out 27 yards. Peoples knelt out the final play.
Hagenbarth, a 6-1, 195-pound senior, led Dillon’s attack with 108 yards on 23 carries. Christiansen, a 6-3 senior, passed for 260 yards despite a good Butte Central pass rush led by Jack Nylund, twins Danny and Robert McCarthy and blitz star Palmer Kellicut. Christiansen also picked up 67 yards on the ground.
The Maroons finished the regular season with a 5-3 record. Fantini had 102 receiving yards on six catches.
Dillon 0 7 14 6 – 27
Butte Central 0 17 14 7 – 38
First Quarter
No scoring.
Second Quarter
DIL – Jrney Mataafa 41 pass from Canin Christiansen (Sawyer Tackett kick), 6:08.
BC – GG Fantini 97 kickoff return (Jack Nagle run), 5:52.
BC – Safety, Dillon snapped ball through the end zone, 4:24.
BC – Jack Nagle 4 pass from Ryan Peoples (Nagle kick), :03.
Third Quarter
DIL – Paxton Puyear 20 pass from Christiansen (S. Tackett kick), 7:57.
BC – Fantini 67 pass from Peoples (Nagle kick), 7:42.
BC – Nagle 19 pass from Peoples (Nagle kick), 2:41.
DIL – Sawyer Tackett 34 pass from Christiansen (S. Tackett kick), :29.
Fourth Quarter
BC – Joshua Sutton 20 pass from Peoples (Nagle kick), 7:00.
DIL – Hank Hagenbarth 28 pass from Christiansen (run failed).
Dil BC
First downs 25 16
Rushes-yards 38-194 25-19
Passes 17-31-2 19-30-1
Passing yards 260 337
Total offense 454 356
Return yards 14 67
Fumbles 3-2 3-0
Penalties-yards 9-84 8-65
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Dillon, Hank Hagenbarth 23-108, Canin Christiansen 12-67, Jrney Mataafa 3-19; Butte Central, GG Fantini 4-27, Ryan Peoples 10-14, Henly Mansanti 8-3, Joshua Sutton 1-(-6), Team 2-(-19).
PASSING – Dillon, Christiansen 17-31-2-260; Butte Central, Peoples 19-30-1-337.
RECEIVING – Dillon, Sawyer Tackett 6-84, Mataafa 3-64, Paxton Puyear 3-51, Hagenbarth 2-39, Collin Peterson 3-22; Butte Central, Fantini 6-102, Jaxon Hiatt 1-56, J. Sutton 3-55, Jack Nagle 6-52, Treigh Hollow 2-47, Fantini 5-35, Mansanti 1-17.
