By Bruce Sayler
How Butte Central got its revenge is a perspective matter, but any angle will show a 35-13 Maroons victory over Corvallis at Bob Green Field on Montana Tech’s campus Friday night.
The victory capped a successful Homecoming Night for BC and showcased all the different Butte Central football muscles.
Senior quarterback threw for four touchdowns on the way to 269 passing yards, GG Fantini scored three touchdowns and Henly Mansanti tallied the other two, the Maroon defense created five turnovers with an interception and four fumble recoveries, kicker Jack Nagle was perfect on his extra-point conversions and the BC offensive line stalled a larger batch of Blue Devils enough for 329 yards in total yardage.
The receiving corps put on an aerial act catching passes that might’ve rivaled the Flying Wallendas of Barnum & Bailey circus fame.
The quarterback Peoples said the performance was due to the preparation for the game and the desire to avenge big-score losses to the Blue Devils the prior three years.
“That gave us a lot of incentive,” he said. “The revenge factor played a big part i9 our preparations for them.”
Peoples, a second-year starter at quarterback and third-year starter in the varsity lineup, has now passed for nine touchdowns in his last two games.
“The receivers are making plays and catches that are making me look good,” he said. “All I have to do is get the ball in their hands.”
It almost seemed that easy as Peoples found Fantini open for 25- and 23-yard scoring tosses, and Mansanti on the end zone end of plays measuring 3 and 36 yards. Fantini also had a 3-yard TD carry on which he brawled his way over the goal line on a tough run.
Joshua Sutton caught four passes for 113 yards. He didn’t score any touchdowns, but he set up a couple with sensational grabs.
“I’m very proud of the kids,” head coach Don Peoples Jr. an uncle of the quarterback, said. “We had the week off last week and we challenged the kids every night at practice to get better.”
The coach agreed that the game was BC’s best showing in a few years, but reminded that it wasn’t perfect.
“We had a touchdown called back and we didn’t capitalize in the red zone a couple of times,” he said.
Gunnar O’Brien had a 32-yard pick-six called back on offsetting penalties, but joined Tony Stajcar, Fantini and Palmer Kellicut with fumble recoveries. Stajcar picked off a pass late in the game.
Two drives stalled on missed field goals in a stiff, steady wind.
Ryan Peoples even had a successful halftime. He and BC girls’ sports standout Arika Stajcar were crowned Homecoming King and Queen during the game break.
“Ryan emerged well tonight as a quarterback, I thought,” Don Peoples Jr. said. “We had some great catches by Mansanti and Treigh, and GG and Sutton went and got the ball in our passing game.
“Our defense played really well. It forced a lot of turnovers. We don’t have the biggest defense in the conference, but we have a lot of speed.”
There’s more to come. The reserves played the fourth quarter and performed admirably against the Corvallis subs.
“Every healthy kid in the program got in tonight,” coach Peoples said.
Corvallis 6-foot-6 senior quarterback Reese Tucker was under pressure all night from the Butte Central rush that featured twins Danny and Bobby McCarthy at the ends with J.J. Taylor, Colt Hassler and Jack Nylund blowing up the interior. O’Brien, Kellicut, Stajcar and Jaxon Hiatt also played well on the defensive side.
Winless Corvallis’ first misstep in the game came on the third play from scrimmage when Fantini recovered a fumble on a pass play at the Blue Devils’ 29-yard line. Butte Central lost ground on a pair of running plays before Peoples scrambled out of trouble and fired a strike to Fantini just outside the end zone. Fantini zipped in easily.
Two possessions later, Corvallis fumbled again when Mansanti stripped the ball from the carrier and O’Brien pounced on it at the Blue Devils’ 36-yard line. A penalty against the Blue Devils moved the Maroons to the 21. However, the drive stalled and the players moved on to the second quarter.
The Blue Devils nearly reached midfield in the first series of the second period. A fumble on third down was grabbed by Stajcar to launch a BC march. It ended with Peoples finding Fantini guarded by two players on the east sideline inside the 20-yard line. Fantini snared the pass then juked past both defenders, leaving them in his wake in succession for a 23-yard score. Butte Central went to halftime leading 14-0.
Corvallis came out of the halftime looking better and stronger. It gained some momentum on an interception by Tucker at the Butte Central 37-yard line returned to the 32. Two Tucker passes took the Blue Devils to the Maroons’ 5 from where the speedy Ayden Spencer dashed for a touchdown. The extra-point kick was blocked, but the gap had narrowed to 14-6.
The Corvallis running game churned out yardage, but turnovers plagued it and BC was opportunistic about them.
Butte Central answered the Spencer TD with a two long aerial connections, a 33-yard Peoples rocket to Sutton that took the Maroons to the Corvallis 36-yard line, and the 36-yard scoring pass to Mansanti taken in on a lunge behind members of the Blue Devil secondary stationed at about the 10.
Three possessions later, Peoples linked with Treigh Hollow on a 41-yard pass that Hollow grabbed on a dive and tumble to the Corvallis 3-yard line. The Blue Devils were stingy on two BC running plays, but then Fantini fought his way through the crowd for the TD.
Butte Central held a 28-6 advantage going into the fourth quarter and Corvallis was unable to catch the Maroons. Kellicut and the McCarthys sacked Tucker on the first play of the fourth quarter, resulting in a fumble Kellicut covered. The Maroons set up shop on the Blue Devils’ 16-yard line and tallied a TD four plays later as Peoples threw a 3-yarder to Mansanti.
Subs played much of the rest of the way and Corvallis scored in the last minute, backup QB Branson Bucholz connecting with tight end Castin Borkholder for the TD.
The win was BC’s third straight and improved Butte Central’s record to 3-1 going into another home game next Friday versus Stevensville. Corvallis fell to 0-4 and will be home against Dillon next week.
Corvallis 0 0 6 7 – 13
Butte Central 7 7 14 7 – 35
First Quarter
BC – GG Fantini 25 pass from Ryan Peoples (Jack Nagle kick), 10:20.
Second Quarter
BC – Fantini 23 pass from Peoples (Nagle kick), 9:03.
Third Quarter
COR – Ayden Spencer 5 run (kick blocked), 9:25.
BC – Henly Mansanti 36 pass from Peoples (Nagle kick), 8:44
BC – Fantini 3 run (Nagle kick), :29.
Fourth Quarter
BC – Mansanti 3 pass from Peoples (Nagle kick), 10:17,
COR – Castin Borkholder 3 pass from Branson Bucholz (Atticus Chavez kick), :38.
Cor BX
First downs 13 15
Rushes-yards 42-175 23-56
Passes 8-16-1 17-31-2
Passing yards 46 273
Total offense 221 329
Return yards 37 26
Punts 5-28.0 3-28.7
Fumbles-lost 5-4 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-65 4-35
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Corvallis, Caleb Johansen 19-83, Talon Sohrakoff 2-29, Robby Hall 2-19, Marshall Jessop 4-13, Reese Johnson 8-10, Maurice Craun 3-8, Hogan Buhler 2-5, Ayden Spencer 2-(-2); Butte Central, GG Fantini 5-27, Gunnar O’Brien 1-22, Noah Sutton 1-6, Henly Mansanti 6-5, Danny McCarthy 1-(-1), Ryan Peoples 8-(-2).
PASSING – Corvallis, Johnson 6-12-1-40, Branson Bucholz 2-2-0-6; Butte Central, Peoples 16-28-1-269, N. Sutton 1-4-1-4.
RECEIVING – Corvallis, Spencer 3-37, Castin Borkholder 2-6, Johansen 2-4, Coby Smith 1-(-1); Butte Central, Joshua Sutton 4-113, Fantini 6-63, Treigh Hollow 1-41, Mansanti 2-39, Jack Nagle 2-8, D. McCarthy 1-5, Tony Stajcar 1-4.
TURNOVERS: Fumble recoveries – Corvallis 0, Butte Central 4 (Fantini, O’Brien, Stajcar, Palmer Kellicut); Pass interceptions – Corvallis 2 (Tucker, Johansen); Butte Central 1 (Stajcar).
