As strange at might sound, the 2012 Butte Central football team seems to be at its best a week after a bad loss.
The Maroons bounced back in a big way after losses to Belgrade and Anaconda on their way to earning a spot in the playoffs. They even showed great improvement after losing big to No. 1 Billings Central.
That might not bode well for BC’s first-round playoff opponent — Frenchtown — when the Maroons hit the road for the playoffs next Saturday.
The No. 2 Beavers sent the Maroons into the postseason in bounce-back mode Friday night, beating the Maroons 58-13 at Bulldog Memorial Stadium.
“Certainly we don’t like getting beat like that,” BC coach Don Peoples Jr. said. “But every time that we needed to have a gut check and respond this season we have. I know we’ll respond and come back and play really hard in the playoffs.”
Butte Central (4-5, 3-2) struck first against the defending Class A state champions. The Beavers (6-1, 5-0), though, had an answer and then some as they won yet another conference title.
Kale Guldseth caught touchdown passes of 27 and 4 yards from Brady Tippett. The first score put the Maroons up 6-0 after the first drive of the game.
Ben Folsom put on a show after that.
The senior quarterback ran for 136 yards and three touchdowns — on just five carries. He also passed for 146 yards and two touchdowns as Dillon wrapped up yet another conference title.
“We came out with great energy, and we just couldn’t sustain it,” Peoples said. “A lot of that has to do with how good they are.”
The Beavers scored 30 straight points in the first quarter to erase any doubt after BC’s fast start.
Dillon, which outscored its Southwestern A opponents 274-20 this season, scored 51 points before halftime. The Beavers did that on just 27 offensive snaps before the break.
“We have not had a lot of offensive plays in the entire year,” Dillon coach Terry Thomas said. “Our defense has been playing so solid, getting good field position, getting turnovers, short fields and not giving up very many points.”
The Beavers are also killing teams with big plays.
“We’ve really got a nice, solid team,” said Thomas, who is looking for his sixth state title since 200. “It seems like we’ve got weapons in every area. Our offensive line can get off and block, and that gives Benny plenty of time to throw the football. We’re got good speed with our receivers, and there our running backs are just running like heck.”
The most deadly Dillon weapon is Folsom, who took over the game after BC’s fast start.
The Maroons marched 80 yards on 10 plays to strike first blood. Tippett found Guldseth, who now has eight touchdown receptions on the season, over the middle for the 27-yard strike on fourth and nine.
The teams exchanged punts before Folsom went on the attack. The quarterback spun out of tackles on his way to a 26-yard touchdown run. After a BC penalty, Folsom marched in for the 2-point conversion to put the Maroons on top for good at 8-6 with 4 minutes, 44 seconds left in the first quarter.
Just over 2 minutes later, Folsom was in the end zone again. He hit Wyatt Holland for a 61-yard pass that set up a 4-yard run by the quarterback.
Another penalty on the conversion led to Folsom scoring a 2-point conversion and making it 16-6.
On the next play from scrimmage, the Dillon defense got in on the act. Carson King picked off a pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown.
BC’s next possession ended in a punt, and Austin Carver returned it 54 yards to the 4-yard line. Three plays later, Folsom hit Holland for a 2-yard touchdown and a 30-6 lead.
A 15-yard Folsom pass to Troy Scott made it 37-6 with 9:31left in the first half.
That’s when Peoples called his team aside and gave a passionate speech. It apparently worked.
Central went 12 plays and 75 yards for a touchdown, the 4-yard strike to Guldseth.
Tippett completed 9 of 9 passes on the drive. Guldeth’s TD grab was his 10th of the game. He finished with 11 grabs for 107 yards.
Tippett passed for 199 yards. He ran for 24.
“Tippett did a good job of making decisions when to throw it away and when not to,” Thomas said. “He has just enough athletic ability. It’s hard to rush him too much without giving him a lane. Offensively, they did a nice job moving the ball.”
The BC touchdown got the crowd into the game, and fired up the BC sideline.
It didn’t, however, slow down Dillon. Another big return by Carver led to a Dillon touchdown just three plays later. One play after Folson hit M.J. Simkins for a 20-yard pass, Colton Riebe scored on a 4-yard run to make it 44-13.
Folsom busted free for an 89-yard touchdown run with 1:27 left in the half to make it 51-13.
“With Ben, the ability be able to run and pass like that is pretty special,” Thomas said of his quarterback who wasn’t a varsity quarterback until this season.
Dillon’s lone touchdown in the second half came four plays after Scott recovered a muffed punt at the BC 19-yard line. Cooper Lamey scored on a 4-yard run to cap the scoring.
“They’re a great team,” Peoples said. “They have strength and size, and they execute very well.”
Despite the tough loss, the Maroons had several positives to build on.
Connor McGree caught five passes for 56 yards, while Kaemen Richards caught four passes for 26 yards filling in for injured Wyatt Kingston.
BC also got nice defensive efforts from Marcus Ferriter, Ben Holt, Northey Tretheway, Chad Peterson and many more.
“Our kids played hard,” Peoples said.
The Maroons celebrated Senior Night, honoring their five senior players at halftime.
The game was the final home game for Tippett, running back Joe Joyce, Tretheway, and lineman Kolten Lamiaux and Frank Joyce.
Lamiaux, who sat out the last four games with a concussion, didn’t play. Frank Joyce recovered a loose ball on a kickoff and rumbled, stumbled and tumbled for a long return.
“I want to credit our five seniors,” People said.
The Maroons, though, also consider themselves in rebuilding mode. They enter the playoffs with an eye on next year, knowing their froshmore team blew threw a perfect season.
“We’re not going to throw in the towel. We’ll come out fighting next week,” Peoples said.
The Maroons missed the playoff for the first time in a decade last season.
“We’re a lot better than we were last year, and we’re going to get better again next year,” Peoples said. “We’re going to keep fighting this year, too.”
Dillon 30 21 7 0 — 58
Butte Central 6 7 0 0 — 13
First Quarter
BC — Kale Guldseth 27 pass from Brady Tippett (kick blocked), 8:27
Dillon — Ben Folsom 26 run (Folsom run), 4:44
Dillon — Folson 4 run (Folsom run), 2:36
Dillon — Carson King 30 interception return (Taylor Cashmore kick), 2:22
Dillon — Wyatt Holland 2 pass from Folsom (Cashmore kick), :16.5
Second Quarter
Dillon — Troy Scott 15 pass from Folsom (Cashmore kick), 9:31
BC — Guldseth 4 pass from Tippett (Danny Peoples kick), 4:07
Dillon — Colton Riebe 4 run (Chasmore kick), 3:37
Dillon — Folsom 89 run (Cashmore kick), 1:27
Third Quarter
Dillon — Cooper Lamey 3 run (Cashmore kick), 7:23
Dillon BC
First Downs 13 12
Total yards 351 254
Rushes-yards 24-205 19-27
Comp-Att-Int 6-16-0 22-38-3
Passing yards 146 227
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2
Punts-Ave 3-36.3 4-44.5
Penalties-yards 5-55 7-48
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Dillon, Folsom 5-136, Lamey 6-25, Riebe 6-23, John Luke Koslosky 3-13, M.J. Simkins 3-9. BC, Tippett 9-24, Joe Joyce 9-15.
PASSING — Dillon, Folsom 6-16-0-146. BC, Tippett 19-33-3-199, Peoples 3-5-0-28.
RECEIVING — Dillon, Holland 2-65, Lamey 1-31, Scott 1-14, Koslosky 1-14, Simkins 1-20. BC, Guldseth 11-107, Connor McGree 5-56, Kaemen Richards 3-26, Dalton Sessions 1-37, Joyce 1-1.
