A 12-yard touchdown pass from Colton Stump to Tristan Walker on fourth down with 3 minutes, 16 seconds left in the game sealed the victory as Belgrade topped Butte Central 33-20 Saturday Night at Bulldog Memorial Stadium.
The non-conference football game was the season opener for both teams.
The game-clincher, which Connor McGree hauled in a 15-yard Brady Tippett pass to pull the Maroons to within a touchdown, was the second of the game from the Stump-to-Walker combination. The first was a 28-yard strike in the second quarter.
Tippett, who scored on a 1-yard run, also hooked up with Kale Guldseth for a 2-yard TD.
The TD pass to Guldseth, who had a big game in the first quarter alone, gave BC a 7-0 lead after its first possession with 9:27 left in the first quarter. Danny Peoples booted the extra point.
Zac Brady’s 45-yard run and extra point tied the score at 7 with 1:51 left in the first frame.
Tippett’s plunge gave BC it’s last lead of the game with 5:20 left in the first half. The extra point was blocked, and BC led 13-7.
Walker and and Sump hooked up a score with 2:32 left in the half, and Brady’s extra point put the Panthers up for good.
Brady tacked on a 7-yard with 49.4 seconds left in the half to make it 20-13 Belgrade. That score came seconds after a sure interception tipped off the hands of a BC defender.
Brady extended the lead to 27-13 with a 78-yard run in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
The Maroons cut the lead back to 27-20 on McGree’s TD reception with 5:27 left in the game, and BC’s defense was primed to get the ball back before Walker and Stump clinched the win.
The Maroons (0-1) head to Havre for a non-conference game with the Blue Ponies on Friday.
