Loggers lose 43-7 at Butte Central

Libby's streak of shutting out opponents ended Saturday in Butte along with their state title hopes as Butte Central drubbed the Loggers 43-7.

The Loggers, who had been playing nearly flawless football since pouncing on Whitefish on Oct. 7 turned over the ball five times to Butte Central on fumbles and interceptions, including twice in the red zone ending Libby offensive drives in the first half.

During the first quarter, Libby appeared on track as the running game churned up yardage against the Maroons defense. Libby's second possession of the game was a 13-play drive that covered 67 yards and took 6:15 off the clock but ended in a fumble at the one-yard line with Butte Central recovering at the 2.

The Maroons then drove 90 yards down the field before a tenacious Libby defense stopped a run for a minus 3 yards and sacked Butte Central's quarterback, Jake Stagnoli for another 7-yard loss. The Loggers took over on downs at their 18 but failed to move the ball. Butte Central put together a 5-play, 66-yard drive scoring on a 14-yard roll-out pass with 6:22 remaining in the first half.

The Loggers got the ball back on the kickoff but again failed to move it more than a total of 6 yards but the punt pinned the Maroons on their own 18. On third and 10, Stagnoli passed long to one of his tall receivers streaking down the side line for what appeared to be a 88-yard touchdown. It was called back by a holding penalty putting Butte Central in a third and 16 situation on their own 5 yard line. Stagnoli threw a short pass to the left and the receiver, aided by two missed tackles ran untouched 95 yards for a touchdown. Libby was down 14-0 with 3:19 remaining in the half.

The Loggers put together a 7-play, 56-yard drive that ended with an interception on the 15 yard line with just over a minute remaining in the half.

Butte Central opened the second half with a 65-yard drive that ended with a 41-yard score on a screen pass from Stagnoli. The Maroons lead over Libby was now 20-0.

The Loggers responded with a 78-yard drive in 11 plays with junior fullback Jake Graham carry the ball over from the one-yard line. Key plays in the drive were a 32-yard run by junior quarterback Kyle Baker who juked and twisted his way through defenders and a 21-yard pass to Richard Brumbaugh. Mike Shilling kicked the point-after and the score was 20-7.

The momentum appeared to be Libby's when they had Butte Central pinned down on their 16-yard line. Libby defensive back Charlie May picked off a Stagnoli pass and the Libby offense was back in business on the 43. However, Butte Central's cornerback picked off a second down Baker pass and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. Butte Central led 26-7 after a failed two-point conversion and 3:22 remaining in the third quarter.

Libby failed to move the ball on their next possession and pinned Butte Central on their own 18 with a punt. Nine plays later Stagnoli found a receiver for a 50-yard scoring play and the kick was good. Butte Central led 33-7. There was just over 8 minutes remaining in the game.

On Libby's next possession, Baker was intercepted on first down and Butte Central returned it to the Logger side of the field. Five running plays later, Butte Central increased their lead to 39-7. When the Loggers forced the kicked to abandon a point-after try, he found a receiver who scored the two-point conversion to increase the lead to 41-7.

Butt Central scored their final two points on a safety when the Libby punter stepped on the backline of the end zone on a fourth and long at the two-yard line with less than three minutes to play. Final score was 43-7.

The Libby offense rushed for 114 yards and passed for 82 yards. Butte Central had 157 yards rushing and 313 yard passing against the Logger defense.

Baker finished the game with five completions in 12 attempts for 82 yards and three interceptions. He had 36 yard rushing in 12 carries.

Graham carried the ball 18 times for 77 yards. Senior Rusty Naccarato had three carries for 6 yards, Jeremy Chumley carried the ball twice for 5 yards and Josh Chumley carried the ball once for 2 yards Backup quarterback Joel Fuller, a freshman, had one carry for a minus 9 yards.

Receivers Steve Bertelsen caught two passes for 45 yards, Zach Rowan had one catch for 8 yards, Richard Brumbaugh caught one pass for 21 yards and Charlie May hauled down one pass for 8 yards.

Libby finishes the season 7-4.

Butte Central, 8-1 moves on to play at Frenchtown and Dillon plays Belgrade this weekend in the Class A quarterfinals.