Football: Hamilton controls 2nd half to beat Loggers

Lining up against one of the top teams out of the Southwestern A, Libby High School football players found out a lot about themselves in Friday’s 35-21 loss.

Libby found out that it could compete with the top teams – leading the game at one point and pushing the Broncs to the limit in the third and fourth quarters. The Loggers also found out they could overcome setbacks such as losing their top running back, T.J. Benson, for pretty much all of the second half.

“It was our best game,” LHS coach Neil Fuller said. “At one point in the first half, we had the opportunity to go up by a couple of touchdowns but didn’t play as efficiently offensively.”

Hamilton and Libby played to a 21-21 tie in the first half. After the Broncs got on the scoreboard on a 6-yard run by Paul Donaldson, the Loggers responded with a play that has worked several times this season – Kelly May to Kody Berget. The TD covered 47 yards and came with 6:20 left in the quarter.

Less than three minutes later, the Loggers took the lead on a 7-yard TD pass from May to Alex Cislo. Kaila Forster converted on both of her PAT attempts and Libby held a 14-7 advantage.

Donaldson, who rushed for 169 yards on 18 carries, followed with his second of three TDs on the day. Donaldson found the end zone from nine yards out with 1:00 left in the first.

The two teams traded scores in the second quarter. Hamilton’s Cody Noffsinger scored on a three-yard run with 2:20 left in the half only to see the Loggers come right back. May hooked up with Berget again – this time for a 30-yard TD.

Libby didn’t have much offensive balance with a heavy lean toward the passing game. On the final stat sheet, the Loggers passed for 309 yards and rushed for only 39.

“We threw the ball well but we went deep too often,” Fuller said. “Our offensive line did a good job pass blocking. We didn’t get the running game going as I had hoped. Hamilton, they’re good up front.”

Hamilton took the lead for good with 4:20 left in the third quarter. Josh Brenneman threw a 29-yard TD pass to Josh Peterson for a 28-21 lead. In the fourth, the Broncs added another score on a seven-yard TD run by Donaldson.

Libby had its chances in the second half with two drives inside the 2-yard-line. The Loggers turned the ball over on downs and Hamilton came up with an interception to keep Libby out of the end zone.

Benson suffered an injury toward the end of the first half and only got in for a couple of plays in the second half. Coaches kept him out of the game as a precaution.

“One thing we need to work on is to develop more of a blue-collar offensive attitude where we’re willing to take those five- to 10-yard completions,” Fuller said. “We’re living and dying by the three-point shot … it’s kind of hit and miss. If we can get disciplined with our passing game, Kelly is accurate enough and our receivers are good enough. We’ve got to be content to take yardage in small chunks.”

May finished the game with 21-for-41 passing for 309 yards with three TDs and two interceptions. Berget had nine catches for 147 yards and Cislo hauled in seven catches for 79 yards. Justin Thrailkill was the top runner with 22 yards on five carries.

Berget had a pair of interceptions on defense.

Libby (1-3) opens Northwestern A play on Friday with a trip to Polson. Hamilton, whose lone setback came to Polson, is now 2-1.