Trojans strong in Homecoming rout

You couldn't have scripted a better start to the game last Friday night for the Whitehall/Harrison High School football team.

The Trojans (4-0) scored on long touchdown strikes from Braden Larsen to Wyatt Alexander on both their second and third plays from scrimmage, and never looked back in a 32-6 homecoming win over Powell County High School (Deer Lodge).

After receiving the opening kickoff, Larsen found an open Alexander on the second play of the game for a 51-yard touchdown. After stopping the Wardens on their next possession, the duo would quickly reconnect, this time on a 50 yard scoring strike to push the lead to 12-0 with 9:50 left in the opening quarter.

"It was huge for us to get momentum early," head coach Dan Lacey said. "We have started off a little slow offensively and it was nice to hit a big one quick."

Whitehall increase their lead in the second quarter, this time on third and 18 when Larsen connected with Jake Flynn for a 53-yard touchdown.

Lacey said going into the game they knew Andrew Simon would see double coverage, so they wanted to take advantage of favorable one on one matches with Alexander and Flynn.

Trojans would score twice in the second half, the first in the third quarter on a two-yard Larsen run. The senior quarterback ended the night 22 of 34 passing for 349 yards and three touchdowns. He added 74 rushing yards on 17 carries.

Simon scored the last touchdown in the fourth on a 30-yard run.

Deer Lodge did not score until the final quarter on a 67-yard pass from Greydon Nicholson to Cade Benjamin.

"We got back to doing what we do best on defense, being in attack mode, when we go outmanned just play football and don't over think things we are really fun to watch," Lacey said.

This week, Whitehall will travel to Boulder to face rival Jefferson County High School. The Panthers will come into the game with a 3-1 record including a 62-24 road victory last Friday over Choteau.

Lacey said the key to success against Boulder is to be ready for a heavy dose of the run game.

"They are as physical as they come in class b football and we have to match their physicality. Defensively we need to continue to stay in attack mode by controlling the line of scrimmage and be ready for play action pass," he said. "Offensively we have to take what they give us, Boulder takes pride in preventing offenses from big play and we have to be able to understand that. "