Huskies bounce Titans from postseason, again

Photo courtesy Shona Bradshaw

BELT – It was like déjà vu all over again.

The Belt Huskies blanked the Titans 45-0 in their semifinal match up, ending the locals’ season at 10-2. It was the second straight shutout loss to the Huskies in the postseason for Flint Creek, combining with the 48-0 loss to Belt in the 2022 quarterfinals.

The Huskies advance to play Warriors at Fairview next weekend in the state championship, a rematch of the 2023 title bout that was held at Belt.

The Titans never seemed to get in sync on either side of the ball. They took the opening kickoff and went three-and-out on their first series, turning the ball back over to Belt on the Flint Creek eight-yard-line. Huskies quarterback Slater Lords ran it in on the first play from scrimmage and added the conversion for an 8-0 lead.

That proved to be more than enough as the Titans never managed decent field position offensively the rest of the game.

Belt ran out to a 30-0 lead after one quarter. They quickly added six more early in the second to start the mercy rule clock and expedite the eventual outcome. Before halftime the Huskies added 15 total more points, including a 17-yard field goal with one second before halftime.

Flint Creek managed just 110 yards of total offense, venturing into Belt’s half of the field on a scant few opportunities. Senior running back Logan Hauptman collected 46 yards on 15 carries as the Titans got 60 as a team. In the air the story was much the same, with sophomore quarterbacks Jake Dauenhauer and Michael Goettle throwing for 30 yards apiece.

Junior Austin Knoeller continued to lead on defense with three tackles and 11 assists including o0ne for loss. Senior Kadin Graveley had nine total stops in his final outing, with sophomore Wyatt Daniels close behind at eight.

Flint Creek will hold its annual end of year banquet in the coming weeks.

NOTEBOOK – With their 45-0 win, Belt has beaten Flint Creek in their last two straight meetings and are now 3-1 head-to-head. … The Huskies won 48-0 over the Titans in 2022 and have held Flint Creek scoreless for the last eight straight quarters in those two matchups. … Belt advances to its third state championship game in three years. They won the title in 2022 and were runner’s up to Fairview in 2023. The Warriors beat Scobey in their semifinal 18-6 and will host the championship against the Huskies next weekend. … The Titans’ loss is only the second time they have been held scoreless in the postseason. The other was the ’22 loss to Belt. Flint Creek has only been held scoreless three times in its 11-yars history, twice against Belt and last season at Ennis is a 35-0 blanking. … Flint Creek finishes its season at 10-2, having given up 15.7 points per game (PPGA) and scoring 42.0 points per game (PPGF). The 15.7 ranks them fourth best all-time among Titan teams while the 42.0 ranks them as the third lowest scoring among Flint Creek squads. … Flint Creek finished the season as one of the Top 4 teams in the state for the fifth time in 11 seasons. … As a franchise the Titans are now 98-20 since their inception in 2014. … Hauptman finished the year with 1,384 yards rushing on 216 carries (6.4 yards per carry) and 16 TDs, He finishes his career with 3,244 yards (3rd) on 507 carries (2nd).

SCORING

Flint Creek – 0/0/0/0 – 00

Home – 30/15/0/0 – 45

FIRST QUARTER

10:29 BT Lords 8 yd run TD. Lords run.

7:09 BT Bergstrom 17 yd yard pass to Maki. Bergstrom pass to Davis.

4:22 BT Lords 5 yd run TD. Pass failed.

1:29 BT Waldner 6 yd run TD. Lords run.

SECOND QUARTER

10:40 BT LaPlaunt 14 yd run TD. Run failed.

8:20 BT Bergstrom 17 yd pass to Maki TD. Pass failed.

0:01 BT Davis 17 yd field goal.