Titans’ ground game subdues Park City, 62-6

DRUMMOND – It was another opening of another show for the Flint Creek Titans as they rolled over the visiting Park City Panthers 62-6 Saturday afternoon at Drummond High School.

Park City ends their year at 3-5 while the Titans improve to a perfect 10-0 and will host the No. 1 Belt Huskies November 5 at George Mungas Field in Philipsburg.

It was clear from the outset that the Panthers weren’t ready for the physical nature of Flint Creek’s line. Sure, the visitors had a few players in excess of 250 pounds, but none could match the strength or technique of the men in black. And for players like Reece Rigby, Aedan Dotson and Ben Bradshaw it became an open field to assault Panther quarterback Wyatt Story. The 140 pound Story was repeatedly hurried, harassed and tackled as he tried to operate the Park City offense.

The result was a punt that gave Flint Creek its first scoring opportunity and they didn’t disappoint. Tyler Burden pushed the ball in from the six for the first of four rushing touchdowns on the day. Andrew Tallon hit Ben Bradshaw with a two-point conversion pass for an 8-0 lead.

Just a minute later Burden recovered a fumble by Story and Flint Creek was back in business. This time it was Tallon breaking off a 44-yard TD run that increased the lead to 14-0. Another Story fumble just 45 seconds later led to another Tallon score and the rout was on.

“They were just excited,” said Flint Creek Head Coach Jason Ostler of his team’s fast start. “It’s a senior-heavy team that has been in the playoffs before, was fired up for it and know what it’s about.”

With time expiring in the first half, Tallon his Colt Parsons with a 21-yard scoring pass that the receiver make a catch-and-spin move that slung him into the end zone with two seconds to play. Tallon added the run and Flint Creek was up 42-6 at intermission.

The Titans went scoreless in the third, but added a trio of rushing scores in the fourth. Burden’s fourth TD of the day led off the surge, followed by runs of 29 yards from Logan Hauptman and 27 from Kadin Graveley.

Tallon had a field day offensively, collecting 235 total yards. He was 11-for-17 in the air for 63 yards, a touchdown and a pair of conversions while carrying the ball 12 times for 172 yards and two more scores.

Burden’s ground assault continued with 14 carries for 137 yards and four touchdowns.

Defensively Flint Creek dominated from the opening period, collecting two fumble recoveries and an interception by Tallon. Burden led in solo tackles with 10 while Rigby had four tackles for loss.

Now the Titans can look forward to round two and their opponent, the Belt Huskies. Belt has been ranked right behind Flint Creek the entire season and widely considered the next toughest team in that 8-man universe.

When asked about the Huskies’ tendency to be more of an aerial team, Ostler said, “Cascade fired the ball around a bit. They were more of a spread offense team. It’s going to tough to be prepared for whatever they (Belt) do. We’re just going to have come out and focus on what we do and what we can try to take away from them.”

In other 8-man playoff action: Belt blanked Charlo 60-0, Superior beat Forsyth 52-6, Culbertson defeated Lone Peak 64-16, Joliet won over Cascade 64-24, Ennis slipped by Chinook 19-6, And St. Ignatius won a shoot out with Circle 48-34.

In addition to Belt at Flint Creek, next week’s action looks like this: Culbertson vs. Superior, Fairview vs. Joliet, and Ennis vs. St. Ignatius. For a full breakdown of games CLICK HERE.

NOTEBOOK – The first-round playoff game as the first time the two schools had ever played each other. …. The Titans are 1-0 this postseason, but are 7-1 going back to 2020 and 17-5 lifetime. … Tyler Burden continues to climb the ranks of the MHSA 8-Man Football record books. He 137 yards Saturday give him 1,826 for the year, placing him 8th for a single season according to the MHSA Record Book. … His four touchdowns give him 33 for the year, tying home for fourth in a single season with Jordan Nees of Hobson Moore/Judith Gap. Burden is just six behind No. 1 Riley Linder with 39. … Burden is averaging 182.6 yards per game, also ranking him 8th all-time in the state. … Since Flint Creek’s Week 3 win over Lone Peak, Burden has strung together eight 100+ yard games, placing him in a seven-way tie on the MHSA Record Book listing. Only Drew Neal (Gardiner, 10), Nees (10) and Linder (Scobey, 9) are ahead of him. … Burden’s 100+ yard games are consecutive and he is now in a four-way tie in that statistic for second place. Should Burden get 100+ yards against Belt next week in Philipsburg, he will tie Brock Peterson for first at nine straight games. … His combined yards and scores also make him the undisputed single season rushing leader for the Titans. Burden is closing in on Kade Cutler’s career rushing mark of 3,746 over four years. Burden has 3,393 yards, trailing Cutler by 353. … While Cutler’s 74 rushing touchdowns for a career may be out of reach, Colby Manley’s second place total of 60 in in sight if the Titans penetrate deeper into the postseason.

SCORING

Park City – 0/6/0/0 – 6

Flint Creek – 20/22/0/20 – 62

FIRST QUARTER

8:21 FC Burden 6 yd run TD. Tallon to Bradshaw pass.

7:19 FC Tallon 44 yd run TD. Run failed.

4:54 FC Tallon 12 yd run TD. Pass failed.

SECOND QUARTER

11:51 FC Burden 26 yd run TD. Run failed.

10:57 PC Story 57 yd pass to Hamilton TD. Run failed.

10:12 FC Burden 40 yd run TD. Tallon to Parsons pass.

0:02 FC Tallon 21 yd pass to Parsons TD. Tallon run.