Titans roll past Sheridan to stay unbeaten

SHERIDAN – For the seventh time this year the Flint Creek Titans came away the victor in 8-man football, besting the Panthers in Sheridan 58-6. The win keeps them atop the South Central standings at 6-0, 7-0 on the year.

In other South Central action Cascade beat Seeley Swan 32-24, Simms slipped by Lone Peak 54-48, and Ennis beat Choteau 52-14. Powell County took a bye week.

Sheridan (2-4) took the opening kickoff but found little room to work against the Flint Creek defense. When they turned the ball over to the visitors via punt, it wasn’t long before the Titans struck pay dirt. Tyler Burden snapped off a long run that was stopped short at the six. On the next play he pushed it in for a 6-0 lead.

Just two minutes later Burden would be back in the end zone on a 21-yard run. This time Andrew Tallon converted the two-point pass to Trey Phillips and the lead extended to 14-0.

Tallon reeled in an interception on the Panthers’ next series, taking one out of the air from Sheridan QB Sawyer Anson. 30 ticks came off the clock before Burden scored his third and final TD of the game on a 37-yard carry from scrimmage. Tallon and Phillips connected on the conversion pass and Flint Creek was up 22-0.

The Titans added one more score, a one-yard plunge by sophomore Logan Hauptman, with 2:07 to play in the period to lead 28-0 after one quarter of play.

As the second quarter started Sheridan opted to change quarterbacks to Trey Schrank. Schrank found the going just as tough as his predecessor, eventually fumbling a ball that was recovered by Flint Creek exchange student Olle Wigge. Wigge’s play was one of six takeaways in the game for the Titans which included Tallon’s pick, a fumble recovery by Hauptman and three interceptions by sophomore Michael James. James’ third interception was returned for Flint Creek’s final score of the game in the fourth period.

Tallon took over offensively in the second, hitting Colt Parsons on a 44-yard scoring strike and running one in from the five. Those scores gave the visitors a 48-0 lead with a running clock heading into halftime.

Midway into the third and with Flint Creek’s reserve squad manning the field, Schrank was finally able to get the Panthers on the scoreboard a 5-yard scoring run at 6:46.

Hauptman got one final offensive TD for the Titans in the third, breaking away from the pack for 55-yards across the goal line. Kadin Graveley connected with James for the conversion pass.

“Keeping everybody healthy," said Flint Creek Head Coach Jason Ostler of his goals for the game. “But I want to see the younger kids competing, the guys that aren’t in starting spots fighting for starting spots. Just getting after it and show they know what they’re doing.”

Flint Creek will play its final home game of the regular season Thursday against Seeley Swan (2-5). The game will be at George Mungas Field in Philipsburg with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. The game was moved from its original Friday slot due to a shortage of game officials.

NOTEBOOK – Tyler Burden is closing in on Titan team records. Burden carried the ball nine times for 126 yards and three touchdowns in Friday’s win, playing only half the game. He needs 70 yards to break Kade Cutler’s 2019 mark of 1,435 rushing yards in a season. Burden’s three scores also give him 23, just six behind Cutler’s 29 (2019) and four back of Colby Manley’s 27 from 2018. … Should the Titans win Thursday night against Seeley Swan, they will lock up the South Central Conference title and the 8-man “Golden Ticket”, giving them home field in all postseason games they play in. … Flint Creek is 7-0 this year and is currently 30-1 over the past three seasons, having won the title in 2020 (12-0) and finishing as runner-up to Thompson Falls in 2021 (11-1).

SCORING

Flint Creek – 28/14/8/8 – 58

Sheridan – 0/0/6/0 – 6

FIRST QUARTER

11:08 FC Burden 6 yd run TD. Pass failed.

9:16 FC Burden 21 yd run TD. Tallon to Phillips pass.

5:51 FC Burden 37 yd run TD. Tallon to Phillips pass.

2:07 FC Hauptman 1 yd run TD. Pass failed.

SECOND QUARTER

9:06 FC Tallon 44 yd pass to Parsons TD. Pass failed.

2:18 FC Tallon 5 yd run TD. Tallon to Bradshaw pass.

THIRD QUARTER