Chinook goes toe to toe with Great Falls Central early, fall to Mustangs 46-20

The Chinook Sugarbeeter dropped their third straight contest this past Friday night as they hosted the Great Falls Central Catholic Mustangs in a Northern C Eight-man football clash.

The 'Beeters honored their seniors during a halftime ceremony as they were playing in front of their hometown fans for the final time.

The Sugarbeeters played a very solid 5-1 Mustang team toe to toe throughout the first half but we're unable to keep up with the Mustang offense after the break falling 46-20 to drop to 2-5 on the season.

Chinook and Great Falls Central traded three-and-outs most of the first quarter until a 'Beeter 4th and 6 play where Chinook senior Tate Niederegger busted through the Mustang defense for a 45-yard scoring run that put the 'Beeters on top 6-0 seven minute mark of the first quarter..

The Mustangs quickly responded with a 59-yard scoring play of their own to retake the lead 8-6 as the teams entered the second quarter.

The again took the lead midway through the second quarter after Niederegger put together runs of 15, 7 and 12 yards before converting another fourth down, this time from 5 yards out for his second touchdown of the game. Following a successful conversion pass from junior Steven Mulonet to senior Kyle McMaster, Chinook held a 14-8 Advantage with 7:13 remaining in the second quarter.

The Mustangs added score with just :17 left on the first half clock to even the game at 14 apiece as the teams headed to intermission. Niederegger ran the ball well for the 'Beeters in the opening half picking up 104 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.

The second half was all visitors as the Mustangs outscored the Sugarbeeters 32 - 6 with Chinook's loan score coming on another fourth down run from Niederegger, this time from 45 yards out.

Head Coach Scott Friede was pleased with his teams first half effort, "We played a very good first half against a solid team. In the first half we played good pursuit defense with the whole team getting involved. Offensively I thought this first half was maybe our best blocking performance so far this season."

Things were different after the break, "In the second we did many good things, but the little breaks didn't go our way. The effort was there but not consistently. Against good football teams we have to be more physical every play," added Friede.

"For our seniors, they put in big plays all night and I think they created good memories of that last night on Hoon field. As always I will miss not having these guys around next season. These seniors have been through a lot but have definitely shown their resiliency throughout the season and have improved every game," concluded Friede.