Madison County Sports update
Ennis football earns a spot in the final eight: The Mustangs 52-38 win at home against the Darby Tigers has earned them a second round road trip to face 8-man power house Fort Benton
The Ennis Mustangs earned a home win against the Darby Tigers in first round playoff action on Nov. 1 by a score of 52-38. The win earns them a spot in the final eight teams remaining and a trip to Fort Benton for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Nov. 8.
“Fort Benton is a really good team,” said Mustangs head coach Mike Speck, looking forward to the second round matchup. “They’ve kinda been the staple of the state for most of the season. I think they’ve only allowed 42 points all season or something like that,” he continued. “They’ve got a really good quarterback. Shutting down their bread and butter will be the plan. I think we match up really well with them size and speed wise, it will be about containing that quarterback again.”
Containing the quarterback was a huge part of what worked against Darby in their first round win.
“We watched a ton of film and we knew that if we stopped 10 (Darby quarterback McCoy Townsend) then we stopped them,” explained senior Garret Wagner who made key plays on defense, offense and special teams in the win.
Blustery conditions on an otherwise perfect day for playoff football set the table to Ennis to use their running game to control the contest. Senior Wyatt Doty led the charge at times looking unstoppable on the ground, but it was through the air on fourth down running into the win where the Mustangs got their first two touchdowns.
The first came on a pass over the top to Doty after a strong drive on the ground was ground to a halt by the Darby defense.
“We’ve been running that play all year and we’ve scored on it several times,” explained Doty about his opening touchdown reception of the game. “I knew we needed to just go out there and get it and we did.”
The second touchdown for the Mustangs was an inside shoulder pass to senior John Hostetler just past the pylon in front of the Ennis fans. Hostetler out jumped the taller defender and managed to hold onto the ball throughout an acrobatic fall to the ground for the score to put the Mustangs up 14-8.
It wasn’t the last time that Hostetler would come up big in the game. On the first play of scrimmage after Darby had cut the Ennis lead to just eight points in the third quarter the Mustangs junior quarterback Brandon Foss found Hostetler over the top for a long touchdown reception to stop the Tigers momentum.
“On the big touchdown down the field he (Hostetler) said let me have it,” explained Foss after the game. “I gotta trust him. He knows that he can beat anyone over the top so when he says he wants it, I gotta trust him.”
Foss was quick to heap praise on his offensive line who not only protected him in the passing game but opened the big holes for Doty and company to run through.
“We knew they ran a lot of blitzes, so we ran it hard. We had our defense on scout and it worked this week. It worked well,” said Foss. Doty was quick to chime in with praise for his offensive line as well.
“I had some huge holes,” said Doty. “On my first or maybe second rushing touchdown of the game the guys made a huge hole, I loved it.”
With the game still very much in the balance late in the fourth quarter, sophomore Tatum Todd came up with back to back sacks to all but ice the game.
“He’s lengthy, he’s strong and he’s a really good wrestler as well,” said Speck describing Todd. “He obviously undersized for the position but he knows leverage and strength and he’s fast. He’s a super hard worker. He works his tail off and never takes a play off,” he concluded.
Coverage of the Mustangs game at Fort Benton will be available for a fee at www.nfhsnetwork.com/schools/ennis-high-school-ennis-mt
Ennis volleyball is in the running for a trip to state: The Mustangs qualified for the Southern B Divisional Tournament by finishing third at the 5B district tournament last week
The Ennis Mustangs volleyball team claimed third place in the 5B District Tournament and qualified for the Southern B Divisional Tournament last week. Their first match of the divisional round is a play-in match against Redlodge on Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. at the Butte Civic Center. The winner of the match will face top seeded Baker at 2 p.m. that day.
The Mustangs put up wins against Manhattan, Whitehall and Three Forks on their way to the third place in districts. Their only losses in the tournament came against the top two seeds in the tournament Townsend and Jefferson. Ennis is largely considered an underdog to grab one of the four tickets to state up for grabs at divisionals, but head coach Sarah Frings believes she has the tools to pull off an upset or two.
“Our Division is the toughest in the State so we need to be ready to battle on every rally because there will be no point given to us,” she said. “If we can string together consistent play on our end and be aggressive when we can, I will always bet on us.”
It will be up to setter Elsie Chandler, who put up 109 assists and 31 digs in the district tournament to direct the Mustangs offense which lives and dies by its pin hitters Isabelle Hawkinson and Marisa Snider. Hawkinson, who has been featured in the offense all season long put up a team leading 63 kills in the 5B tournament. She was nearly matched by senior Marisa Snider, who started the season as the team’s libero, 59 kills.
Snider continued to anchor the defense tallying 102 digs in the tournament. Hawkinson added 77 digs to the team tally and Jaycee Funk and Kiera Rice both had 32.
“We are coming into this week with the mindset of ‘Why not us,’” said Frings. “We want to put ourselves in a position to win games against good teams. Moving forward, we expect every team to challenge us and play well, so we are ready to match that level of competition and embrace the challenge.”
While big kills and dynamic defense wow the crowd and there is no doubt there will be plenty of those on display in the tournament this week, Frings knows that it is the little things that will lead to the upsets if it is in the cards for the Mustangs.
“We need to win the serve and pass battle every match, and we need to make the other team play the ball as often as possible,” she said. “When we play smart, we are a great team and can play with anyone.”
The Ennis volleyball matches are available for a fee at www.nfhsnetwork.com/schools/ennis-high-school-ennis-mt.
Twin Bridges moves on to the Western C Divisional Volleyball Tournament: The Falcons earned the right to play again by finishing third at the 12C District Tournament
The Twin Bridges Falcons volleyball team will play for a spot in the state tournament this week in the Western C Divisional Volleyball Tournament. Their first match is Nov. 6 at 9 a.m. against Superior. The winner goes on to face top seeded Drummond later that day.
“Advancing means we’ve earned the right to keep playing together a little longer and that's always the goal at this point in the season,” said Falcons head coach Kendall Keltz. “We enjoyed it through the weekend and now it's time to get back to work. Each round takes another level of effort, focus, intensity and teamwork. I believe in the girls and know we can continue to work towards our goals one step at a time.”
Twin Bridges earned their right to keep playing with wins against Sheridan, West Yellowstone and Shields Valley in the district tournament. Their only losses came to Gardiner, who beat them in the second round and again in the semifinals. Keltz knows that in the game of volleyball anything can happen and that even the biggest, strongest teams can be thwarted by superior execution of the basics.
“As we head into the divisionals, our focus has to stay on consistency and the little things, staying low, communicating and executing our fundamentals,” she explained. “Every match is going to be a battle; we can’t take anyone lightly. At this point, it’s do or die for every team, and nothing comes easy. Everyone is fighting for it.”
More information and the Western C Divisional Tournament bracket can be found at www.mhsa.org/sports-activities/fall/volleyball-postseason-page.
