In the years to come, when players from both sides look back at the best games between them, the second one will surely be remembered as a classic.
In a stark reversal from last season’s lopsided victory, Bozeman had its hands full with Gallatin on Friday in the second iteration of their burgeoning crosstown rivalry.
After three lead changes in the second half, Bozeman’s Luke Smith scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns — one on a 53-yard fumble recovery and another on a 50-yard catch-and-run — to give the Hawks enough cushion to withstand a late Raptors push in what eventually became a 38-35 victory at Van Winkle Stadium.
Exactly one year after Bozeman earned a 51-0 win in the teams’ first meeting, the upstart Raptors presented much more of a challenge. Gallatin scored on long touchdown throws after each of Smith’s scoring plays but couldn’t find the last bit of offense needed to go back ahead.
“I think it’s pretty fierce and obviously very competitive,” Hawks head coach Levi Wesche said of the state of the rivalry two years into its existence. “I think there’s two really, really good football teams and football coaching staffs in this town. I think that showed tonight.”
The Raptors (3-5, 1-5 Eastern AA) got within three points with 3 minutes, 35 seconds remaining thanks to a 30-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Dahlke to Tyler Nansel. The Raptors forced Bozeman (5-3, 5-1) into a turnover on downs on the next drive, one capped by an Aidan Martin sack against Hawks quarterback Jake Casagranda on fourth down.
With 1:52 to play and no timeouts, Gallatin went back down the field and made it to Bozeman’s 17 before running out of steam. Dahlke’s fourth-down pass over the middle was swatted away.
“It was our game for the taking,” Nansel said. “We just came up short.”
The Raptors held a 14-10 halftime lead but gave it up on the opening drive of the second half.
Casagranda found Jaxon Cotton for 19 yards, the tight end’s second score of the game. Two more lead changes followed.
Gallatin retook it with a 3-yard swing pass from Garrett Dahlke to his brother, Noah Dahlke, near the end of the third quarter. Bozeman went back ahead for good in the opening moments of the fourth on a 3-yard rush from Jase Applebee.
Smith recovered a fumble on the next drive and raced the other way to a 10-point lead.
“I ran because I didn’t hear a whistle,” Smith said. “I was waiting for the whistle, and as soon as I was like, ‘OK, it’s not going to blow,’ I turned on the jets.
“It’s game-changing. It puts the momentum in our favor, and it really raised our morale.”
In response, Garrett Dahlke found Noah Dahlke for a 47-yard touchdown on fourth-and-12 with 5:44 left.
Bozeman recovered Gallatin’s onside kick attempt, and two plays later Smith caught a short pass from Casagranda over the middle and reached the end zone untouched. Though there was still time on the clock, the play felt like an exclamation point.
“Everyone was quiet in the locker room, but as soon as we came out, we were all fired up,” Smith said of the pregame feeling. “‘This is our house. This year was ours, and really everyone came together as a team and helped us pull through.”
Nansel’s touchdown followed, but the Raptors would get no closer.
“We’re a totally different team, and I knew we would be,” Raptors head coach Hunter Chandler said. “These guys have put in the time to be good. I just feel really bad for our seniors, not being able to break through.”
Garrett Dahlke started in place of injured quarterback Braeden Mikkelson, who hurt his throwing hand two weeks ago. On Gallatin’s first drive, Cotton put pressure on the quarterback, forcing an overthrow that was intercepted by Bryson Zanto.
The Hawks couldn’t cash in on the turnover, though, and the teams traded punts on the next pair of possessions.
Gallatin earned the game’s first points after a strong defensive effort gave the Raptors offense a short field.
The Raptors started at Bozeman’s 35 and needed three plays to score. Garrett Dahlke found Bryce Mikkelson for a 21-yard gain and then Michael Armstrong for 12 more. Noah Dahlke finished the drive on a 2-yard rush, the first points ever for the program against Bozeman.
Bozeman got on the board with a Rocky Lencioni field goal with 9:18 left in the second quarter.
With 3:50 before halftime, Bozeman took the lead for the first time on Casagranda’s first scoring pass to Cotton.
Gallatin retook the lead right before halftime as Garrett Dahlke found Rylan Schlepp for a short pass. The tight end fought for more yardage and reached the ball across the goal line for the score.
A week after Garrett Dahlke threw five touchdowns against Belgrade, he followed it up with five more.
“That’s not an easy thing to do,” Nansel said of the quarterback. “He comes in with confidence and shows his smarts and his knowledge of the playbook and just makes plays. He’s a great guy to have back there.”
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