Hawks suffer tough loss to Lodge Grass as season comes to a close

"The game against Lodge Grass was rough," Broadus Coach Ross Randall commented on the Hawk loss, which sealed the Hawks' fate for the season.

Broadus hosted Lodge Grass last Friday evening, with temps hovering in the mid-20s throughout the three-hour game.

Lodge Grass's defensive line features some large athletes, which Broadus did not match up with particularly well. The Lodge Grass defense was able to find their way through the defenders many times during the game, often putting pressure on Broadus QB Wyatt Gee, forcing him to unload the ball quickly.

As has been the story for much of the season, Broadus was able to move the ball down the field, but a combination of penalties and incomplete passes/dropped catches stopped most of the Hawk drives short of the goal line.

Broadus was finally able to capitalize on a drive in the third quarter, when Corbin Irish managed to haul in a fortuitously tipped pass for a touchdown.

"I'll give Lodge Grass a lot of credit, they were a disciplined and athletic team," Randall said of the game. "We couldn't control the line of scrimmage, and it cost us."

Lodge Grass also took out four Broadus players during the game. Johnny Richards ran for some tough yards, but received a badly sprained ankle that took him out of the game. Dillon Gee and Kyle Minow both had concussion like symptoms from hard hits; the play against Dillon was a controversial hit that drew a penalty. Dakota Holbrook was taken out of the game following a knee injury, which brought in the EMTs to diagnose his condition. Holbrook was later carried from the field.

With the Hawks bench down to one extra player, they fought on, but eventually lost the game, 46-8.

Broadus was originally slated to play St. Labre this weekend for the last game of the year, a "cross-over playoff game". Neither St. Labre or Broadus would move on further in the playoffs, as both teams are last in the conference. Due to the injuries sustained in the Friday loss to Lodge Grass, Randall made the decision to forfeit the game, ending the Hawk season a week early.

Randall explained the decision: "We have nine guys left on the team, one of whom is hurt, and many of the healthy players would be playing positions which they haven't played before. The risk of serious injury is just too great, so we're going to look towards next year."

The Hawks will finish the season with a 1 and 6 record. The win came about when Lame Deer forfeited their season.

With the 2019 Hawk season now drawn to a close, Randall summed up the season: "The team worked their tails off. Despite our record, the team played well, with glimpses of how we need to improve next year. We're a young team and I'm looking forward to next season."

Randall commented on his graduating Seniors, Beau Kuhbacher and Aaron Rogers: "They both did great for us this year. Aaron played really well at defensive end, and Beau did everything I asked of him. I'm sorry to see them go, and wish them the best."

The conference is expected to remain competitive next year. Fairview will lose a large number of seniors, but with a solid football program they are expected to stay tough. Scobey and Ekalaka are also expected to remain challenging teams. Randall said that the current structure of the conference may undergo a makeover, but the exact composition and any changes are still up in the air.

The current two sub-conference setup, with this week of games having teams playing the same seed of team from the other sub-conference, makes for a complicated structure. Scobey will play Fairview for number 1 in the conference, Circle against Ekalaka for second, Plentywood against Culbertson for third, and Lodge Grass and Forsyth for fourth. The potential exists for further challenge games, in the week before playoffs begins in November.

Here are the game stats: https://www.powderriverexaminer.com/home/customer_files/stats/fball_stats_lg-1.jpg