Pioneers swat away Hornets, go to 4-0

Big Sandy running back Kade Strutz scores a lot of touchdowns but not all are created equal.

Already ahead 32-0 with less than a minute to play in the first half, coach Larry Jappe urged the Pioneers he wanted "one more" before the half. Strutz appeared to have gotten it with 90 seconds on the clock but a holding penalty negated it.

Backed up 10 yards to the visiting White Sulphur Springs Hornets' 29-yard line, Big Sandy collectively shrugged and called Strutz's no. 33 again.

Reversing field and shaking off tacklers, one of whom had a too-brief grasp of his shoestrings, Strutz found daylight to the left side of the field when quarterback Parker Proulx sprung him loose with a perfectly-timed devastating block.

With 38 seconds in the first half, Jappe got his "one more," the mercy rule took effect and the clock expired with Big Sandy (4-0) up 38-0 at the break, en route to a 51-6 win.

"They're pretty good at swarming at the ball. Parker, he opened things up for me," Strutz said. "I'm really fortunate to have that. It makes my job really easy."

The all-state rusher carried 15 times for 182 yards and 4 touchdowns. Backfield partner Brock Proulx added 6 rushes for 63 yards, including a 2-yard TD. Ryan Roth gave Big Sandy its sixth rushing score in the third quarter on a 10-yard scamper.

As in the Pioneers' previous home outing, some of the biggest cheers were saved for reserves making big plays at the game's end. Freshman Kody Strutz, Kade's brother, returned a kickoff 70 yards to paydirt on the penultimate play.

That animated his big brother on the sideline more than anyone else in the stadium.

"It's good to see him make a play like that at such a young age," Kade Strutz said.

Fellow frosh Tannin Baumann put the final stamp on the win with a quarterback sack.

The evening began with less defensive fanfare. Big Sandy uncharacteristically allowed a trio of passes that each ate up double-digit yardage on the Hornets' first two possessions, but bent without breaking.

"They were a little bit sloppy. I don't mind the aggression, though," Jappe said. "They were a little amped up. I hollered at 'em a little bit and got them to settle in."

Once on an even keel, the defense started making punishing plays like Clint Darlington's two sacks. Another sack came from Brock Proulx, who added a QB hurry and induced a devastating intentional grounding penalty to back the Hornets toward their own goal line. A few would-be picks slipped between defensive backs' fingers before Parker Proulx pulled one in near the end of the third quarter.

"That's kind of what our defense is about," Jappe said. "Get some pressure on the quarterback and make him make some mistakes. Once that starts happening, good things start happening."

Often penalties were the only factor to slow Big Sandy, racking up seven for 69 yards.

"Usually we got (the yardage) right back," Jappe noted.

The Pioneers entered Friday's game atop a major media poll for the first time this season. Now having beaten three of last year's state playoff teams, Big Sandy can expect to retain the Great Falls Tribune No. 1 spot this week. Tribune No. 2 Richey-Lambert (3-1) will drop after their first loss, 45-0 at defending state champion Wibaux (4-0).

The Pioneers also earned a single first-place vote and overall No. 2 in the Treasure State Media Poll of voters from across Montana. The remaining seven top-dog votes in that poll went to No. 1 Wibaux, their unanimous leader the first three weeks.

Big Sandy travels Friday to Valier (1-3), who lost 45-18 Friday to No. 4 Hot Springs. Among other ranked teams on the Pioneers' schedule, Oct. 4 opponent Tri-City (Tribune No. 5/Treasure State No. 7) fell to 3-1 after a 45-0 loss to Jordan (3-1, TS No. 5/unranked by Tribune), who Big Sandy beat in Week 1.

The Treasure State poll at nachreiner215.wixsite.com/anthonynachreiner/blog and MontanaSports.com poll at http://www.montanasports.com/category/high-school/football updated after press time Tuesday. The Tribune poll at at http://www.greatfallstribune.com/topic/montana-prep-football updates Thursday.

Big Sandy has its next home game at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11, hosting Heart Butte for Chili Feed.

In junior high action, the Pioneers beat the Hornets 33-19. Wylee Snapp returned a kickoff for a touchdown and ran for another. Lane Demontiney caught two TD passes and Quinn Rodewald snagged one in the third quarter.