Badger's football wins against scoreless Libby

LIBBY, Mont. — Coming off a significant win the previous game against Grangeville, the Bonners Ferry football team continued its success in a 7-0 road win against the Libby Loggers on Sept. 10.

According to head coach Travis Hinthorn, the Badgers fumbled away the ball on their first offensive series, but Charles Henslee intercepted the ball on the next possession by Libby.

Michael Bollschwieler and Eli Richards each caused a fumble, with Blake Rice recovering both; Travis Petersen led the Badgers with six tackles.

Libby punted the ball, and the Badgers received a holding penalty with the ball on their own 14-yard line.

Bonners Ferry responded by putting together a 14-play, 84-yard drive. Henslee gained 23 yards on a screen play on a third down with 18 yards to go.

Quarterback Teigan Banning injured his shoulder on the 10th play of the series, and backup Tully Reinhardt threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Rice with 11 seconds left in the first half.

“Offensively, that long drive in the second quarter was huge. Tully Reinhardt did a great job leading us to jump in at quarterback,” Hinthorn said.

According to Hinthorn, the Badgers played a field position game in the second half, flipping the field and holding the Loggers out of scoring range. Rice had seven punts, averaging 38 yards per punt.

“Our defense had another great game. We are still swarming, but are tackling a little better individually,” Hinthorn said.

The punting was also a huge difference-maker in the game, according to Hinthorn: “Rice punted well and we blocked to give him time and covered very well downfield. It was another great team win.”

The Badgers are at Orofino this Friday, Sept. 17, with the junior varsity kickoff at 1 p.m. and the Varsity at 3 p.m.

"There is no quick way to Orofino," Hinthorn said. "We need to make sure we show up and are ready to play after the long trip there."