Helena has been on the road for three straight, but on Thursday they'll finally head home. They will welcome the Capital Bruins at 6:00 p.m. The two teams are at an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2015, but likely not for long.
Last Friday, Helena came up short against Glacier and fell 40-27. While losing is never fun, the Bengals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Montana football rankings (they are ranked 26th, while the Wolfpack are ranked fourth).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Trygve Braun, who rushed for 163 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.8 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Mac Lundstrom, who threw for 146 yards and three touchdowns.
Even though they lost, Helena was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 237 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 185 rushing yards in three consecutive matchups.
Helena wouldn't let Glacier keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Helena can thank Brady Swenson and Riley Schulte for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, Capital entered their tilt with Hellgate on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Knights 42-6 on the road. The Bruins' offense checked out after the first half but had enough points banked to take the game anyway.
Merek Mihelish continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 321 yards and four touchdowns while completing 78.6% of his passes, and also rushing for 39 yards and a touchdown. He is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for four or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Drew Almquist, who picked up 142 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Helena's defeat dropped their record down to 1-3. As for Capital, their victory bumped their record up to 3-1.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Helena has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 194.8 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Capital has preferred to attack from the air: they average 285.5 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Thursday? There's only one way to find out.
Helena was dealt a bruising 35-0 loss at the hands of Capital when the teams last played back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Capital's Cole Graham, who rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns, and also caught a touchdown. Now that Helena knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
