East Helena faced Columbia Falls in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. The Vigilantes breezed past the Wildcats to the tune of 40-8. The Vigilantes pushed the score to 33-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Wildcats cut but never quite recovered from.
East Helena's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Bearek Shuman, who threw for 242 yards and three TDs while picking up 12.1 yards per attempt. Shuman is crushing it when it comes to passing touchdowns: he's passed for at least three every time he's taken the field this season. 141 of Shuman's passing yards were hauled in by John Benevides, who also brought in two receiving touchdowns.
Vigilantes
| 09/12/25 @ Columbia Falls | 221 |
| 09/05/25 vs Beaverhead County | 152 |
| 08/29/25 @ Custer County | 206 |
| 11/01/24 @ Havre | 138 |
| 10/25/24 vs Sidney | 160 |
| + 3 more games |
East Helena was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 221 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2024.
Despite the loss, Columbia Falls still got an impressive performance from Trip Ross, who rushed for 114 yards.
The win made it two in a row for East Helena and bumps their season record up to 2-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 15 points in those games. As for Columbia Falls, they are on a four-game losing streak (dating back to last season) that has dropped them down to 0-3.
Looking ahead, East Helena will head out on the road to face off against Lockwood at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Columbia Falls, they will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Bigfork at 7:00 p.m. on the 26th. This will be the Wildcats' first chance to prove their worth in the conference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
