Helena and Capital are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2015, but not for long. The Helena Bengals will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against the Capital Bruins at 7:00 p.m.
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).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was 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. Mac Lundstrom was another key passer, throwing 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 contests.
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 had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 37.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They breezed by the Knights on the road to the tune of 42-6. The Bruins' offense checked out after the first half but had enough points banked to take the game anyway.
It was another big night for Merek Mihelish, who threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns while completing 78.6% of his passes, and also rushed 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 win bumped their record up to 3-1.
The upcoming match 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 Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Helena took a serious blow against Capital in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 35-0. 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
