The Whitefish Bulldogs will square off against the Butte Central Catholic Maroons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Whitefish's defense has only allowed 12.6 points per game this season, so Butte Central Catholic's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Whitefish is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Montana's top teams: Bigfork, who was ranked 18th at the time (Whitefish was ranked 14th). The Bulldogs pulled ahead with a 22-21 photo finish over the Vikings & Valkyries on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Bulldogs have posted since September 13, 2024.
Cole Moses
| 10/24/25 @ Bigfork | 129 |
| 10/17/25 @ Libby | 119 |
| 10/10/25 vs Columbia Falls | 144 |
| 10/03/25 @ Polson | 122 |
Whitefish got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Cole Moses out in front who rushed for 129 yards and one touchdown while picking up 7.6 yards per carry. Moses' rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 119 rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Vlad Shestak, who picked up 48 receiving yards and one TD.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Whitefish was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 214 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 197 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Butte Central Catholic hadn't done well against Beaverhead County recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. The Maroons walked away with a 38-27 victory over the Beavers. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Maroons considering their seven-point performance the matchup before.
Butte Central Catholic didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Noah Sutton and Henly Mansanti.
Butte Central Catholic's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-3. Those home victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 37.0 points over those games. As for Whitefish, their win bumped their record up to 6-2.
Friday's game might be decided in the trenches. Whitefish has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 206.2 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Butte Central Catholic, though, as they've been averaging only 37.4 rushing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Whitefish strolled past Butte Central Catholic in their previous matchup back in September of 2022 by a score of 34-20. Will the Bulldogs repeat their success, or do the Maroons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
