The Bulldogs are gearing up for the Capital Bruins

“Hey, congratulations on the outstanding victory for Homecoming!”

To celebrate you get to load up the bus and head back to Helena, the Capital Bruins are waiting.

Butte High added to their outstanding win percentage on Silver B night, this past weekend with a resounding 54-7 win over Missoula Big Sky. With that win, the Dogs go to 53-29-1 on Silver B night, a 64%-win percentage.

In the win over Big Sky, Jace Stenson threw for 307 yards on 15 completions. He also had a hand in 6  touchdowns, FIVE through the air, and one rushing.

A pair of senior receivers had big games, Montana commit, Cameron Gurnsey had six catches, two touchdowns and 135 yards receiving. Sean Ossello nearly broke the 100 yards receiving mark, as he tallies 91 yards on 3 catches and one touchdown.

The Dogs also ran the ball effectively. As a team, they put up 124 yards on 39 carries and were able to pound in three touchdowns.

Getting ready for this week’s game, that running game is key. If the Bulldogs can run the ball, that will let their incredible passing game get rolling. Trey Hansen will be in the backfield most of the game with Stenson, both players are just over 60 carries on the year, Stenson with 282 yards and 3 touchdowns, Hansen has tallied 199 yards and a team-leading 7 touchdowns.

Before we look at Capital, lets eyeball the Western AA.

Capital                3-0         5-0

Helena                3-0         4-1

Butte                   2-1         3-2

Sentinel              2-1         4-1

Glacier                1-2         3-2

Hellgate              1-2         2-3

Flathead             0-3         1-4

Big Sky                0-3         1-4

As long as I’ve been lucky enough to be around the AA, I feel like there are two constants for the Capital Bruins. They are going to run the football, and their defense is going to be aggressive and take advantage of any mistake.

As a team the Bruins averaging 218 yards a game rushing, Dylan Graham enters Friday as their leading rusher with 339 yards on 42 carries. Tom Carter has put up 283 yards on the ground so far this season, and both have 6 rushing touchdowns each. At quarterback, Joey Michelotti is averaging 136 yards passing a game, completing 60% of his passes he has thrown for 681 yards so far, and has thrown 6 scores

The Bruins receiver group is led by a talented group of seniors, Nick Michelotti, Tyler Kovick, Hayden Opitz and Tom Carter all have over 200 yards each through the air, and have 7 receiving touchdowns combined.

I mentioned their defense earlier, this is a group that gets after the ball carrier. Senior D-lineman Talon Marsh rolls into Friday’s game with 13 sacks, Henry Gross has gotten to the quarterback 7 times himself. That constant pressure has also caused opposing quarterbacks to make hurried passes, which Capital has taken advantage of with 11 interceptions.

The 32^nd meeting between the Bulldogs and Bruins is scheduled for 7 pm Friday at Vigilante field in Helena. Go Dogs.