Three Forks football opens season with big-time win over Missoula Loyola

The Three Forks High School Football team set the tone early, scoring on their opening drive, and would never trail in an impressive 28-13 win over Missoula Loyola on August 30 at Bobcat Stadium at the Montana State University Campus in Bozeman.

The Wolves wasted little time scoring, with sophomore quarterback Kanon Reichman finding the endzone on a five-yard scoring run. A successful two-point conversion on a pass from Reichman to Dylan Andersen would put Three Forks up 8-0 with 9:02 left in the opening quarter.

"That first drive was big time. We told our guys if we win the toss or if we lose the toss, hopefully they give us the ball. We want the ball. It worked out great for us. We went down and scored and were physical across all areas. The boys came ready to play all night. I couldn't be more proud of them," Head Coach Connor Sullivan said.

After the Rams cut the lead to 8-7 with 9:38 left in the second quarter, the Wolves answered back, and a five-yard Reichman touchdown run capped off a long touchdown drive to increase the lead to 14-7 with 1:46 left in the first half.

Three Forks was not quite done in the opening half. Following a Sawyer Andersen interception of Loyola quarterback Jack Clevenger, Reichman would connect with Dylan Swenson for a 41-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds remaining to put the Wolves up 22-7 going into the break.

Sullivan said that was a huge play for the team and something they added two weeks ago after watching film.

"It worked, and it was an absolute big-time play. We needed that going into half," he said.

The Rams would score the only points of the third quarter with 6:59 remaining on a 1-yard Clevenger touchdown run to cut the lead to 22-13.

Three Forks would score the final points of the night with a one-yard Sawyer Andersen touchdown with 7:18 remaining in regulation.

A former tight end at MSU, Sullivan said being back at Bobcat Stadium was special.

"Last time I played here, we won, so it's good to come back and win again," he said.

After the game, Sullivan said he thought Reichman played very well at the quarterback position.

"It's his first start, he's a sophomore, and he's only going to get better from here," Sullivan said.

The sixth-year Head Coach also praised the physical nature of his team.

"We worked our butts off in the weight room. When that game got over last November, we were in the weight room, we were grinding, and we had great numbers all summer," he said.

The Wolves' outstanding physical performance included a monster performance from senior lineman Josh Barnett, who, after earning Southern B All-Conference honors as a sophomore, missed his junior season after tearing his ACL.

"You don't know how much you love it until you can't play. I'll put it that way. When you're standing on the sidelines watching your brothers go through the work, come out, and win games, it's hard. But it does give you that motivation to be better, better, and better. And it's hard work. I worked like nothing else getting that knee back going, and I'm just super blessed to be out here, and I just want to make the best of my senior year," said Barnett.

After not being able to play last season at Washington Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Barnett said it was an incredible experience to be able to play at Bobcat Stadium.

"Just to be able to come out and play in a D1 college stadium like this is super honoring. It's just a great experience, especially to play alongside your brothers again in such a great place is just really a cool experience," said Barnett. "Coming into the week, we knew it wasn't going to be a pushover. The coaches told us every day in practice that this (Loyola) is a heck of a team, and even at halftime, they are not just going to let us come out and walk out with this one; they are going to give us a heck of a challenge, and a lot of adversity. We just fought through it, played together, and just overcame them."

While the August 30 win was considered a home game, Three Forks will officially open their home season on September 6 against Shepherd.

"They've (Shepherd) got a new coaching staff, so we will get the film and see what they run, and we've got to be ready to go. We've got to improve from week one to week two and go back and look at the tape and make those improvements," said Sullivan. "I'm excited to get back in front of our fans in Three Forks and see the improvement we made from this week."