Mullan-St. Regis takes down Clark Fork 72-38

CLARK FORK — Before the game even kicked off, Clark Fork football was facing an uphill battle against one of the best 1A Division II teams in the state.

But the Wampus Cats grinded all night and outscored Mullan-St. Regis in the second half. It wasn't enough though as the Tigers continued their impressive season by handing Clark Fork a 72-38 loss on Friday.

"My hats off to a really good Mullan football team," head coach Brian Arthun said. "I can see why they are ranked third in the state, it's well deserved. They're bigger, faster, stronger and it really showed in the first half."

Mullan-St. Regis scored on the first or second play of every offensive possession they had in the first half, except their last drive when they took a knee to secure a 54-16 halftime lead.

The Wampus Cats were able to find the end zone twice in the first half. The first came on a 3-yard touchdown run by sophomore Antonio Mayorga. The second came on a 14-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Ethan Howard to junior Carter Sanroman.

Every chance Arthun got, he told his team to keep fighting and the Wampus Cats embraced that mentality in the second half.

After the Tigers scored to open the second half, Clark Fork responded just three plays later when Howard connected with Sanroman for a 41-yard touchdown pass.

Mullan-St. Regis found the end zone two more times to increase its advantage to 72-22. At that point, the Wampus Cats could have let up and accepted defeat, but they didn't.

Sanroman returned a kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown with 10:28 left in the contest. On the next drive by Mullan-St. Regis, junior Sam Barnett picked off a pass to give the Wampus Cats great field possession. Clark Fork capitalized a few plays later when Howard found Sanroman for a third time in the game to make it 72-38.

Arthun said his boys gave it their all in the second half.

"We talked at halftime about not thinking about the score," he said, "and just coming out and showing some fight and some pride and some heart, and I was really proud of the second half the way they came out and fought ... The kids didn't give up and didn't quit."

Sanroman was responsible for four of Clark Fork's touchdowns. Caleb Ball had seven total touchdowns for the Tigers.

The loss drops the Wampus Cats to 1-1 in North Star League play.

Clark Fork (3-2) hosts Kootenai at 7 p.m. next Friday.

CF — 0 16 6 16 — 38

M — 28 26 12 6 — 72

Scoring Summary

First quarter

M — Riley Trogden 18 yard pass from Caleb Ball (run good), 10:15.

M — C. Ball 80 yard run (pass failed), 8:04.

M — R. Trogden 56 yard fumble return (run failed), 6:42.

M — Adam Ball 83 yard run (pass good), 3:52.

Second quarter

CF — Antonio Mayorga 3 yard run (pass good), 10:13.

M — Luke Trogden 47 yard pass from C. Ball (pass failed), 9:21.

M — Floyd Nelson 35 yard pass from C. Ball (pass failed), 6:59.

M — A. Ball 67 yard run (pass failed), 4:51.

CF — Carter Sanroman 14 yard pass from Ethan Howard (pass good), 3:52.

M — Trystan Zingler 10 yard pass from C. Ball (run good), 3:12.

Third quarter

M — C. Ball 31 yard run (run failed), 9:24.

CF — Sanroman 41 yard pass from Howard (pass failed), 7:38.

M — C. Ball 10 yard run (run failed), 5:26.

Fourth quarter

M — L. Trogden 85 yard run (run failed), 10:39.

CF — Sanroman 65 yard kickoff return (pass good), 10:28.

CF — Sanroman 30 yard pass from Howard (pass good), 8:42.