As the thermometers teetered toward the 90s, the Blaze used a solid run attack complemented by some big plays on defense to grind out the victory in front of around 2,500 fans.
Bitterroot's fire was ignited early in the game as Jamie Jones blocked a Phoenix punt and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown with just under four minutes to play in the opening quarter.
With two minutes left Missoula recovered the first fumble on the Blaze 18-yard line. Thirty-nine seconds later Phoenix quarterback Shane Jurasek scampered into the end zone on a 16-yard run to the left.
Missoula was just warming up.
Just under a minute later the Phoenix again recovered a bad snap, this time on the Blaze's 32-yard line.
Jurasek was able to squeeze in an 8-yard pass to Shane Byers to move the line of scrimmage to the 25 with just nine ticks remaining, setting up a 40-yard try for Missoula kicker Mark Spencer.
Spencer nailed the kick, but not before some laundry was thrown on the field for illegal procedure.
The flag moved the line of scrimmage to the 30 and Spencer once again took aim, this time at a 45-yard kick.
Spencer lifted the kick just pass the uprights to give the Phoenix a 10-6 edge at half.
The Blaze went into the locker room looking to regroup from their mental mistakes late in the half.
“We just needed to settle down.” said Bitterroot coach Joe Murawa, who pulls double and triple duty as a defensive end and offensive lineman. “We went into halftime and made a few adjustments on the O-line and then just sat back and relaxed.”
Another adjustment the Blaze made was going to their bread and butter - the running game. Bitterroot ran the ball just eight times in the first half for 15 yards.
Bitterroot's horse, 220-pound Justin Nixon, was held to just 13 yards before halftime, but added 73 yards to his total off of 19 carries in the second half. With 1:49 to play in the third quarter, Nixon bulldozed one of those carries into the end zone from four yards out.
Joining Nixon was Tyler Jolley, who added 29 yards on the ground and Patrick Evers, who added 22 yards of his own.
The Phoenix struggled to find an answer to Bitterroot's running attack, as well as the heat.
“In the second half they started to run the ball more and it got us back on our heels,” said first-year Missoula coach Bill Funke. “We got tired and you know this heat will do that to you.”
Late in the game, the Missoula squad looked to dig itself out of its deficit with an attack from the air. That didn't fly for the Phoenix.
The Blaze forced two fumbles and two interceptions in the final two quarters to hold on.
The Blaze's victory put an exclamation point on their perfect 8-0 regular season.
Bitterroot has a bye next week, plus a first-round bye in the playoffs the week after. The Blaze will have a second-round playoff game on June 23 against an as-yet undetermined opponent.
The Phoenix complete their regular season on the road against the Glacier Knights next Saturday, at 3 p.m.
The Phoenix will most likely host a first-round playoff game the following weekend against the Great Falls Gladiators.
“We have one more game to finish up the season and hopefully we'll finish up at 6-2,” Funke said. “Then we'll probably play Great Falls here. You know we're still there to play some more football.”
And after seeing the crowd at this week's game that's something Funke can't wait to do again in the familiar confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
“Football fever is not just in the fall anymore - it's in the spring,” Funke said.
Bitterroot 6 0 7 7 - 20
Missoula 0 10 0 0 - 10
First quarter
Bitterroot - Jamie Jones blocked punt for 26-yard return (kick failed) 3:44
Second quarter
Missoula - Shane Jurasek 16 run (Mark Spencer kick) 1:21
Missoula - Spencer 45 field goal :03
Third quarter
Bitterroot - Justin Nixon 4 run (Erik Peterson kick) 1:49
Bitterroot - Grant Roman 3 pass from Buckie Brawley (Peterson kick) 9:58
Individual statistics
Rushing - Bitterroot (25-127): Nixon 19-86, Tyler Jolley 5-29, Patrick Evers 5-22, Brawley 3-3. Missoula (19-70): Jurasek 3-28, Gavin Johnson 8-14, Duane Mihlader 2-14, Ja'Ton Simpson 2-9, Sheldon McCool 2-5.
Passing - Bitterroot: Brawley 4-8-1-44. Missoula: Jurasek 16-31-3-143.
Receiving - Bitterroot: Mike Rasmussen 1-29, Rich Rillie 1-11, Grant Roman 1-3. Missoula: Dave Garza 7-77, Simpson 2-21, Shane Byers 3-29, Clint Colwell 1-4, Nick Lumpkin 1-12.
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