Missoula Sentinel manages clock, squeaks past Billings Skyview: Five big takeaways (2024)

BILLINGS — One of Class AA's most decorated football programs over the past few years got a scare from a program that's won six games in its past six seasons.

Perhaps the winds of change are swirling through Montana high school football's biggest class.

Missoula Sentinel opened its account for the 2024 season Friday with a 27-21 win over Billings Skyview at Wendy's Field at Daylis Stadium, with an energetic Falcons squad bringing it to a Spartans squad that's just three years removed from back-to-back state championships.

Here were the five biggest takeaways from the first Friday night football matchup of the year in The Magic City:

Koshatka can light it up

Sentinel coach Dane Oliver asked a lot out of his new starting quarterback, Jace Koshatka, on Friday.

It's safe to say that the senior nailed his first impression under center.

As the Spartans' all-Western AA second team signal-caller from a season ago, Riley Allen, graduated and left an apparent gaping hole at QB going into 2024, Koshatka instead gave Sentinel another dangerous option in (and out of) the pocket.

He accounted for 320 total yards (172 passing, 148 rushing) and three total touchdowns (two rushing, one passing) as the driving force of the Spartans' grind-it-out offense, which ran 70 plays to Skyview's 39.

He threw a 22-yard score on fourth down to Jaxon Allery — who had a sweet one-handed grab in the back corner with a Falcon draped all over him — to give Sentinel a 6-0 lead with 9:44 in the second quarter, then had the first of two touchdowns (a 13-yard scamper) in a late first-half flurry that turned a narrow 7-6 deficit with 2:18 to go into a 20-7 Spartans lead at the half.

"We knew that coming here on a road trip it was going to be hard no matter what," Koshatka said. "(We were) just bringing the energy ... good to get that first one out of the way."

Skyview has improved ...

First-year Skyview coach John Simpson had no plans to let Sentinel — a six-win team last season which drubbed the Falcons 50-12 in Missoula — get one over him and his Falcons in his opening game in charge.

He almost got a head coaching debut for the ages because of it.

Even while down multiple scores and kicking it away to start the second half, Skyview stayed dangerous through quarterback Paxton Fitch (10-for-18 passing, 111 yards, two passing touchdowns) and running back Camble Bjornstad (100 yards, two total touchdowns).

After multiple Falcons stops to start the third quarter, Bjornstad finally got Skyview in the endzone again through an 8-yard burst with 3:49 to play in the frame to make it 20-14. A Koshatka keeper with less than a minute to play in the third didn't dampen the Falcons' spirits, either, as Fitch found a wide-open Bjornstad with 9:57 to play for a 25-yard score to trim the margin back to six points.

There was a consistent amount of energy on the Skyview sideline and side of the field, which falls right in line with the animated Simpson.

"Very proud of our effort, very proud of our seniors and the way they led us up," Simpson said. "We're going to go back to work and get ready for (Helena) Capital."

... but there's work to do

Though there was a lot to like about the Falcons under Simpson, it's going to take awhile before some negative habits are broken.

Sentinel's two-touchdown swing to end the first half was a prime example of that.

Koshatka found paydirt with 2:18 remaining before the intermission to make it 13-7 to Sentinel, and on the next play from scrimmage, Fitch threw an interception to Carter Taylor in his own half. The Spartans went on to score a few plays later through a 7-yard run from Ryan Haidle, building their lead to 20-7 in the process.

A lost fumble on a promising drive in the second half and 235 rushing yards allowed hurt, too, and while Skyview did admirably to make it a game in the fourth quarter, it is no doubt wishing that it had a few moments back.

"Most proud that they came back in the second half and kept fighting," Simpson said. "To end the half with a turnover and touchdown as the momentum is on their side, we came back out and we grabbed the momentum ... we just couldn't quite finish it off."

Spartans can chew clock

Skyview's inability to close out a major Week 1 victory wasn't solely because of its doing, and far from it.

In the final 10 minutes in particular, it mainly came down to the fact that Sentinel just didn't let the Falcons get the ball back.

The game's flow felt squarely on the side of Skyview when Fitch found Bjornstad to cut it back to a one-score game early in the fourth quarter, but the Spartans made sure that there would be no late magic. Koshatka and the Sentinel offense did an excellent job of extending the drive and chewing clock, eventually forcing Simpson to begin using his three timeouts.

Faced with a first-and-15 with 2:30 to play after a false start, the Spartans were eventually stuck with a fourth-and-5 at the Falcons' 27 with 1:43 left and no more Skyview timeouts. That's when Koshatka put the game on ice with a clutch throw over the middle to tight end Sam Sirmon to move the chains and ensure that Sentinel survived.

"It's a testament to the work the offensive line did," Oliver said of the game-sealing drive. "I think guys holding onto the football, just to snap the football (in) Game 1 ... it's a challenge. Our kids have resiliency and they battled."

Back to Class AA's best?

Though Sentinel has been far from a doormat since winning consecutive state titles in 2020 and 2021, its most recent reign atop the Class AA mountain has clearly passed.

So, what's it going to take for it to get back to that point?

The Spartans made the playoff semifinals in 2022 before losing to eventual champ Capital, then were knocked out last season — as the fifth seed out of the brutal Western AA — by eventual runner-up Kalispell Glacier in the quarterfinals.

The results in those matchups will likely be a decider on if Sentinel is worthy of joining them in that mix.

"We have a lot of work to do, but (our) coaches definitely have something schemed up for Gallatin," Koshatka said. "Just trust their process and do what they say and I think you'll end up good."