Rivalry round 3
by STACEY LISHOK - Ravalli Republic
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Blaze running back Justin Nixon dashes down the field while fans and cheerleaders yell in support last Saturday. Nixon made it to the endzone untouched scoring a touchdown in the semifinal game against the Bear River Valley Rockets. The Blaze will host the Missoula Phoenix Saturday in the RMFL AA championship match in Darby.
WILL MOSS - Ravalli Republic |
Blaze and Phoenix square off for RMFL title Saturday
It all comes down to this.
One game. One title. Two Montana teams.
The Bitterroot Blaze and Missoula Phoenix will go head-to-head for the third time this season with the Rocky Mountain Football League AA championship title on the line.
“We're confident,” Blaze coach and player Joe Murawa said. “We've had some great days of practice. The guys are really anxious.”
The Blaze (9-0) earned wins in the first two-regular season games against the Phoenix but the Missoula team seemed to give the Blaze a harder time then most.
The first game, May 19 in Darby, was won by the Bitterroot-based team 6-0, the lowest scoring match of its season.
“The first game we couldn't settle down,” Murawa said.
In the second meeting on June 2, the Blaze found themselves trailing for the first time all season but came from behind to earn a 20-10 victory in Washington-Grizzly stadium.
“The second game, we were overly excited and aggressive,” Murawa said. “We didn't settle down until after halftime. Hopefully we'll settle down right after the whistle (Saturday).”
After a first-round playoff bye, the Blaze took on the Bear River Valley Rockets downing the second-place Utah team 50-7.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix traveled to Utah to face the undefeated Vipers, upsetting the dominating Mountain Conference team 34-28.
That puts the two neighborly rivals fighting for the championship title.
“Everybody's healthy and really, really excited about this game,” Murawa said.
The Blaze have home-field advantage on Darby High School's gridiron, but Missoula fans only have to make a short trip south on U.S. 93 to support the Phoenix.
After a big turnout for last weekend's playoff game, Murawa said this week should be even bigger in terms of crowd turnout.
“I'm expecting a really large, boisterous crowd backing the home team,” Murawa said. “It's our field, our crowd.”
The championship match starts at 7 p.m. Admission to the game is $5.
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