Black and Blue hammers Helena

HELENA — The Kalispell Black and Blue rugby team (5-0) rolled a short-handed Helena squad (1-3) for a 51-5 win to finish its third-straight undefeated regular season on Saturday.

Playing a younger group to start the game, the Black and Blue got an early impact from its youth movement. Freshman Paxton Boyce scored five minutes in and sophomore Sebastian Koch bowled over a group of Helena defenders to add another try five minutes later to give Kalispell a 10-0 lead.

Black and Blue junior Hunter Welcome scored another five minutes later to stretch the lead to 15-0 before Helena added its first of the match a few minutes later.

To answer the burst by the Hooligans, Kalispell sent in senior captain Matt Gash-Gilder, who took only a few minutes to add his first try of the match and give the Black and Blue a 22-5 lead after a conversion from Tucker Nadeau.

Koch added his second try of the game just before half to give Kalispell a 29-5 advantage at the break.

Gash-Gilder scored just a few minutes into the second half and Wellcome tumbled into the try zone for a 41-5 lead.

Freshman Garett Rieke scored the final two tries to cap the perfect regular season.

Koch and Wellcome shared man of the match honors.

The Black and Blue secured the top seed at next weekend’s state tournament, which will be hosted at Glacier High School. Kalispell won both the high school and junior high titles last season.

The Black and Blue girls (2-1) won their final game of the season, beating the Helena Renegades 43-10. Senior McKenna Allen and junior Clara Vandenbosch each scored four tries in the victory.

The girls enter next weekend’s state meet with the second-best record in the state.