The Capital High football team put it all together on Friday against Billings Senior and looked like a state title contender in doing so.

The Bruins (5-1) ran the ball at will against the Broncs (4-2) and got enough big plays from their defense to hold off the state's leading offense in a 34-31 win at Vigilante Stadium.

"It was a great win," Capital coach Pat Murphy said. "To battle like that in a game like that and come out with a victory, we feel great about it."

The game between the No. 3 Bruins and No. 4 Broncs lived up to all the hype. The two teams combined for 802 yards — with Capital grinding out 378 rushing yards and Senior passing for 298 — and the defenses forced five turnovers in a game that had Capital fans on their feet.

"We're going to carry it all the way through to the end," said Capital running back Francis Reishus who had a game-high 127 rushing yards.

The Bruins rumbled 81 yards, all of them on the ground, for the game-winning touchdown with 3:48 left in the game.

Senior's Thomas Ackerman — who's interception just before half set the Broncs up to take the lead — fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Capital's Colton Sherley recovered at the Broncs 19-yard line to seal the win.

The stage was set for Capital's rally when Mark Desin threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to give Senior a 31-27 lead with 6:20 left in the game.

That touchdown ended a furious comeback by the Broncs after Capital had taken a 27-16 lead.

It was just Senior's fourth play of the fourth quarter, but two of those went for touchdowns.

Desin's 56-yard pass to Brandon Anton, the Broncs first first down of the second half, set up a four-yard touchdown run by the quarterback that cut the Bruins' lead to 27-24 with 7:52 left.

A Capital fumble turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and Desin connected with Jon Brown on the next play to give the Broncs a 31-27 lead with 6:20 left.

But Capital went back to work behind offensive linemen Jesse Hoffman, Dustin O'Connell, Calvin Rucker, Danny Sebastian, Tom Kain and Angus O'Keefe.

The group opened wide holes and the Capital running backs did the rest. Reishus had carries of eight, 11, 15 and six yards on the drive. Capital's final touchdown was the game's eighth lead change.

"We were down but we weren't out," Reishus said. "Offensively we really picked it up and showed what we could do. Look for us at the state championship."

The touchdown ended a game marked by big plays. Corey Peterson's 52-yard run set up Capital's first touchdown, a three-yard run by Lance Parsley.

Peterson ran six times for 93 yards and returned four kicks for 76 yards.

Teammate Brian Nickel had seven carries for 91 yards. His 54-yard scamper set up Hunt's 2-yard sneak to give Capital a 27-16 lead in the fourth quarter.

"One of the things we're really proud of is we got big plays," Murphy said. "We started to execute offensively and things started to click pretty well."

Desin was stellar for the Broncs, going 22-of-38 for 298 yards and rushing eight times for a team-high 60 yards.

But 192 of his passing and 54 of his rushing yards came in the first half.

After trailing at halftime the Bruins' defense held Senior without a first down through the third quarter and into the fourth. That enabled the Bruins to take an 11-point lead and set up the thrilling fourth quarter.

"The defense did a great job," Reishus said. "They kept us in there until the offense could get going."

Capital plays at Bozeman next Friday at 7 p.m.

Senior 3 13 0 15 — 31

Capital 7 7 6 14 — 34

First Quarter

Bil—FG, Eugene Burke, 27, 3:29.

Cap—Lance Parsley 3 run (Dalton Kick), 7:47.

Second Quarter

Bil—Mark Desin 49 run (Burke kick), 3:22.

Cap—Brian Nickle 23 run (Dalton Kick), 6:48.

Bil—Danny Neiter 1 run (kick failed), 11:44.

Third Quarter

Cap—Corey Peterson 4 run (pass fail) 3:59.

Fourth Quarter

Cap— Jared Hunt 2 run (Dalton kick), 3:49.

Bil— Mark Dessin 4 run (pass to Danny Neiter), 4:08.

Bil— Jon Brown 39 pass from Desin (Burke kick), 5:40.

Cap— Hunt 3 run (Dalton kick), 8:12.

SR Cap

Rush-yds 16-71 63-378

Pass yds 2 98 55

Return yds 72 76

Comp-att-int 22-38-1 5-15-1

Sacked-yds 1-7 1-7

Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties-yds 6-50 7-60

Individual stats

Rushing—Senior, Desin 8-60, Justin Williams 1-2, Marice Burrough 5-10, Danny Neiter 1-1, Jon Brown 1-(-2). Capital, Francis Reishus 24-127, Quinn Noel 16-65, Brian Nickel 7-91, Corey Peterson 6-93, Jared Hunt 7-5, Lance Parsley 3-(-3).

Passing—Senior, Desin 22-38-1 298. Capital, Parsley 3-6-1 38, Hunt 2-9-0 17.

Receiving—Senior, Brandon Anton 2-85, Marice Burrough 7-42, Jon Brown 5-70, AJ Pine 1-4, Eugene Burke 1-15, Sam Gratton 6-82. Capital, Devin Sullivan 1-10, Corey Peterson 2-28, Francis Reishus 1-9, Brian Nickel 1-8.

Missed Field Goals—Senior, Burke 32.