MT High School Football Rankings - Week 7

[VimSince03]

Class AA

1. Billings Senior (6-0)
2. Kalispell Glacier (6-0)
3. Bozeman (5-1)
4. Billings West (5-1)
5. Missoula Big Sky (3-3)
6. Missoula Sentinel (3-3)
7. Helena High (4-2)
8. Helena Capital (2-4)
9. CMR (2-4)
10. Kalispell Flathead (2-4)

AA had an exciting weekend of football with four games going down to the wire. However, Billings Senior vs. Great Falls was not one of those games. GFH hung their hat on being a team that could compete with anyone as they took Kalispell Glacier to the edge in a 31-28 loss earlier in the year. But Senior completely dominated this game from the first quarter on. The Broncs were up 37-0 after the first period as Nate Dick hooked up with Gabe Sulser for three touchdowns in the quarter. Keaton Anderson also had a pick six in the first stanza. Senior's starters did not play in the second half. The game of the week this weekend will be when Billings Senior welcomes Bozeman to town in a game that the Broncs have had circled on their calendar since last year's state championship loss. Get to Billings on Friday night! The Kalispell Glacier Wolfpack has had quite the wild, undefeated season thus far. On last Friday, they beat Missoula Sentinel in overtime, 63-62. Glacier had 542 yards of offense in the game while the Spartans had 574. The score was 35-28 in favor of Glacier by halftime. The game went back and forth as Sentinel RB Connor Crawford pounded in a one yard TD run with :49 seconds left to tie the game. In the first OT, Mitch Roberts ran in his 4th touchdown on the night but the Spartans missed the extra point. This proved costly as Tadan Gilman hit Scout Willcut on their possession and booted the extra point to secure the win. QB Mitch Roberts, WR Nick Germer, WR Ethan Jones, and RB Conner Crawford were standouts for the Spartans while QB Tadan Gilman, WR/S Jackson Pepe, RB Drew Turner, and WR Scout Willcut starred for Glacier. Glacier will welcome CMR to town this Friday while Missoula Sentinel will travel to Great Falls High. Bozeman played a tough Missoula Big Sky team and were victorious 31-24 thanks in large part once again to their star QB, Callahan O'Reilly. He accounted for four touchdowns on the night, running in three and passing for the game winner in the final minutes to Bailey Paddock. Big Sky got another big game from QB Levi Janacaro who had two rushing touchdowns on the night. Big Sky was up 10-7 at half and 17-14 after three but allowed 17 points to Bozeman in the final stanza. Bozeman will travel to Billings to face Senior while Big Sky gets a week off with a forfeit win from Hellgate. Billing West improved to 4-1 on the season with a 37-7 win over Butte. West was up 30-0 at half after a big first quarter from RB Caleb Nelson and a big second quarter from the Deming twins. West will play Skyview this Friday while Butte welcomes Flathead. Helena High is the most hot or cold team in AA as one week their offense looks unstoppable and the next their defense comes through in the clutch. This past weekend, it was their offense as they beat Skyview 46-43. Helena RB Ryan Arntson accounted for five touchdowns on the night while QB Kaleb Winterburn had three passing touchdowns, including the game winner to Derrick Olsen (who had 159 yards receiving with 2 tds on the night) with under two minutes to play. The Bengals defense came up with an interception on Skyviews final possession to seal the win. Helena will take on crosstown rival Helena Capital on Friday night while Skyview takes on West. Helena Capital struggled to score all night versus CMR last Friday but found a way to earn their first real win 20-17, in large part because of RB Seth Schneider. He ran in the final score with under a minute left to seal the victory. Lane Jensen had two touchdowns on the night for CMR, who has now fallen to 2-4 on the year. The Rustlers will travel to Glacier this Friday in an important game for their playoff hopes while Capital takes on rival Helena High. Kalispell Flathead got the week off with a forfeit win from Hellgate. Their playoff hopes will be on the line against Butte this Friday.

AA Co-Players of the Week in Week 6: Missoula Sentinel QB Mitch Roberts - 455 yards of offense (286 passing, 169 rushing, 4 total touchdowns); Helena High RB Ryan Arntson - 252 yards of offense (5 total touchdowns)

Game(s) of the Week: Bozeman at Billings Senior (Senior wants redemption badly in this one); Helena High at Helena Capital (great rivalry game every year and both teams need a win for playoff implications)

Class A

1. Columbia Falls (5-0)
2. Dillon (4-1)
3. Billings Central (4-1)
4. Polson (4-1)
5. Sidney (5-1)
6. Havre (5-1)
7. Laurel (3-2)
8. Miles City (3-3)
9. Belgrade (3-2)
10. Lewistown (3-2)

Teams in the conversation: Butte Central (4-2), Hamilton (3-3)

It looked like yet another blowout after the first quarter of the Dillon/Columbia Falls game. The Beavers jumped out to a 14-0 lead going into the 2nd quarter but Columbia Falls started to answer, scoring 21 first quarter points to tie the game going into halftime. Dillon RB R.J. Fitzgerald started the scoring with a 3 yard run and Troy Andersen threw two touchdown passes in the first half. CF QB Dakota Bridwell threw two 2nd quarter touchdowns (both to WR Sean Miller) and spark-plug WR Braxton Reiten returned an 87 yard kickoff. In the second half, Columbia Falls held Dillon scoreless and Dakota Bridwell ran in a three yard score after hooking up with Reiten again on a deep post. Dillon had one last chance after a 4 and out by their defense but CF MLB Trevor Hoerner sealed the deal with an interception off Andersen. This was a great win for Columbia Falls and the even more exciting part is that these two teams will likely meet again in the semifinals of the playoffs with Columbia Falls hosting again, assuming they both win their quarterfinal games and win their conference. Columbia Falls will travel to Whitefish this Friday while Dillon welcomes Corvallis. The third best team in Class A earned a blowout win over Glendive, 49-7. Billings Central got touchdowns from an assortment of runners once again (Ben Voss, Braydon Huppert, Evan Barthel). This one was 35-7 at halftime. Billings Central will travel to Sidney in a game that might be for the Eastern A crown. Polson dominated Whitefish 38-0. QB Tanner Wilson and RB Colton Cote ran in two touchdowns each as the Pirates rolled. Polson will travel to Butte Central for a big non-conference game before welcoming Columbia Falls to town for the Northwestern A title in two weeks. The Sidney Eagles have been one of the better stories this year in Class A as they continued their winning streak with a 21-7 win over conference rival Laurel. After a scoreless first half, Laurel RB Nick Verlanic scored the first touchdown of the game. But after that it was all Sidney as QB Dawson McGlothlin and RB Alec Lovegren accounted for three touchdowns. Laurel lost star QB/S Casey Cole on the sixth play from scrimmage (and it is likely a season ending injury so his football career at Laurel may be finished) but they still held Sidney to only 34 first half yards while gaining over 100 yards themselves. They just couldn't contain some of Sidney's studs in the second half. Sidney will welcome Billings Central this Friday while Laurel travels to Miles City to try and stay in the playoff hunt. Havre earned a 39-14 blowout win against Livingston to improve to 5-1 on the season. Jase Stokes and the Havre running game controlled this one from the outset. Havre now enters the toughest stretch of their relatively weak schedule as they finish the season against Belgrade, Lewistown, and Polson. If Havre can get by Belgrade this week, they have a really good shot at winning the Central A once again. They get Belgrade at home this Friday. Miles City stomped Hardin 40-0 lead by three rushing touchdowns from RB Jacob Morris. The Cowboys will welcome Laurel in another important Eastern A game this weekend. Belgrade had a huge Central A win over Lewistown, 41-29. Panther QB Zack Spady threw five touchdown passes, two each to Easton Page and Trey Mounts. Lewistown QB Mitch Norslien threw four touchdowns of his own for the losing team.

A Players of the Week in Week 6: Belgrade QB Zack Spady (5 passing touchdowns)

Game(s) of the Week: Billings Central at Sidney (possibly for the Eastern A crown)

Class B

1. Fairfield (5-0)
2. Missoula Loyola (5-0)
3. Huntley Project (6-0)
4. Baker (4-1)
5. Bigfork (6-0)
6. Shelby (5-0)
7. Colstrip (5-1)
8. Eureka (5-1)
9. Manhattan (5-1)
10. Whitehall (5-1)

Teams in the conversation: Anaconda (1-5), Conrad (3-2), Cut Bank (3-2), Forsyth (4-2), Glasgow (3-2), Jefferson (4-2), Malta (2-3), Ronan (4-2), Shepherd (4-2), Townsend (3-2)

Fairfield earned a big victory over conference rival Cut Bank, 24-16. Cut Bank is a big, physical unit that gave Fairfield all they could handle but a back breaking interception right before halftime hurt the Wolves' chances. Sophomore defensive back Dawson Allen returned an interception right before halftime to make the socre 24-6 heading into intermission. However, in the second half, Fairfield couldn't score and Cut Bank got to within 8 points and had one last shot with under 2 minutes to go. But Dawson Allen picked off his second pass of the night to seal the win. Fairfield gets their next test on the road against Conrad. I understand Loyola is playing in a weak conference but in five wins this year they have outscored their opponent 254-18. Last Friday it was Anaconda as the Rams won 39-0. Loyola RB Jacob Byrne had three touchdowns rushing and QB Kellen Round threw two touchdowns. This Friday, Loyola will essentially be playing for the 6B title as they welcome 4-2 Ronan to town. Huntley Project basically punched their ticket as the #1 seed out of the 3B conference as they defeated Colstrip 26-18. Colstrip was definitely in this game being down 20-18 entering the 4th quarter and some said the Colts physically wore down the Red Devils. However, you can't turn the ball over seven times and expect to beat good teams and that is exactly what Colstrip did. Red Devils RB Lane Sumner scored two touchdowns and QB Tylan Croy threw for two to pace HP. Huntley Project was slated to play Manhattan this weekend but Manhattan decided to forfeit the non-conference game to heal up for the conference stretch run (which I think is bush league and this is a trend developing due to the AA allowed Hellgate to forfeit their season even though they are a AA school). Colstrip will travel to Lodge Grass before finishing up with Forsyth and Baker. Speaking of Baker, they dominated a tough Forsyth squad 50-23. Baker RB Angus Lund scored four rushing touchdowns while WR Cleet Wrzesinski scored on a 58 yard pass from Luke Gonsioroski and a 74 yard run. Baker was up 28-7 at the half and 50-15 after three quarters. This might be the most impressive win of the season for any Class B school this year because I think Forsyth is a very good football team defensively. Even though Baker fell to Huntley, they are now set up to contend for that #2 seed in the 3B as they have Shepherd and Colstrip left on their schedule. That final week game against Colstrip could be for the #2 seed in the 3B. Baker travels to Poplar this week while Forsyth gets the week off before playing for their season against Colstrip in two weeks. Bigfork responded from a lackluster win the prior week with a 49-21 victory over the visiting Malta Mustangs. The first half was a slugfest as Bigfork took a 20-14 lead into intermission. However, the Bigfork offense took over in the second half scoring 29 points and the defense held Malta to 7. Viking RB's Matthew Farrier and Randy Stultz dominated the game with 344 combined rushing yards and scored all seven touchdowns. Bigfork will welcome Libby to town this Friday. Shelby stayed undefeated with a 62-6 win over Rocky Boy. This game was never really close and the Coyotes got to play a lot of their young guys. Shelby welcomes Choteau to town this Friday before finishing up at Fairfield and at home against Cut Bank. We will know how good Shelby is by season's end. Eureka took care of business against Thompson Falls, winning 55-6. Lions QB Garrett Graves accounted for five touchdowns in the win. Eureka travels to Troy this Friday. If they win (they should), they will take on Bigfork in two weeks for the 7B title. Whitehall controlled their own destiny in the 5B after a big win over Jefferson the week prior but they fell in a heartbreaker to Manhattan, 14-13. The Tigers defense came to play and contained stud QB Braden Larson all night, holding him to only 1 rushing touchdown, 1 interception, and 318 yards of total offense (if you have seen Larson stats this year, that is considered containing him). After taking a 14-0 lead in the 3rd quarter, the Trojan offense finally got going and ended up getting the score to 14-13 after a Braden Smith 1 yard score. However, the Trojans decided to go for the 2-point conversion and the win and Manhattan keyed on Larson's read option ability to stop the QB and win the ball game. Now it is Manhattan who controls their own destiny in 5B. The Tigers have to go through Townsend and Jefferson first. Whitehall will take on Three Forks at home this Friday and they still control their own destiny to make the playoffs with games against Libby and Townsend left after Three Forks.

B Player of the Week in Week 6: Bigfork RB Matthew Farrier - 196 yards of offense (23 carries for 165 yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, 1 31-yard passing touchdown); Eureka QB/S Garrett Graves - 236 yards of offense (131 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 105 yards rushing, 2 rushing touchdowns, 1 fumble return for a touchdown)

Game(s) of the Week: Jefferson at Townsend (both teams need a win to stay alive in the 5B and playoff race); Ronan at Missoula Loyola (this game is for the 6B title and I don't see Loyola slowing down anytime soon); Fairfield at Conrad (the Eagles will have a stiff test from Conrad as the Cowboys need a win to stay alive in the playoff race)

Class C (8-man)

1. Ennis (6-0)
2. Wibaux (5-0)
3. Belt (6-0)
4. Fairview (5-1)
5. Charlo (5-1)
6. Harlowton (5-1)
7. DGS (5-1)
8. Arlee (5-1)
9. Scobey (5-1)
10. Cascade (5-1)

Teams in the conversation: Clark Fork (2-4), Flint Creek (3-2), Great Falls Central (5-1), Lone Peak (3-3), Park City (4-2), Twin Bridges (3-2), Victor (4-2)

Things are starting to get more clear in 8-man football. One clear, consistent thing this season is that Ennis is far and away the best team in 8-man. They traveled to Harlowton last Friday in a battle of the unbeatens in Southern C. Final result? 68-0 road win for the Mustangs. They were up 38-0 after the 1st quarter and 54-0 at halftime. Ennis QB Tanner Wood, RB Jake Knack, RB Corbin Wood, and WR Gavin McKitrick all scored mutliple touchdowns in the win. The scary thing about the Mustangs is that they are doing all of this after losing WR Cleet Wrzesinski to Baker in the offseason. I think the only team that could give Ennis a game at this point is Wibaux and that matchup could happen in the State C 8-man semifinals. Anyway, Ennis welcomes Park City to town this Friday. Good luck Park City and be safe. Wibaux and Fairview was promised to be a good game but Wibaux ended up beating the visiting Warriors by a final score of 42-20. Longhorn RB Shawn Schaefferkoetter was outstanding and the rest of the supporting cast outplayed Fairview in critical moments. Fairview's road will not get any easier as they take on the suddenly very hot Scobey Spartans in Fairview this Friday. Wibaux will travel to Circle. Belt took down Hays-Lodgepole 54-6. FB Jarin Maki and QB Harry Green had big nights for the Huskies. Belt will welcome Simms to town this weekend. Charlo continued their dominance, beating Clark Fork 66-12. QB Lander Smith accounted for eight touchdowns (4 rushing, 4 passing). Charlo will travel to Seeley Swan this Friday. DGS stymied Absarokee 48-0. They have responded well after their loss to Ennis and they will take on Harlowton this weekend for essentially the #2 seed in the Southern C conference. Arlee got a big win over Seeley Swan, 76-20. They are still alive for the #2 seed in the conference but they have a tough final two games against Twin Bridges and Charlo. The Warriors will likely return to the playoffs regardless as they have only lost to Victor thus far. Scobey has scored over 70 points for three straight weeks, beating Broadus 72-24 last Friday. RB Riley Linder accounted for five touchdowns on offense for the Spartans. Scobey will take on Fairview this week in a game that will likley be for the #2 seed in the Eastern C. Cascade took down the previously undefeated Great Falls Central Mustangs, 28-22. The win puts Cascade in a pretty good spot to grab the #2 seed out of the Northern C. Their only loss this year was to Belt.

C 8-man Player of the Week in Week 6: Charlo QB Landers Smith - 8 total touchdowns (4 passing, 4 rushing)

Game(s) of the Week: Harlowton at DGS (this game will likely decide the #2 seed in the Southern C conference)

Class C (6-man)

1. Hot Springs (6-0)
2. Bridger (6-0)
3. White Sulphur Springs (6-0)
4. Westby-Grenora (5-1)
5. Jordan (4-1)
6. Valley Christian (5-0)
7. West Yellowstone (5-0)
8. Richey-Lambert (4-2)
9. Valier (4-1)
10. Geraldine-Highwood (5-1)

Teams in the conversation: Bainville (3-2), North Star (4-2), Sunburst (3-2)

Hot Springs continued to dominate, beating Noxon 77-0. RB/WR Trevor Paro scored four touchdowns and QB Marco Degel accounted for three in the route. Hot Springs will start their stretch run (along with Valley Christian, White Sulphur Springs, and West Yellowstone) of conference opponents all with undefeated records. The first one up will be Valley Christian. And to make things tougher for these three other teams? They all have to go to Hot Springs. Bridger got their second toughest test of the season by facing Richey-Lambert in a non-conference battle. This game was 35-26 at halftime in favor of Bridger but the Scouts shut out the Fusion in the second half en route to a 61-26 win. RB Ryan Zentner accounted for four touchdowns in the win. R-L RB Jeff Scholla scored three touchdowns for the Fusion. Bridger will welcome Reed Point-Rapelje this Friday while Richey-Lambert will welcome Terry. White Sulphur Springs got a forfeit win from Lincoln. They will travel to undefeated West Yellowstone this Saturday. Westby-Grenora blew out Savage 51-8 last Friday. WR Brian Field accounted for three touchdowns with QB Jeremiah Paine and QB/WR Dalton Holecek. The Thunder will take on Milestone, Saskatchewan this Saturday for a battle north of the border before they take on Jordan and Richey-Lambert to finish the season. The Jordan Mustangs picked up a 44-14 win over Ekalaka. RB John Saylor accounted for five touchdowns on the day. They get the week off before welcoming Westby-Grenora to town. Valley Christian got four touchdowns from Colton Becker to beat St. Regis 52-6. A big win for VC as they enter their biggest game of the year against Hot Springs this weekend. West Yellowstone earned a 53-8 win over Sheridan. They get to welcome White Sulphur Springs for a Western C 6-man showdown of unbeatens. Valier pulled off a big upset by taking down previously undefeated Geraldine-Highwood. RB Wacey Running Crane had a big game for the Panthers as they improved to 4-0 in Northern C 6-man play and 4-1 on the season. They control their own destiny in their conference for the #1 seed as they travel to Big Sandy this Friday.

C 6-man Co-Players of the Week in Week 6: Jordan RB John Saylor (5 total touchdowns); Terry RB Shad Mack (6 rushing touchdowns)

Game of the Week: Valley Christian at Hot Springs (both teams undefeated in Western C); White Sulphur Springs at West Yellowstone (both teams undefeated in Western C)

[bobcat99]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

[LTown Cat]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

[catpound]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

[LTown Cat]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

Ya that is stupid. I'm a MHS alum. When I was a junior we forfeited 2 bball games vs Butte Central in order to force the MHSA to take them off our schedule. Pissed me off then and to this day it irritates me that we did that.

[VimSince03]

Sorry guys. I'll get the rest of the classes updated later tonight or tomorrow.

As far as the HP vs. Manhattan game, I have no clue because Manhattan just came off a huge win against Whitehall in the 5B. HP is searching for a replacement.

And yes that was a very well timed Fields joke.

[John K]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

So I presume that counts as a forfeit for Manhattan? Did Hellgate set a precedent when they forfeited a couple of games last year, and forfeited the whole season this year? Will more and more teams follow their lead, if they get bitten by the injury bug? If this starts becoming more commonplace, then I think the MHSA needs to step in and address this issue.

[VimSince03]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

So I presume that counts as a forfeit for Manhattan? Did Hellgate set a precedent when they forfeited a couple of games last year, and forfeited the whole season this year? Will more and more teams follow their lead, if they get bitten by the injury bug? If this starts becoming more commonplace, then I think the MHSA needs to step in and address this issue.

Manhattan has plenty of kids too. Its football. Go play.

[John K]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

So I presume that counts as a forfeit for Manhattan? Did Hellgate set a precedent when they forfeited a couple of games last year, and forfeited the whole season this year? Will more and more teams follow their lead, if they get bitten by the injury bug? If this starts becoming more commonplace, then I think the MHSA needs to step in and address this issue.

Manhattan has plenty of kids too. Its football. Go play.

I totally agree with you, but if you're going to allow a school with 1,200 students to bag a whole season, it's probably pretty hard to tell a school with 200-300 kids that they can't cancel one game. I think the MHSA set a terrible precedent by letting Hellgate cancel their season this year.

[bobcat99]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

Ya that is stupid. I'm a MHS alum. When I was a junior we forfeited 2 bball games vs Butte Central in order to force the MHSA to take them off our schedule. Pissed me off then and to this day it irritates me that we did that.

Completely different scenario. In the case you're describing, Butte Central continually trashed the locker rooms in Manhattan every time they lost, causing several hundred dollars worth of damage and refused to pay for it. The Manhattan School Board went to the MHSA, couldn't get anything resolved, and decided that forfeiting to force the MHSA's hand was the best solution.

In this one, Manhattan is forfeiting because players are hurt, and it originally would have been a bye week. It's a move that a winning program doesn't make. I don't know if the coach had input on this one or not, and I do not know the current coach, but I know that Dale McQueary would have never let this happen. I like when all the local schools (Gallatin County being local) do well, but Manhattan isn't ever going to be able to play with the predominant football schools if they won't play them.

[VimSince03]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

So I presume that counts as a forfeit for Manhattan? Did Hellgate set a precedent when they forfeited a couple of games last year, and forfeited the whole season this year? Will more and more teams follow their lead, if they get bitten by the injury bug? If this starts becoming more commonplace, then I think the MHSA needs to step in and address this issue.

Manhattan has plenty of kids too. Its football. Go play.

I totally agree with you, but if you're going to allow a school with 1,200 students to bag a whole season, it's probably pretty hard to tell a school with 200-300 kids that they can't cancel one game. I think the MHSA set a terrible precedent by letting Hellgate cancel their season this year.

I 100% agree.

[bobcat99]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

So I presume that counts as a forfeit for Manhattan? Did Hellgate set a precedent when they forfeited a couple of games last year, and forfeited the whole season this year? Will more and more teams follow their lead, if they get bitten by the injury bug? If this starts becoming more commonplace, then I think the MHSA needs to step in and address this issue.

No. It was not an MHSA sanctioned game, wouldn't have counted on either teams record. It was basically a scrimmage to fill a bye week. I still think it's bush league.

[LTown Cat]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

Ya that is stupid. I'm a MHS alum. When I was a junior we forfeited 2 bball games vs Butte Central in order to force the MHSA to take them off our schedule. Pissed me off then and to this day it irritates me that we did that.

Completely different scenario. In the case you're describing, Butte Central continually trashed the locker rooms in Manhattan every time they lost, causing several hundred dollars worth of damage and refused to pay for it. The Manhattan School Board went to the MHSA, couldn't get anything resolved, and decided that forfeiting to force the MHSA's hand was the best solution.

In this one, Manhattan is forfeiting because players are hurt, and it originally would have been a bye week. It's a move that a winning program doesn't make. I don't know if the coach had input on this one or not, and I do not know the current coach, but I know that Dale McQueary would have never let this happen. I like when all the local schools (Gallatin County being local) do well, but Manhattan isn't ever going to be able to play with the predominant football schools if they won't play them.

I get that they're different and I know the reasons. But as a player we wanted to play BC and those 2 unearned losses bothered me.

[catpound]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

So I presume that counts as a forfeit for Manhattan? Did Hellgate set a precedent when they forfeited a couple of games last year, and forfeited the whole season this year? Will more and more teams follow their lead, if they get bitten by the injury bug? If this starts becoming more commonplace, then I think the MHSA needs to step in and address this issue.

No. It was not an MHSA sanctioned game, wouldn't have counted on either teams record. It was basically a scrimmage to fill a bye week. I still think it's bush league.

Correct, it will not be counted as a forfeit as they agreed to play this summer outside of MHSA scheduling. Regardless of some injuries, this is a crappy thing to do by Manhattan to Huntley as well as to the kids who want to play against a top notch program such as Huntley. There are several reasons why some programs, such as Huntley's, are good year in and year out and why some aren't, such as Manhattan's, and this is apparently one of them.

[VimSince03]

Just saw that Manhattan canceled their game with Huntley Project for this weekend. What a big disappointment.









/didn't know that Peter Fields started working at Manhattan

I saw that too but didn't see why. Do you know?

Manhattan cancelled it because they are too banged up and they would like to get healthy before the remaining league games. Not a good move by Manhattan to leave Huntley hanging. I think the Tigers better hope they don't meet the Red Devils in the postseason, Coach Croy might really put it on them as I can't imagine he is very happy.

So I presume that counts as a forfeit for Manhattan? Did Hellgate set a precedent when they forfeited a couple of games last year, and forfeited the whole season this year? Will more and more teams follow their lead, if they get bitten by the injury bug? If this starts becoming more commonplace, then I think the MHSA needs to step in and address this issue.

No. It was not an MHSA sanctioned game, wouldn't have counted on either teams record. It was basically a scrimmage to fill a bye week. I still think it's bush league.

Correct, it will not be counted as a forfeit as they agreed to play this summer outside of MHSA scheduling. Regardless of some injuries, this is a crappy thing to do by Manhattan to Huntley as well as to the kids who want to play against a top notch program such as Huntley. There are several reasons why some programs, such as Huntley's, are good year in and year out and why some aren't, such as Manhattan's, and this is apparently one of them.

Manhattan did it because they want to get "healed up" before they have to face Jefferson and Townsend in back to back weeks to finish the season. If the Tigers win those games, they win the 5B outright. They just beat a very good Whitehall team and the only semi-good team Whitehall has left on their schedule is Townsend in the final week. Manhattan knows they likely have to win out to keep pace over Whitehall to win the conference. Injuries or not, playing Huntley wouldn't have hurt them conference wise. They could have played all their young guys if they were afraid to get more guys hurt.

[kennethnoisewater]

That's a tough one. I'm an AD at a Class B school and I've had to cancel some JV games because we had too many guys hurt. I've had two schools in the last couple years try to forfeit varsity games against us (one was Homecoming) because we were a much bigger, better team. I talked them out of it, mostly because we just assured them we'd only play our starters as long as we needed to, and they were happy they played the game in the end. Your priority absolutely has to be for the health and safety of your student-athletes. Nobody is more plugged in to that program than the coaches and the AD, and they have to do right by the kids. I'm sure Mr. Lynch didn't take that decision lightly and he didn't make it unilaterally. He's one of the best AD's in Montana, but AD's have to make unpopular decisions all the time and people think they're idiots half the time. Having said that, I believe I'd have had a conversation with Coach Croy and just said "hey, we're pretty beat up. Can you get to the 35 point rule and throw some JV kids in? We have to look at the rest of our season here." NBA and NFL teams do it all the time. They don't cancel games right before the playoffs, but it's common to rest guys in games that don't really matter. Huntley Project has some big boys and I'd put them up against just about any class A team in Montana, so I get the nervousness about playing them at this point of the season.

[Bemiller49]

That's a tough one. I'm an AD at a Class B school and I've had to cancel some JV games because we had too many guys hurt. I've had two schools in the last couple years try to forfeit varsity games against us (one was Homecoming) because we were a much bigger, better team. I talked them out of it, mostly because we just assured them we'd only play our starters as long as we needed to, and they were happy they played the game in the end. Your priority absolutely has to be for the health and safety of your student-athletes. Nobody is more plugged in to that program than the coaches and the AD, and they have to do right by the kids. I'm sure Mr. Lynch didn't take that decision lightly and he didn't make it unilaterally. He's one of the best AD's in Montana, but AD's have to make unpopular decisions all the time and people think they're idiots half the time. Having said that, I believe I'd have had a conversation with Coach Croy and just said "hey, we're pretty beat up. Can you get to the 35 point rule and throw some JV kids in? We have to look at the rest of our season here." NBA and NFL teams do it all the time. They don't cancel games right before the playoffs, but it's common to rest guys in games that don't really matter. Huntley Project has some big boys and I'd put them up against just about any class A team in Montana, so I get the nervousness about playing them at this point of the season.

Nice Post. Good perspective.

[topey711]

Everyone needs to remember that this was not an MHSA sanctioned game. Which in reality means it was a scrimmage. Wouldn't have counted anyways. If you ask me Manhattan was smart to cancel. What exactly did they have to gain? Possibly losing players to injury? They are still in the mix for the playoffs. How would you feel if a key player/players got hurt and it caused them to lose a game and miss the playoffs? I can't understand why this is going on in the first place. If you want to scrimmage , do it before the season starts. Don't do it during the season . MHSA needs to look into changing the rules. Either make teams take the by week, or let them have an extra sanctioned game. Not I repeat NOT have teams playing against one another for NO REASON!

[grizband]

Kicking off the week of AA football, Billings Senior just beat Bozeman by a final of 43-6...

[blueandgoldblitz]

Where's week 8? Did I miss it somewhere? Damn it Vim! You've fed the animals one too many times. Now we're dependent!