A Miner Story

Final Minutes, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

I’ve never seen Centerville lose… well, not until this year. In ’99 they defeated Denton at home for all the marbles and then I saw them come from behind against Hysham in the 2004 playoffs (when Hysham was an understaffed, but tough eight-man team). Then I witnessed the Miner’s miracle state-title victory over heavily-favored Wibaux in 2006 followed up by a 2007 regular-season game on the road in Sunburst. There might be another C-ville game I attended, but I can’t be sure.

However, as mentioned above, things are different this year. I witnessed a Miner loss at Power against the Titans a couple of weeks ago and then again, this past weekend in their first-round playoff game against top-seeded Fairview.

In deciding which of the sixteen Class C games (both eight-man and six-man) to attend in Montana this past weekend, it was a tough choice that had nothing to do with seeing a particular team play—it was about the matchups. I knew the number-twos versus the number-threes would provide the most promise of excitement, but I started looking at the number-ones versus the number-fours and reckoned that Centerville would be the best challenge for any number-one seeded team.

Of course, I looked right past the Mustangs of Ennis and their excursion to Superior.

Yet, somewhere in the back of my mind I ascertained that the day would come when I’d see the Miners drop a game, but certainly not two in the same season. Because of this (and other questionable logic), I reckoned that Centerville had a real chance in Fairview based on the above… and three other factors. First, Centerville looked tough at Power even though they were eventually overrun by the speed-prolific Titans. Second, I reckoned that the Warriors of Fairview had only been tested once—against Wibaux, and rumor was that the Longhorns weren’t completely healthy when the two Eastern Conference powerhouses faced off at the end of the regular season. Lastly, Centerville’s skipper is Ted Richards, a seasoned eight-man coach who can take a bunch of average athletes and transform them into state contenders in no-time flat.

Centerville Vista, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

As it turned out, my logic fell a bit short. Centerville was dominated by Fairview from the get-go, and it probably didn’t help that the Miners started the first quarter working against a stiff Eastern Montana wind. By the time the first quarter was over, the Warriors had already racked up 28 points. (Driving back from Fairview Saturday evening, I found myself wondering how often coaches have instructed their captains to choose the wind direction over kicking, receiving or deferring when the coin toss is won.)

Despite my poor football logic, I feel pretty confident in saying that if Fairview can play their remaining games as they played against Centerville, it will take a monumental effort to defeat them—on their home turf no less. I’m a believer now.

The Future of Mining
In visiting with a few Centerville fans who made the long trip to Fairview, I was saddened to learn about the low student enrollment projections for future classes which means that Centerville might have to consider playing six-man someday. Typically, I don’t find such news too disturbing, but when a team like Centerville—an icon in the eight-man ranks—has to consider this scenario, it hurts a bit. That said, compared to no-man, six-man is always a nice alternative.

As I made my way down I-94 with this on my mind, I considered placing an advertisement in the Great Falls Tribune that attempts to persuade young couples with children living in the sprawling metropolis to consider the nearby “bedroom communities” of Centerville, Sand Coulee, and Stockett as great places to raise a family. This advertisement would also include an invitation to visit Coach Ted Richards about the football program.

Well, the good news for now is that the Miners are a young team. Of the 23 listed on the roster, 10 are sophomores. But, after that I’m told the numbers start dropping fast. Likewise, Fairview has a huge junior class with 13 juniors out of 24 on their roster. So, if the Warriors can’t be stopped this year, they might make next year look even easier.

I don’t like to cheer or favor any one team, but if a gun were held to my head and I had to pick one, Centerville would be way up there on my list. It’s a great location for a game as the gridiron is tucked away in one of the hidden coulees of the area and there are no floodlights, so home games are always on Saturday afternoons. Further, the Miners have always been a scrappy, no-nonsense team much like the Nittany Lions of Penn State.

The Last Play, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

Every team has their moment in the sun even if some get more exposure. But one thing is for sure, no school is always dominant—not even the (current) best known programs like Drummond, Wibaux, Denton or Centerville. Sure, they might remain competitive in most years, but despite the high-caliber coaches and steady flow of good athletes, none are invincible as we saw in Superior this past week. And like it or not, every school spends some time as a non-contender (even if some spend more time there than others). It’ll happen someday. One season in the future, a team like Shields Valley will win the state title while a perennial power like Wibaux fails to notch a victory. Hasn’t it happened already?

As fans of the game, the loudest cheer should not be for our favorite team, but for the small town football programs like Centerville; that they will always have a school with enough kids to field a competitive team. It’s a wish that goes on and on, and hopefully fulfilled even after we are all gone.

Winning With Gardiner

End Zone Seats, Second Deck, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

It wasn’t in my long-term plan at the beginning of the football season, but I’ve seen the Gardiner Bruins play twice this year. Once in Harlowton, and the other day on their home field against Broadveiw-Lavina. Both times, the Bruins lost. In fact, over the years I’ve seen them play several times either away or at home, and I’m pretty sure, they’ve never won in my presence.

Perhaps for their sake, I’ll stop attending their games just in case I’m the cause. Yet, like all football teams, good and bad seasons come and go. No doubt, Gardiner will be a contender again before long—perhaps even notching another state title in a few short years.

Keep in mind, the Bruins did win it all in 1997 and have seen limited playoff action in recent years. So, it’s not like Gardiner has a bad gene pool when it comes to football players.

Regardless of the team’s win-loss record, Gardiner is one of the great places to watch a game. There are no lights, so almost all home games are played on Saturday afternoon with Electric Peak looming over the gridiron (weather permitting). Rumor has it, even bison from nearby Yellowstone National Park have been known to show up for a game. And after the game, you can get a great bite to eat at Rosie’s Café or wander in the Park for the remaining few hours of daylight… talk about a double feature.

As I get older, I find myself more frequently considering those places in the country where I might retire. Of course, one of my conditions is that it must be a small town and there must be a high school football team in the community. For those two reasons alone, Gardiner might be on my short list when it’s time to make that decision.

A Montana Football Thoroughfare

191 Stretch, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

The following was written last year, but was never finished and thus never posted. After a recent trek up U.S. Highway 191 recently, I was reminded again of the many drives up and down this stretch of highway—going back to 1999.

September 2010

Even though it was the last official weekend of the summer, a touch of autumn was already in the air. Earlier in the week I had noticed a smattering of yellow leaves here and there within the trees of town and now, as I was making my way through Bridger, Montana on an early Saturday morning, the bank clock told me it was 39 degrees.

Continuing on up the road and approaching Laurel, Montana, I was thinking about the “regularity” of these trips into Montana to attend the football games in the state’s various small and obscure towns. One of those regularities had to do with where I found my second cup of coffee for the morning—lately it has been the City Brew in Laurel, Montana, just before I jump on Interstate 90 and head east or west.

There were some great games that weekend. Scobey at Wibaux, Harlowton at Joliet, Ft. Benton at Chinook—even the Powell Panthers (my town) were undefeated and on the road in Buffalo to face the equally undefeated Bison.

Nevertheless, I choose to attend an off-the-radar game in Moore, Montana where the winless three-school co-op of Hobson-Moore-Judith Gap faced the Refiners of Sunburst who hadn’t notched a win either.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Driving toward Moore that day, I considered another regularity in these Montana junkets—U.S. Highway 191. I started wondering how many times I’d been up and down its asphalt—maybe three or four times a year over the course of some ten years adding up to 30 or 40 roundtrips. Was it possible?

Titanettes, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

For the record, U.S. Highway 191 is the main north-south artery to access many of the places where small town high school football is played in Montana. Starting with Harlowton, other game locations I’ve attended in the 191-vicinity include Moore, Hobson, Stanford, Geraldine, Highwood, Centerville, Geyser, Belt, Fort Benton, and Denton.

For me, U.S. Highway 191 begins in Big Timber, Montana—a place that acquired its name from Lewis and Clark as they gathered timbers to build rafts for their float down the Yellowstone River. From Big Timber, 191 is pretty much a straight north-south run with nothing but the foothills of the scenic (and usually snowcapped) Crazy Mountains and wide-open spaces farther north. There are no other communities that warrant a reduction in the speed limit until Harlowton, approximately 44 miles straight up 191.

Making up for the lack of human activity between Big Timber and Harlowton, any given traveler at any given time is likely to see mule deer somewhere along that 44-mile stretch—most likely just beyond Big Timber. I refer to that section of highway as “Deer Alley.”

Years ago when I was on my way to attend a six-man game in Geraldine, I left Powell on a Friday night with a motel reservation in Stanford. I followed a duel-wheeled pick-up truck out of Big Timber that Friday night, but I didn’t keep up with him. Somewhere in the foothills maybe ten miles up the road, I came across a sight I’d never seen—the fresh, fragmented and scattered remains of what was probably a mule deer that could have doubled as a suicide bomber. I attempted to slow my vehicle down as it started sliding on the animal’s spilled blood frozen to the cold highway. Fortunately I managed to maintain control of my car despite the steaming carnage. I half expected to find a wrecked pick-up somewhere off the road, but there were no signs that it had even passed through nor did I ever see it again. From that point, I easily remained wide-awake, driving through the dark Montana night and on to Stanford.

On any given road trip, the music of Mary Chapin Carpenter is a steady diet for my ears. On this particular day, her song “Alone But Not Lonely” grabbed me like no other time in the past. Its cello stirred me while the singer’s soothing voice ached with a question of who I was in my solitude on Highway 191. On that particular day I could definitely answer that, yes, I was alone, but hardly lonely in these wide-open places of Montana.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

Harlowton (or “Harlo” as some call it) might seem bleak in its first impression, but I have grown more comfortable with each visit to this football enclave. Whether camping in my truck at the rest stop/campgrounds by the rodeo grounds, or getting my morning cup of joe at the Snowy Mountain Coffee Shop, I seldom just drive through this community. Cruise down Main Street to the old Graves Hotel and you might find yourself fantasizing about purchasing and fixing up that historic landmark. Of course, Harlowton has been a terminal destination as well thanks to the Harlowton Engineers eight-man football team, and few football fields in the state are better illuminated than Harlowton.

Seven Bines in the Sun, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

As you take the next section of Highway 191 out of Harlow, the Judith Gap Wind Farm awaits you. The highway splits the collection of giant turbines giving the traveler a feeling of smallness. The first electrical power started flowing from Judith Gap in 2005. Some might claim these monstrosities ruin the scenic value of such locations, but given a choice, I’ll take the clean symmetry of a wind farm any day over the chaotic and dirty clutter of equipment associated with a gas or oil field operation.

Past the wind farm and into the tiny town of Judith Gap, a milkshake is in order from the Judith Gap Mercantile if time permits and it’s the right time of day.

For me, something in the landscape… something in the world starts to change as you make your way north from Judith Gap. This is a magical place… a place where the sagebrush begins yielding to the winter wheat… where the light is different because the sun’s angle is lower.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

Five miles off the highway between Judith Gap and Eddie’s Corner is the town of Buffalo with its five residents. If you have the time, have a look around this town that once was. It’s about as close to a ghost town short of actually being one. The old bank building and school are worthy of a visit—if nothing else to only stare and wonder.

Officially Highway 191 picks up again on its northern direction at Lewistown, but for me it ends near the town of Moore where it meets Montana State Route 200. This junction is known as Eddie’s Corner—named after the one business that provides round-the-clock meals, gasoline, a lounge and a handful of windowless motel rooms. Although Moore is not far away, it is out of sight, rendering Eddie’s Corner more like an outpost on the frontier.

Before embarking on my return down 191, I often have a meal at Eddie’s Corner following a Saturday afternoon game in the area and listen to the other customers talking about the various football games they attended that day from all over the state. Thanks to Eddie’s Corner, I usually know about the outcomes of two or three other football games before I ever read about them on the Internet or newspapers.

Two Roads..., a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

—Robert Frost

Dubois, Wyoming: America's Newest 6-Man Gem

12 Players, Count 'em, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

The last time I saw a football game in Dubois, the home team could barely field an eleven-man team. There might have been three to four reserves on the sideline, and anytime a team’s bench is that thin, there’s bound to be someone who is reluctant for any action—a five-foot, four-inch, 115-pound freshman in particular.

Beginning this season, for better or worse, the Dubois Rams are amongst Wyoming’s six-man ranks. Personally, I think it’s a good fit.

Unlike many “six-man towns” I’ve visited, Dubois is a big town. In the last census, they notched 971 residents. In my travels, six-man communities are typically between 200 and 300 residents. Yet, the high school enrollment (9-12) at Dubois is a mere 54, which is right in the ballpark of a six-man program. Might we draw up a theory or two from these numbers regarding Dubois and its residents? One: there are an unusual number of households without children. Two: Many of these childless households are retired folks. Whether I’m right or wrong in my novice demographic analysis here doesn’t really matter. What matters is the Rams have a great fan base to draw on, and should they continue in winning, I suspect attendance could be daunting for home games.

Despite moving down in class, Dubois has at least one outstanding item to improve upon. Most shocking to me was the absence of game programs. Just to be sure, I asked around. I’ve seen many football games over the years in some of the poorest and smallest school districts, but never have I attended a game where programs weren’t waiting for spectators at the gate. Hopefully this was just a one-time slip up at Dubois. Small town high school football has much charm in the things that are not present, but found in larger class games. I’d like to think that missing programs are not one of those charms.

PAT4 Rattlers, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

As it turned out, program or no program, I was pretty stoked to be attending this particular game in Dubois, nestled up to the Wind River mountain range. My excitement had nothing to do with Dubois hosting their first home game as a six-man team or the fact that the Rams were ranked number-two and were about to battle Little Snake River, the number-one ranked team. Nope, it was because the game was on Saturday.

It’s been a lament of mine for years when it comes to attending Wyoming small town high school football games. In the past, if a game wasn’t on Friday night because a school didn’t have lights, they would hold their games on Thursday or Friday afternoons—never Saturdays like Montana—which was always extremely prohibitive for me working on Fridays. Even attending a game as close as Burlington (only 40 miles away) has required some conniving and/or sacrifice in the past. But here in the last couple of years (and maybe it has something to do with the formation of the six-man class), there are more games played on Saturday afternoons. So, I’m tipping my hat to the all the schools embracing Saturday games as well as the Wyoming High School Activities Association—I’m sure they’ve had something to do with this new scheduling trend too.

By the way, this particular game at Dubois was not only on Saturday, but at 3:00 instead of 1:00—providing even more cushion for travel time.

On a final and unrelated note… What are we to make of Tongue River’s woes? Playing in Wyoming’s 2A eleven-man class, the Eagles have forfeit their season because not enough kids signed up to play.Those students who did sign up are playing down the road with their 2A rival, Big Horn.

Firsts in the First Week

"Rocky", a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

Just for the record, I’m counting this past weekend as the first week of high school football in Montana and Wyoming even if there were a handful of games last week. Supporting my argument, almost everyone was on the gridiron this past week including the six-man teams.

And if it was the first week, it was a week of firsts too, starting in Red Lodge with their newly minted mascot—the Rams. The game’s announcer started the evening with, “Good evening Redskin fans, welcome to a new era of Red Lodge Rams Football.” Once that was said, there was no looking back to the old mascot name as the new mascot delivered. Red Lodge went to work on the Herders (a uniquely Montana mascot name if there ever was one) of Big Timber, scoring the game’s first touchdown and never relinquishing the lead in the Class B eleven-man contest.

During the off-season the school and community of Red Lodge were actively considering and choosing a replacement for their old and culturally-insensitive Redskins. I was secretly and silently hoping a unique mascot name would rise to the top like Ropers, Silverbacks or Loggers, but it wasn’t to be.

Break, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

While sitting in the stands and enjoying the game, I wondered what would happen if someone blurted out, “C’mon Redskins!” Perhaps someone did (or will someday), but Red Lodge appears to have gone to great lengths in establishing and securing this new mascot name, including a “Rocky” the Ram costume worn by a Red Lodge student.

For the history books, Red Lodge’s Dylan Buckstead will go down as the first Ram to score a touchdown on a 20-yard pass from quarterback Sean Sullivan in the first quarter.

Big Sky’s Lone Peak

Off To The Game, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

Saturday I wondered into virgin football country just south of Bozeman to watch the very first football game played by the Lone Peak Big Horns (take note Red Lodge fans) as they hosted the Fromberg-Roberts Falcons.

The Big Horns were reminiscent of the Farson-Eden Pronghorns (yep, another classic mascot name) in their first season of play two years ago. Despite having more players than Fromberg and matching them in size, the Falcons were clearly superior in all of the fundamentals of football such as tackling, throwing, running with the ball and blocking—all of which are terribly critical early in the season.

Good coaching aside, I suspect this mastery of game fundamentals would also be attributed to the cumulative playing experience of the Fromberg-Roberts team. As a result, the Big Horn players, including its eight upperclassmen, will never forget Fromberg-Roberts—the first opponent of their budding football careers. After the six-man shoot-out and with his team huddled in the center of the field, Lone Peak head coach Tony Beardsley looked at his players, “Well, now you know what it’s like to get hit.”

Despite the somewhat lopsided score, the first-football-game-ever party did not appear to be spoiled by the visitors. The Big Horns treated the ski-based community and its large gathering of fans to a kickoff return, a touchdown pass and several big plays from its defense.

Open, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

Along with Red Lodge, the Lone Peak gridiron is one of the more scenic settings for a football game with its mountainous landscape encompassing the field and school. I hope they don’t install lights anytime soon.

Other Games
A welcoming congratulations goes out to the victorious Darby Tigers and the Hot Springs Savage Heat in their first eight-man and six-man games respectively.

Chinook and Superior… big wins over competitive conference foes. Will it be a downhill run for them into the playoffs?

Alberton and Ekalaka… the newest six-man contenders joining the ranks of Denton, Savage and Big Sandy?

Just In Time For Christmas?

Temples Cover, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

Some people are really good in promoting themselves or the things they make. Honestly, I don’t know how to go about it and even if I really knew how, I’d be reluctant.

Hell, I’m even reluctant about writing this here.

Nevertheless, here goes nothing. Call it “shameless self-promotion,” I’m guilty as charged. But, I’ll only mention it here and this one time.

I have a book that is available for purchase (see sidebar).

The book is not a compilation of everything you see in this blog, rather it is one chapter or one installment about one of the particulars of small town high school football—in this case it’s about the football fields where small town football is played.

NPR’s sports correspondent Mike Pesca was generous enough to write the foreword. So, a big “thank you” to Mike.

This first book is only 36 pages and not cheap, but those are the circumstances of self-publishing using an on-demand print provider (www.blurb.com). However, you can preview the book at no cost in case you can’t justify the dough of a purchase. Have at it… anyway you can.

Because it is only 36 pages, I couldn’t publish every football field I’ve ever visited. So, the good folks in Reed Point (for example) will be a bit let down to know that their nice little stadium adjacent to I-90 did not make the cut. Fear not however, there are other books to consider and I’m confident that Reed Point, its team, or some incarnation of playing football there will eventually make it to a page or two in a future installment.

Someone might be asking about right now, “When’s the next installment?” I’m thinking next year about this same time as another season begins.

Then of course there’s, “How many installments will there be?” Somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-12, but if I have my way, a “real” publisher will come along and rescue me from such long-term torment.

We’ll have to see. It might be just pie in the sky especially if self-promotion is critical.

The Rivals: Montana's New Co-op

Six-Man Solitude, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

When it comes to playing football under the circumstances of dwindling enrollment numbers, six-man football is the ultimate story of adaptation. A school with only fifteen players could prop up an eleven-man team with the hope that injuries don’t finish off their season. However, a better scenario would be for the same team to play six-man football and have enough players to scrimmage during practice and field a respectable and competitive team.

But, what if a school doesn’t even have twelve players—enough to scrimmage in six-man? In the case of Highwood and Geraldine—two perennial powerhouses in Montana six-man play—this is exactly what happened.

Since 1988 these two six-man teams have notched 18 championship game appearances… that’s 18 of the last 23 title games. Of those 18 title games, 15 resulted in victory. In five of those title games, the two rivals faced each other.

Beginning this year, due to a decline in classroom enrollments, the high-octane rivalry of Highwood and Geraldine will transform into a six-man football co-op that is already turning heads. Lead by Geraldine’s veteran coach, Rod Tweet, the Rivals will be competing in Montana’s Six-Man Northern Conference.

Tweet is cautious about making any kind of predictions regarding his team as a state contender. “We don’t have the number of kids to compete anymore,” declared Tweet. “The kids we have are good kids, but injuries play a big role in the game. So, it’s not like we’re going to get together and have 25 kids to play football.” The Rivals started their first week of practice with 16 kids on the roster.

Talk of the merge commenced during last year’s football season. Both teams starting looking at their (already low) numbers and anticipated that each school would barely have enough to field a six-man team. The initial projections were seven players from each school. Tweet’s first discussions were with his players. “I told the boys we were at a spot where I didn’t know if we could finish the season, because injuries are part of football and we’ve had more than are fair share in the last two or three years.”

Tigers and Mountaineers, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

Not only was that a dismal outlook for having a competitive season, but it also threatened either program’s future should injuries force such a small-staffed football team to forfeit games. According to Montana High School Association, if a school forfeits two of its games in a season, they are required to compete at a junior varsity level the following year. This would have been a setback for the upperclassmen of either school if they found themselves competing at the junior varsity level in their senior year.

Born from a need to survive, the two Chouteau County football programs will forego their annual contest on the gridiron and whatever rivalry remains between the two schools will be nourished from the volleyball and basketball courts or the track.

Creating and maintaining any kind of athletic co-op is never easy—ask the folks in Custer and Melstone or Broadview and Lavina. There’s much to consider in all of the messy logistics that come together to make for a successful season regardless of the win-loss record. Some of the trickier orchestrations include: coordinating transportation for practices, selecting a team mascot and colors that both schools will adopt, choosing captains without showing favor to one school over the other, making homecoming week arrangements—all of these while pulling support from the participating communities. This becomes even more challenging and complex when two hotly-contested opponents like Geraldine and Highwood are asked to work together.

Highwood Mountains Network, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that this first year for the Rivals will be a bumpy ride, but how well they fair in their new co-op relationship will be critical in establishing how smooth their co-op runs in future seasons. “The obvious problem with co-ops is getting kids on the same page,” according to Coach Tweet. “You’ve got two towns with their own identities and trying to blend them together takes time. I don’t know how long that really takes to get it so they think of it as one team.”

If there is one thing that might keep the bumps to a minimum, it will be the fact that the two communities have already established and maintained a co-op between their two junior high football programs for the past five years.

Even if the Geraldine-Highwood co-op is not the first, it is likely pushing the limits of daily operations required of a football team given the one-hour travel time between each school. Perhaps they can look to the six-man football co-op of Custer and Melstone for inspiration. These two schools have survived for over ten years with a 40-mile stretch of dirt road between them. But, there are casualties to consider as well, such as the short-lived Rapelje-Ryegate co-op. Rapelje now co-ops with Reed Point, while any Ryegate kids that wish to play football travel to Harlowton.

Despite the rich tradition of winning at Geraldine and Highwood, their real adversary in whether they ever bring a six-man title trophy home again might not be in the stiff competition they see each week on the gridiron, but all of the off-field logistical struggles required in maintaining a healthy and working co-op.

Postscript: The Rivals have four home games on the schedule, two will be played in Geraldine and two in Highwood.

Summer Sunset and Six-Man All-Stars Shine On

Sturm Interception, a photo by mdt1960 on Flickr.

The smell of freshly scattered manure filled the air in Custer, Montana for the 15th Annual Six-Man All Star game. And for whatever reason, that fragrance was as right as rain given the perfect summertime weather and a slow-setting sun of early June.

I’m unsure of the attendance numbers, but given it was held in Custer—some 50 miles from Billings—it was a pretty impressive gathering of true six-man football fans. If I had to guess, I’d start by laying credit toward game director Jim Goltz (also head coach of the Fromberg-Roberts six-man team) for this strong turnout.

For three extra dollars, spectators left the game with an extremely valuable program. I would have gladly thrown down five knowing it had the upcoming schedules for all 28 six-man teams inside. Finally, I can start planning for next year now instead of late August. And for whoever sells ads in next year’s program, I’ll purchase some ad space, so call me.

If I had to complain (and as many of you know, there’s always at least one from me), I’m a bit miffed on why both eight-man and six-man games are on the same night. I don’t mind picking one championship game to attend when they are all on the same day with winter bearing down, but given the flexibility of this time of year, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to at least have these two games a day apart from each other. I wouldn’t mind driving to Butte one day for the eight-man all-star shootout and turn around and drive to Custer the next day for the six-man all-star blast—or vice versa.

Better yet, give each game their own weekend and now we’re talking about some kind of awesome Montana summer vacation.

Celebrating Goal Post Relocations

Jumping Hornets
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Classification and alignment changes have been handed down from MHSA for another season and, once again, things look pretty exciting even if most of the schools that are discussed here are moving down in class.

First, let’s hear it for those schools/teams who have to move their goal post(s) as a result of moving from Class B (a 100-yard field) to Class C (an 80-yard field)—or vice versa.

Making the move up, along with expanding their gridiron will be Joliet. Best of luck J-Hawks as you get to meet up with Columbus and Huntley Project in your new family. Yikes!

Talk about living on a bubble... Can anyone tell me how many times Superior has moved from C to B and then back to C? Well, the last time they played eight-man (2008), they won the state title. And after two years of B-11, they are coming back to C-8 to “defend” their title. Consider this: What if the Bobcats made it to the title game in 2011 to face Chinook—who would be defending their title too? Talk about Frazer vs. Ali. Should that happen, I only hope the game is played in Superior since I’m not allowed back in Chinook.

Here’s a good one: Lodge Grass successfully petitioned to remain in Class B rather than move to Class C??? I suppose they’d rather take their chances against Baker over Wibaux. I’d be curious to know the last time the Indians (yep, that’s their mascot name) notched a winning season in Class B?

Also moving their goal post(s) and coming down from B-11 to C-8 will be Cascade (heading for the Northern C) and Darby (assigned to the Western C).

Check out the tentative 6-man football realignment and its new members (in red).

WESTERN
Alberton, Hot Springs, Lima, Lone Peak, St. Regis, Two Eagle River and West Yellowstone.

EASTERN
Ekalaka, Frazer, Jordan, Hysham, Lambert/Richey, Rosebud, Savage and Terry.

SOUTHERN
Bridger, Custer/Melstone, Denton, Fromberg/Roberts, Grass Range/Winnett, Reed Point/Rapelje, and Roy/Winifred.

NORTHERN
Augusta, Big Sandy, Box Elder, Geraldine, Highwood, Heart Butte, North Star, Stanford/Geyser and Valier.

That’s 31 teams playing six-man football although Frazer and Box Elder will be limited to junior varsity competition. Makes me wonder if Willow Creek is revving up for another go in the near future.

Great Falls Central is moving up to C-8 joining the high and mighty Northern C, but they won’t have to move any goal posts.

Lastly, one of my “inside sources” informed me that there is/was some discussion regarding Highwood and Geraldine teaming up as a co-op. Does anyone realize how many times these two school have been in a title game in the last 15 years—often playing each other? That could be one powerful six-man team given their rich traditions of producing champions.

Source

Chinook: Maybe Cold, But Not Crooked

Stroh & Company
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. —Billy Wilder

There’s no arguing that I’m not a controversial person, but the one thing I’ve always strived for is to avoid controversy when it comes to this particular blog. That said, I have come up short a couple times—last week would be one of those times.

I’ve had plenty of time to consider this, but earlier this week (you might say) brought me to my knees.

First, I learned—attributed to a couple of unsolicited phone calls from disgruntled Chinook fans—my boss, Northwest College Vice President of Academic Affairs, Bob Krenz has decided to break the link from the college web site to this blog in an attempt to deflect any “harm” that might find the college. Admittedly, I’m hardly crushed. After all, as far as this project goes, I suspect there are few people in the sandstone towers of NWC who really give a toss whether or not I travel 300 miles to a small town high school football game in Montana or Wyoming via icy and snow-covered roads. My impression over the years has always been that the NWC powers-that-be see little-to-no benefit in the extracurricular activities of its employees—and thus, prefer to have the public only know of its “esteemed” faculty in a sterile, unimaginative, one-dimensional plane. So be it and so much for "shared governance (again)."

Second, and more importantly, I received a phone call from a Chinook football mom who wasn’t satisfied with leaving only a comment on this blog. She clearly went out of her way to speak to me personally, so as soon as I heard her voice, I was determined to hear her out and keep my interruptions at bay—or at least to a minimum.

I learned that despite my damage-control efforts in the comments section of the previous blog, her biggest concern about the entry was that I had come across as doubtful or critical of the Chinook state football title because some of the players (including her son) were painted as employing non-regulation equipment (i.e., illegal cleats).

That is unfortunate and regrettable.

Hoping to not re-open a sensitive wound here, I can say that if I could do it all over again, I would have delayed the post until I heard back from my sources regarding my query on the rules and regulations of cleats. Had I done that, there would have been no need to use that two-sentence parenthetical text that said, “(More importantly are those even legal? Click on the image below to see for yourself.).” However, I was concerned (and impatient) that no one would reply promptly, so I posted the blog knowing that I could follow up later with the details of cleat regulations in the comment section once I heard back from my sources—which is exactly what I did. Yet, for whatever reason, that didn’t cut the mustard.

So, persuaded by this recent Sugarbeeter lobby, I believe it’s important to go a little out of my way here to acknowledge the legitimate title won by the Chinook Sugarbeeters in Class C eight-man football—which I’m happy to do and humbled that my input even matters. Further, it was never my intention to dispute the Chinook victory either, but rather to consider the validity or gravity of a few of the variables in the game that showed up that particular day.

Lastly, I think many have given me way too much credit for the things I’ve said here, whether they agree or disagree because, in my mind, once the dust settles and blogs like this vaporize, nothing speaks louder or truer through the years than a state championship trophy sitting in a school’s trophy case.

Congrats to all the fine folk in Chinook and their state championship football team.

Chinook Surrealism

Sledding Chinookers
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

There’s no getting around it—it was just a weird weekend no matter how I analyzed it. From the 600-miles of treacherous, winter driving to the 74-6 title game score, I couldn’t have imagined anything like it. Maybe it wasn’t a nightmare, but it definitely felt like something out of a strange dream.

Who would have guessed that anyone (even a Class AA team) would have a running clock on Wibaux by the end of the first quarter? Wibaux?!?!?! Had I not attended the game myself, I would have been certain that someone was trying to play a prank on me, or that the newspapers somehow transposed the score.

One friend of mine said in a text message when I reported the final score to him, “That’s epic.”

But, was it epic or was it a hiccup with epic repercussions?

Not to take anything away from the Chinook Sugarbeeters and their convincing victory, but even the handful of Chinook fans I spoke with were a bit shocked by the game’s outcome as well.

They should have been. After all, Chinook was the same team that lost to Fort Benton during the regular season; Fort Benton lost to Drummond in the quarterfinals of the playoffs; and, of course, Drummond lost to Wibaux in the semifinals. Chinook also had a hard fight with both Charlo and Power-Dutton-Brady in the quarterfinal and semifinal games respectively. So, whether or not one believes that Chinook or Wibaux should have won, it’s probably safe to say that most Class C fans thought it would be a closely contested game.

Yet it wasn’t—not by any stretch of the imagination.

Admittedly, I had not seen Wibaux play this year, but few would question any Wibaux team’s moxie this deep into the playoffs.

Horn Feet
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

So, what happened? Why did Wibaux look like toddlers just learning to walk and run while Chinook (for the most part) navigated the icy gridiron with a much higher degree of success?

From my vantage point, it came down to something as simple as football cleats in explaining the huge discrepancy between these two teams. My bet is that Wibaux showed up in Chinook with the same football cleats they had been wearing all season long, while the Sugarbeeters clearly made some adjustments for the ice rink that served as the title game. And, since it was their home field, they likely would have had all week to experiment given the winter weather that finally materialized earlier in the week.

In comparing images from Chinook’s quarterfinal game at Charlo with images from their title game with Wibaux, there are numerous key Sugarbeeter players wearing a different shoe. Most notably, Chinook’s running back, Ben Stroh—the same one who had his way all afternoon with Wibaux—had experienced a footware “upgrade.” On the “normal” field at Charlo two weeks earlier, he wore a typical Under Armour molded-cleat shoe, but his choice of footwear in the “hockey rink” title game at Chinook was an Adidas screw-on-cleat shoe with what appeared to be metal-tipped studs. (More importantly are those even legal? Click on the image below to see for yourself.)

Before the game commenced, Chinook school officials permitted me to walk out on the field as they were clearing it from the accumulation of snow that resulted in the night before and early in the day. In many spots it was like a rough ice skating surface with grass mixed in it—as if the Zamboni malfunctioned while it was smoothing an ice rink. Where the field was void of such conditions, it was hard as a rock. With camera equipment in hand, I gingerly strolled the field and considered the best footwear for the frozen playing surface—hiking boots equipped with crampons or, the next best thing, steel-tipped cleats.

And so it was, one of Wibaux’s worst defeats in history.

Sadly, I left the game feeling a bit cheated—convinced that the cleat choice of the day (or non-choice) rather than pure football talent or play selection was the most influential and dominant factor in the game’s lopsided outcome. I wondered how it was that two teams who had gone so far in the season, playing on the forgiving gridirons of grass were now asked to settle the final contest in alien conditions that neither had seen all year.

I also wondered if this had been a regular season game, would they have still played?

Making Way
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Like that strange dream, here were two teams about to clash for the state title game in a setting that was somewhat surreal. Tents with heaters emerged on the sidelines for each team, motorized equipment was employed to remove snow from the playing surface, the temperature was less than ten degrees Fahrenheit, the field was a frozen, hard surface, players wore extra clothing to keep them warm even if they were active on the field. And most importantly, that one small (nearly invisible) detail regarding cleat selection may have been the most peculiar element of the day.

About an hour before the game commenced, I followed a couple of Wibaux players onto the field as they tested their footing on the icy gridiron. Following a battery of quick accelerations, cuts, sudden stops and challenging each other as lineman do, one of them innocently said, “Man, this is gonna be weird.”

Nothing was more true about the day.

The Waiting Game... It's Worth It

Savage Indeed
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Maybe it’s the excitement related to teams who have never battled one another or maybe it’s the opportunity to attend a daytime game where I’ve never been, but I find the height of the Montana Class C (both eight-man and six-man) season comes during those first two weeks of the playoffs—the first round and the quarterfinals. It’s a “rich” time in that there are still so many venues to choose from and often the outcomes are very uncertain.

With the title games on the docket this coming weekend, and the available games are now whittled down to the bare minimum (even if they are the title games), I found myself reflecting on this juncture of the football season while attending the semifinal game at Big Sandy this past weekend.

It seems with each passing year, the ongoings of the other playoff games (i.e., those that are happening at the same time) become more available—even the other classes. For example, during the Big Sandy-Savage six-man shoot-out, we were updated several times by the announcer on the progress of the eight-man game at Chinook with Power-Dutton-Brady. Later we heard updates on the score in the other six-man semifinal game between Denton and Hysham. I suppose we can credit the infusion of cell phones for this effortless flow of scores between the obscure towns of Montana and other western states.

Oddly, there came no word from the showdown at Wibaux with Drummond nor was there anything mentioned about the other class games around the state. I wondered, was this simply because the games that were reported were fairly close by? It seemed reasonable that there might be someone from Big Sandy attending the game in Chinook because their nephew was playing, or something like that. And, wouldn’t Big Sandy have sent a scout to the Denton game should the Pioneers emerge victorious, allowing the scout to call in scores while working up a fresh scouting report on the victor from that game?

Elevator Stage
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Maybe I read too much into this little sidebar of an event. Even so, with improved and more ubiquitous technology and communications, I wonder if the day will come when we will see the scores from other six-man and eight-man games around the state posted on the scoreboards like they’ve been doing for years in the professional stadiums. It seems like a stretch here in 2010, but few of us probably thought cell phones would be so prolific a mere twenty years ago.

As the Big Sandy-Savage game was drawing to its exciting close, we were informed that Chinook had overtaken Power-Dutton-Brady in the fourth quarter and Denton was still in control of their game with Hysham. Despite all of this, after the Warriors of Savage were crowned the victors at Big Sandy, there was never another word on those other games. Walking to my truck afterwards, I kept my ears perked for that one last announcement, but it never came.

Into the Montana darkness and on to Eddie’s Corner, I remained in the metaphorical darkness as well regarding the outcome of those other games. At first I considered checking on-line via my phone to see if the scores were posted, but decided I would wait and hear about the outcomes via the old-fashioned method—reading about them in the next day’s newspapers.

I half expected to hear about one of the other games while eating my dinner at the Eddie's Corner café—given it is such a central junction in the state. If that had been the case, I would have welcomed the news.

Nevertheless, after dinner I walked out into the darkest outlying areas of the truck stop’s parking area—beyond the parked semis—climbed into my cold sleeping bag in the bed of my pickup and wondered if Chinook had indeed held their lead after claiming it late in the game. “And what about Drummond and Wibaux,” I asked myself as I set the alarm on the cell phone? Was the Rainbow Club in Wibaux jumping with delight or were they drowning their sorrows again, almost a year later after losing to Drummond at home in the title game?

In an era that is being defined for its instant gratification, I fell asleep at Eddie’s Corner content with the idea of waiting to read about the scores in the Sunday newspapers, and therefore in synch with the rhythms of small town high school football.

Going Deep
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Shoutout

Here’s to the Big Sandy football team in giving the undefeated Warriors of Savage all they could handle. I’d especially like to salute the savvy play of sophomore quarterback Trevor Lackner. He may have thrown three interceptions in battling a swift Savage defense but he also connected two of his four touchdown passes to his “big men.” The Pioneers’ first touchdown came on a 36-yard pass to Dallas Briese—a five-foot, ten-inch, 220-pound junior and later in the game he found sophomore Kaden Beck on a 34-yard strike who stands at six-foot and tips the scales at 260 pounds. It’s doubtful that Briese and Beck could outrun any of the Warriors on the field, but it was Lackner who saw them open and had the confidence to throw in their direction.

Getting Your Six-Man Kicks

Winning Kick
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

I hadn’t seen anything like it since the Montana six-man title game back in 2003 when Geraldine’s Joey Boso went ten-for-ten in kicking PAT’s to lift the Tigers past Custer-Melstone in an 80-78 overtime victory. Even though the C-M Cougars scored more touchdowns in that game, it was Boso’s 1.000 batting average in PATs that made the difference amounting to 20 additional points for Geraldine.

For all of those non-six-man football readers out there, PATs in six-man football are worth two points while running or passing the ball into the end zone is worth one point. After all, what are the chances of finding a kid who can kick a football decently in a town of 300 or so? Add to that, there are only four players remaining to block the defense of six while the ball holder and kicker are occupied with their cooperative task. Nine blockers to eleven defenders (.82) is better than four blockers to six defenders (.67).

Regarding true field goals, they are worth four points in six-man play and up until this past weekend, I’d never seen anyone kick a field goal when it was fourth down—going all the way back to 1999 when I attended my first contest at Reed Point.

It started in Bridger this past Friday night, when Richey-Lambert’s senior kicker Jack Switzer converted six PATs for his Fusion in a first round playoff game. More importantly, shortly before the half ended, he kicked a 20-yard field goal that tagged on another four points to their big lead. Although the field goal was not instrumental in their victory, it was indeed the first I’d stumbled upon in all these years. (On a related note, Switzer also contributed three touchdowns to the Fusion’s victory as he racked up 34 of Richey-Lambert’s 60 points.

From Bridger on Friday night, I was in Great Falls by Saturday at 1:00 for another six-man playoff game between Great Falls Central Catholic and Augusta.

Richey-Lambert PAT
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Wearing pink socks in support of breast cancer awareness month, Augusta started out strong and kept the Mustangs of GFCC on the ropes for most of the first half. However, by the middle of the third quarter it was clear that we had two evenly matched teams. Late in the game, the Elks of Augusta evened the score at 39 a piece.

Prior to the stalemate late in the contest, the kicking game for each team had barely materialized. Despite having scored six touchdowns each, Augusta and GFCC had only succeeded once in converting their PATs via a two-point kick.

So, as the Mustangs marched the ball down the field with time running out, they found themselves staring at a fourth-down situation in Augusta territory. Normally when a six-man team is in this kind of dilemma, they go for the first down. Further, given that it was so late in the game, I reckoned GFCC had nothing to lose by making such an attempt—whereas if they failed to make the conversion, the game would likely go into overtime.

Instead, GFCC nonchalantly had their star quarterback Derek Moes set up for a field goal from 33-yards out after he had only been successful in one PAT all afternoon. Unlike a PAT, if the kick is blocked, it would be a live ball for an Elk player to pick up and take it to the “house.”

As it turned out, it was a text-book field goal—as if Moes had been making them all afternoon—sealing the victory for the Great Falls Central Catholic Mustangs.

As the ball floated between the uprights and over my head, I stood there stunned for several minutes and considered the high-octane drama of what I had just viewed in this sport’s smallest venue—six-man football.

Bracket Brouhaha

While most of the Wyoming teams are beginning the playoffs battling teams they’ve already seen during the regular season, the fun really begins this weekend in Montana Class C action as inter-conference play commences. The only problem is deciding on where to go in the sixteen small town high school football games scattered across Montana.

Six Man
In six-man action there should be plenty of excitement unless you’re a Lima Bears fan who will be travelling all the way to Savage to face a very good and undefeated Warrior team. Get out your Montana road map and just zen on the distance between those two locations. There’s an entire weekend lost to one football game that will still entail a bit of night driving. It’s going to be one long bus ride for the Bears no matter the outcome.

The Bridger Scouts are going to have their hands full in hosting the Richey-Lambert Renegades. Along with Augusta, Richey-Lambert is one tough third-seeded team. Look for the also-third-seeded Elks to give Great Falls Central Catholic all the action they can handle too.

Eight Man
The best game with the most uncertain outcome will likely be Power-Dutton-Brady at Culbertson—another long bus ride. It’s not often that a third-seeded team has only one loss during the regular season.

Wibaux had a close call with Circle late in their schedule (I’m still not sure what that was all about), so we’ll know much more about their degree of “Wibauxness” when they host road-weary Chester-Joplin-Inverness from way up north.

The Lynx of Lincoln visiting Joliet could be an interesting battle too. One has to wonder if these two teams have ever faced each other.

And on a sidenote: It was an odd year up north for the leaders in both classes of play—reminiscent of an M.C. Escher drawing. Specifically, PDB defeats Fort Benton, who defeats Chinook, who then defeats PDB. While in six-man, Augusta defeats Valier, then loses to Big Sandy, followed by Valier defeating Big Sandy. Talk about chasing one’s own tail.

Lastly, it’s nice to see some new blood in the playoff mix. So best of luck to White Sulphur Springs, Lincoln, Fairview, and Valier.

Lights, Action… Football

Hough's Watch
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

As was promised, the new lights at Savage were every bit as bright as the eight-man venues of Harlowton and Ennis. In fact, I would bet a dollar or two that light meter readings at Savage would exceed those of my hometown Powell and its lighted gridiron which sees action from Wyoming’s second largest class of eleven-man.

Maybe not for everyone, but one of the highlights for me was when the “light guy” trekked around the Savage gridiron before the game with a ladder and turned on each of the four separate units. That was a pure small town high school football moment.

I haven’t been to a game in Savage since the season opener against Wibaux in 2003—when they played eight-man football. A lighted gridiron allowing for Friday night play and a new game level was all I needed as an excuse to return in 2010.

The actual game between the hometown Warriors and the visiting Terriers from Terry (another team that recently moved from eight-man to six-man) delivered all the excitement that one would expect between two undefeated teams—especially the first half. Some might argue that perhaps the only difference between the two teams might have been an injury suffered by a key player for the Terriers in the second half—whatever the case, hopefully it’s not a season or career-ending injury for the athlete.

As a result, the combination of Savage and Terry should make the Eastern Conference very competitive in the upcoming playoffs. Expect the same next year too, especially from Terry in that they are only losing their starting quarterback Jerett Freiboth to graduation. (On a sidenote: Freiboth throws the ball with the greatest of ease.) Savage will lose three seniors to graduation, but the current junior class is composed of five players.

Lights On
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Applied Math
For all those 11-man football fans out there who look down their nose at six-man and eight-man football, here is a school enrollment and roster ratio comparison between Savage, Terry and my hometown Powell Panthers:
Enrollment (9–12)/Roster/Ratio
Savage: 29/12/.4137
Terry: 53/14/.2641
Powell: 500/about 50/.1000

If Powell had a turnout for football like Savage, they would have about 206 kids on the football team. If Savage experienced a turnout like Powell, they would have a football team with 2 players.

Speaking of key injuries and their impact on the six-man game: Great Falls Central Catholic starting quarterback, Kelby Depner was out this past week with a concussion sustained during their match-up with Denton in the previous week’s contest. Going into this past week’s game, the Mustangs (5-1) were heavily favored (their only loss to Denton) in facing a 3-3 Roy-Winifred team (last year’s state champions). As it turned out, GFCC lost their homecoming game to the Outlaws 43-0. In another scenario, perhaps Roy-Winifred is making another late-season dash for the title as they did last year.

Here's a follow-up story on the Savage team after their victory over Terry.

The Chase Is Still On… Five Years Later

A Great Eight
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Five years ago, I took a special trip to Drummond, Montana with the hopes of photographing members of their Class C eight-man championship team—beyond the action of their games on the gridiron. Suffering from an upper-respitory cold combined with a 300-mile drive, I was determined to catch them at a mid-week practice in hopes of witnessing just a small bit of the ordinary in this extraordinary team and its players.

Clearly there was something special about that Trojan team as they drew nearer to their third consecutive Class C eight-man state title. Arguably, there were only two games that were ever in doubt during those three years and even that doubt was swept away by the third quarter. I also suspected that it would be a long time before I ever saw anything like this again in my small town football haunts—maybe never.

Most notably in my eyes was that Drummond was not only a team that went undefeated in three years, but handily defeated other undefeated teams. There was Belt, Harlowton, Wibaux, Big Sandy, Chinook, Stanford, and Park City—all undefeated teams that suffered great losses (many shut-outs) when they finally met up with the Trojans in the playoffs or title game.

For the record, from front to back in this photo; that’s Tyrell Cockrell, Chase Reynolds, Cody Alt, Petey Carillo, Clay Cantrell, Cody Baker, Eric McGregor and Alex Verlanic. Funny, I still know there names and remember how to spell them. How is it possible that the youngest of men can make a lasting impression on a middle-aged one?

Looking back, one could almost see them as immortals in the realm of eight-man football, but we can be sure that each of them has gone on to experience their own setbacks of humanness whether on the field or elsewhere.

In all three years Chase Reynolds was first team all-state on both sides of the ball, but it was clear that the other Trojan starters were all-state material as well, especially if they had been scattered amongst the other Class C teams—and perhaps even the higher classes. Nevertheless, many still joined Reynolds on the all-state team that was heavily weighted with Drummond talent.

Over Drummond
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

This past week, maybe an hour’s drive down the interstate from Drummond, University of Montana senior running back Chase Reynolds, broke a school record in notching his 54th career touchdown for the Griz. Having watched Reynolds play high school, it doesn’t surprise me too much but it does seem a bit surreal in that he came from such an obscure venue of the game. It will seem just as surreal if he is gainfully employed in the NFL by this time next year. Congratulations Chase. In the words of a colleague, “Strong work.”

As a footnote, Alex Verlanic is still blocking defenders for Reynolds as the starting center for the Griz.

Lastly, thanks to Drummond head coach Jim Oberweiser for allowing these photos to materialize on that October day back in 2005.

Other Drummond-Related Entries:

The Wink

The Rematch

Two for Three

Plan B and Zenning in Bridger, Montana

Score Crowd
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Like some guy who just retired, I just sat there and watched the game—for once. Well, a good part of it anyway.

Plans for Great Falls Central to see their six-man showdown with Stanford-Geyser were nixed due to the loss of a friend and the resulting funeral to attend on Saturday. I considered the next best thing—the nearby Bridger Scouts were at home on Friday night for a six-man contest with Reed Point-Rapelje—a mere one-hour drive from home.

I’ve attended at least two other games in Bridger over the years, so this was probably more about a trip to get my weekly dose of small town high school football rather than attend a game in some remote location I’d never visited. Thus, my decision to sit and watch the game as the camera equipment was demoted to secondary.

But, strange things happen when you sit and “observe” from one location. You start seeing things that you might not see while moving about during a given event like a football game in Bridger, Montana—things that an image from a camera might not illustrate very well.

Anxious Parents.
Near the back corner of an end zone, I watched with fascination as a concerned Reed Point-Rapelje mother juggled a conversation with (what were probably) other parents while intensely watching the game. I suspect she had a son on the field. The group of parents were right at the back corner but as each play came up, this particular mother would drift away from them—perhaps only five or ten yards—toward the goal post and once the play ended, she drifted back toward the congregation and picked up the conversation again. This went on for at least an entire quarter.

A Scoreboard Community.
Bridger has a low-seated scoreboard that is placed on a small hill overlooking the gridiron. It is so low, that an adult could stand in front of the lower-positioned stats (such as the down or quarter indicator) and block a good portion of the displayed numeral. Further, the scoreboard is beyond the lighting of the gridiron floodlights and as a result, makes for its own “illuminated community.” Here—away from the gridiron’s lighted perimeter—is where you’ll find many of the students congregating, or as in the case of the younger kids, taking up their own football game just like any other Friday night football setting in the country.

While those approaching retirement consider the climate (as in weather) of what will likely be their final residence, I suspect one of the retirement home factors for me (when that day comes) will likely include the proximity to the settings and action of small town high school football.

Shoutout: Chinook Sugarbeeters and their resounding victory over Power-Dutton-Brady complicating the Class C eight-man North with a three-way tie for first: Chinook, PDB and Ft. Benton.

Remembering The Titans... and Refiners

Zig and Zag
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

This past Sunday morning’s edition of the Billings Gazette had the typical listings of high school football scores. It’s usually pretty thorough when it comes to getting all the scores, but sitting in the Laurel City Brew coffee shop that morning, I noticed that there was no mention of the game I attended on Saturday afternoon in Moore.

A grin came across my face as I said to myself, “Another mission in obscurity completed.”

Although nothing was printed about the game, it was a doozy as the Tri-City Titans and the Sunburst Refiners rumbled in a knock-down, drag-out, eight-man shoot-out that resulted in over 100 total points on the scoreboard—with the lead changing hands several times before the final gun sounded. In a reference to the high-scoring game, one of the four officials on the field turned to me and said, “I didn’t know we were working a six-man game.”

Great Falls Refs
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

On paper, the game probably didn’t have that much appeal to someone who might be looking for a battle of undefeated teams. In this case, both teams were winless coming into the contest and even though there was a victor and a runner-up, both teams had something in common to cheer about—each scored a lot of points.

Billings Gazette take note: Tri-City Titans 59, Sunburst Refiners 44.

On a related note...

The Tri-City Titans represent the high schools located in Hobson, Moore and Judith Gap—a three-school co-op. I asked about how the colours of green, black and white along with the mascot name were selected. One source told me the following: about three years ago each school submitted two mascot names for the co-op. With six names coming forward, the three schools voted and “Titans” tallied the most votes. The colours are neutral to all three schools. The Hobson Tigers are orange and black, the Moore Bulldogs are Columbia blue and gold and the Judith Gap Tigers are royal blue and gold. The Titans rotate their home games between Friday nights in Hobson and Saturday afternoons in Moore. During basketball season, Hobson students put the orange and black on, making up their own team while Judith Gap and Moore form another co-op.

Shout-out: Congratulations to the Hays-Lodgepole Thunderbirds for already notching their first victory of the year (48-30) over the Froid-Medicine Lake-Grenora Red Hawks.

Autumn Habits, Ghost Teams and The Olive Garden

Highwood, Montana
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Every year small town high school football comes and goes. And after it’s over—like Brett Favre—I’ve told myself and others that next year I’ll likely stay behind and only attend a game or two in the 100-mile radius of home. However, unlike Favre, there’s no million-dollar contract enticing me to travel the same distances as any previous year—not even the promise of gas money.

Perhaps my want or need to stay home has much to do with the fact that I’ve been almost everywhere in the two states of Montana and Wyoming when it comes to this genre of football.

So last week, I serendipitously obtained all the schedules for Montana Class C (six and eight-man) from the website of KPAX in Missoula. (BTW: kudos to KPAX for pulling all of these schedules together in such a thorough fashion.) It didn’t take long for me to spot a game here and there that I would like to attend. The next thing I know, there’s at least one game every week that I am eyeing up through mid-October. And not long after that, the playoffs begin.

Did I mention there are 27 teams playing six-man football in Montana this year—and another 36 teams signed up for eight-man play?

Obviously I’m hooked... again. And I haven’t even seen the schedules for Wyoming or a select few locations in Idaho that are realistically out of reach.

The truth is, I haven’t attended a game everywhere in these two states, but I have had time to survey almost every small town high school football setting (i.e., driving by any given gridiron during the off-season or on my way to another game somewhere else).

I suppose this means my work is not finished—not as long as teams change from one class to another or other schools introduce new teams in the stream of play.

Which makes me reminisce about a few schools/teams that have not fielded teams in years. Whatever became of the teams and players from Willow Creek, Belfry, Brockton, Box Elder? Are they teamed up with other schools in much the same way that resulted in Brady joining Power and Dutton or how Rapelje and Ryegate split to join Reed Point and Harlowton respectively?

Well, in case there’s anyone out there reading this that might wonder what I have in mind for this season, here’s my goals...

Power-Dutton-Brady: the Titans will also play a Saturday afternoon game in Dutton. Located off the Interstate 15 north of Great Falls, there’ll be no time for yard work on that weekend.

Fromberg-Roberts: this is about as close to home as I can get. About an hour drive. Though I’ve attended plenty of Fromberg and Roberts games in the past, these settings will serve as a reprieve from the typical hours of driving while still fulfilling my need to see a game.

Tri-Cities: That would be Hobson, Moore and Judith Gap—“Tri-Towns” might be a better name. One of their home games is scheduled for the gridiron in Moore on a Saturday afternoon instead of the usual dim-lit games in Hobson on Friday nights.

Great Falls Central Catholic: This is may be one of the few places in either state where you can witness a small-town football game in a good-size city like Great Falls. It may seem odd to the readers out there, but I’ve never been able to go to the Olive Garden immediately following a Class C football game. On a related note, I see Billings Christian is fielding a six-man team this year as well—providing another venue for small town football within a metropolitan setting.

Lastly St. Regis: Another lost weekend of driving for one six-man football game. This will be the Tigers first year of six-man football.

Neutrality's History in Small Town Football

Custer Field
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

At some point in my travels to various small town football games in Montana and Wyoming, I remember a few people here and there telling me about football games that would sometimes be played at a neutral site—so one team didn’t have to travel so far. And back in the old days, that neutral site was often some empty wheat field in the middle of nowhere.

I’m unsure of the mechanics in such scenarios, but it must have been a sight. Imagine the kids getting off the busses and spending the first hour or two just preparing the field—cutting down some of the higher weeds and measuring off and chalking the field. Did they even have referees? How did they even locate a particular field, let alone agree on a particular remote area?

I’d like to see a re-enactment of this little slice of small town high school football history. But for now, if you’re someone who knows of a particular account or heard of such events, feel free to tell us about it in the comment section below or you can email me at: mdt1960@yahoo.com

As for today, this concept is still used on occasion, only it’s not nearly as primitive. In fact, there’s nothing primitive about it at all. In this first weekend of the 2010 football season, Custer, Montana (where six-man football is played) will host an eight-man double header consisting of four teams that will travel to Custer’s “Field of Dreams.”

In the opener (1:00 p.m.), Eastern Montana powerhouse Wibaux (“The Beast from the East”) will face the Absarokee Huskies. Both teams are rich in football lore accounting for at least eight Class C titles between them in the past 25 years. The nightcap (7:00 p.m.) features Harlowton-Ryegate taking on the Wildcats of Circle.

There will be two separate admissions, but whatever the cost, it will be well worth it.

A Modest Proposal: Six-Man College Football

G.F. Central Intros
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming (my employer) is proposing the creation of two soccer teams for the next academic year. The following is the introduction to the proposal sent out to the college community last week.

We are proposing to begin an intercollegiate soccer program—for both men and women—at Northwest College. Such a program will have a positive impact on enrollment and will provide additional opportunities for extracurricular activity for our students.

We plan to begin the soccer program with modest scholarship and staff budgets. As the cost/benefit analysis at the end of this proposal shows, the program can be implemented with a net positive impact on our overall budget. And although our analysis does not include revenue from so-called “FTE funding,” when future funding allocation models are implemented (that will take these enrollments into consideration), NWC’s budget will certainly be positively affected.

NWC Paul Prestwich has invited feedback on this subject which I was happy to do.

Dr. Prestwich,

I’ll admit I’m not a big soccer fan except when the World Cup rolls around every four years, so the following response to the college’s intercollegiate soccer program proposal shouldn’t come as a surprise.

The proposal for two intercollegiate soccer teams seems a pretty safe thing to do, perhaps too safe and thus unimaginative in my mind. I predict it won’t stir much interest, but no doubt will be an addition that looks good on paper. Nevertheless, I don’t see having two soccer teams being much different than having two basketball teams... pardon the yawn here, but I’ll admit basketball doesn’t melt my butter either. Nevertheless, soccer—like basketball—is a great game, but not nearly as popular as basketball assuring that only the purest of soccer fans will have the stomach for two teams in a college/community of this size—and I doubt there are that many in Powell, Wyoming.

Several years ago I proposed a Wyoming college six-man football conference that was sent around to the state’s other colleges as well. And even though this idea has gone out and returned empty-handed, I thought that in light of the college’s soccer proposal, now is a good time to state my disappointment in the leadership of the state community colleges and their inability or lack of interest in starting what could be the nation’s first collegiate six-man football league—talk about turning heads and interest far beyond our state border. I’ll venture to say that such pioneering/innovative spirit is just too bold and requires too much imagination for those who are in the position of entertaining such “wild” ideas here in the state that talks the talk of being a “cowboy,” but seldom walks the walk.

Initiating a men’s six-man football team at the same time a women’s soccer team would surely make the women’s soccer program more viable, more unique and thus, more appealing—just like women’s volleyball.

Close Game
Originally uploaded by mdt1960

There are students from all over the Intermountain West who grow up playing six and eight-man football (Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Wyoming as of this year)—most never get a chance to play at the collegiate level. I can’t help but think of the unique recruiting angle this would provide for the college as well. Imagine, going after the standouts of the smaller schools instead of the biggest kids from the biggest schools/programs and all the baggage that comes with many of them. Surely there would be students hailing from more traditional eleven-man programs interested as well.

I suspect you and many others reading this have already chalked it up to another one of my zany ideas, and we all know I’m nothing but trouble anyway. Nevertheless, I thought this was an opportune time to throw my proposal out there one more time.

Even more outrageous, how about men’s six-man football and women’s rugby?

Innovation and imagination have never been easy—especially in this part of the world. Long live “Yellowstone College!” (a.k.a. “Northwest College”)