Monday, October 27, 2008

Living Up To The Rivalry

End zone seat at Highwood.
The first time I witnessed the battle of Choteau County (aka Highwood vs. Geraldine in six-man football) was on a cold and rain-soaked Friday night at Highwood in 2004. The Mountaineers were loaded with talent that year and easily defeated Geraldine in the last game of the regular season and went on to win another state title.

I remember walking away from that game with my soaked camera gear thinking that it wasn't exactly what I expected when considering past games I 'd heard about (or imagined) between these two schools—games that were played under a bright, blue Montana sky and were fiercely contested.

This past weekend I decided to give this contest another try—especially after hearing the game was scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Highwood despite their well-lit gridiron that catered to Friday nights.

Geraldine at Highwood action.
With the exception of a blustery and continuous wind, the 2008 Geraldine-Highwood grudge match lived up to its billing in my head. Both teams were clearly talented and not until Highwood depleted themselves of downs deep in Geraldine territory with seconds remaining on the clock did the fans in attendance realize the game's outcome.

So, congratulations to the Tigers of Geraldine in their 22-18 victory over Highwood and congratulations to both teams for securing home-field playoff berths. Most of all, congratulations to both teams for living up to their great rivalry.

Having travelled to Texas earlier this year to see how the Lone Star state does six-man football, I truly believe in my heart—given the gridiron settings of both Geraldine and Highwood— that I can say, "You still haven't seen six-man football until you've seen a Highwood-Geraldine game."

4 comments:

BCJ said...

Hi Morgan --

I was in Angel Falls coffee shop in Akron, OH and saw your photo of the Wyoming snow fences from '97. Are you still doing photos of the fences? Other (non-football) images of Wyoming?

Thanks.

Jeremy

mdt1960 said...

Jeremy,

Wow, impressed to know the guys at A.F. still have an image of mine displayed. I must thank them again.

Yes, the snowfences of Wyoming and Montana are one of those ongoing projects... often I find them when off to a distant football game. One of these days I might put them out there as an exhibit...

Other projects too: The McCullough Peaks (an obscure desert mountain range between my hometown of Powell and nearby Cody. Images from old film cameras I collect. Oh let's see... there's a trucking life series I started last summer and hoping to take that further. I also gravitate to those structures/things that are abandoned (but many people have addressed this). Many images I post at the site below. Thanks for your query.

Morgan

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdt1960/

BCJ said...

Morgan,

My girlfriend and I were in Montana for a couple weeks this summer and loved the landscape -- including the snow fences. Are the photos for sale? I found this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdt1960/74860038/ on your flickr site. Can you point me to any others?

Thanks.
Jeremy

mdt1960 said...

Jeremy... There's a few others on the site, but your query is making me consider that I should post more, which I will try to do in the near future. For now, here are a couple others if you haven't found them already...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdt1960/66212565/in/set-1422685/

This one was published years ago on the cover of a now defunct magazine, Northern Lights...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdt1960/65955108/in/set-1422685/

If you want to contact me other than this conduit, I can be reached at: mdt1960@yahoo.com

M