The Central Montana Sports Round-Up With Karl Koontz

Country Football on KMON Week 1 Playoffs 2024

Way back in August 143 high school football teams around the Treasure State donned helmets and pads and took the practice gridiron with one goal in mind: to qualify for postseason play. This weekend that dream will be realized by young men all across the land as high school both big and small prepare for the first round of the state-wide playoffs. Lots of Golden Triangle squads are in the hunt for a trophy and KMON is going to be part of the fun once more.

AA Schools Fight To Stay Alive In Montana

Among the big schools, both Electric City Class AA schools will try to keep their seasons alive on Friday night. CMR, the 5th seed out of the Eastern Division hits the road to grapple with the Helena High Bengals, the 4th seed from the west. The game kicks of at 7:00 p.m. at Vigilante Stadium in the Queen City. Meanwhile, the #3 seed, Great Falls High will host the #6 out of the west. It’s an old rivalry game as the Butte Bulldogs will come to Memorial Stadium in Great Falls. These two teams have won nearly 40 state title between them and have played against each other in over a dozen title games.

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Montana's Class A Fighting The Good Fight

Havre and Lewistown represent the Class A playoff teams in the area. The Blue Ponies from up north will entertain the East Helena Vigilantes at 7:00 p.m. Havre is a #4 seed and the visitors come in as a #5. The Fergus County High Golden Eagles also get to enjoy home cooking when they take on the Custer County High Cowboys from Miles City. That game also begins at 7:00 p.m.

Class B Schools In Montana Are Ready To Rumble

The smallest of the eleven-man teams in the Class B ranks will play their games on Saturday afternoon, with the 16-team bracket commencing at 1:00 p.m. The Northern B should hold its own this fall. Malta, the number one ranked team in the state will play host to Thompson Falls while another Hi-Line team, Glasgow will defend their home turf against Eureka. #3 from these parts, Conrad, heads to Missoula to where the Cowboys will grapple with the Loyola Rams. Finally, traditional powerhouse Fairfield will cross the mountains and do battle with Florence, the three-time defending champion Falcons.

Montana's Class C Schools Get Ready To Fight

Now for the small schools, to which KMON proudly has a generations old connection. Undefeated Belt High is ranked second in the state for 8-Man and they’ll host St. Regis Saturday. That game was rescheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Remington Field and will be aired on 560 KMON. Chris Kelly and Karl Koontz will be on hand to provide play by play and color for the action. Fort Benton finished 2nd in the North, and they will begin their playoff run at Longhorn Field Saturday against Mission High out of St. Ignatius. This year there was a three-way tie for the last two playoff spots out of the division between Choteau, Chinook, and Cascade. Choteau heads to Seeley for their opening match-up against the Blackhawks and Chinook takes on the top team from the west, Valley Christian in Missoula.

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Montana 6-Man Is Fairing Well And Fighting Hard

6-man teams around here promise to fare pretty well in the playoffs. The 6-Man ranks are divided into 5 statewide divisions, with the North and Central divisions representing teams from the area. The Northern C 6-Man conference title holder is Box Elder; the Bear open at home against the Absarokee Huskies. Chester-Joplin-Inverness finished in the runner up spot and has to travel to Jordan for their initial contest. Power-Dutton-Brady took third in the north and has a date at Bridger. In the Central C 6-Man, Reigning state champ Centerville prevailed during the regular season and will take on Shields Valley in the Coulee. Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine plays at Stanford when the West Yellowstone Wolverines come to town. The Highwood Mountaineers grabbed the last playoff spot from the division and head way east to take on Bainville. Other than the Belt game, all the Class C games are set for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.

Speaking of travel, the playoffs always make for some serious road trips. The Ennis Mustangs are looking at a 500 miles journey for their date with Culbertson and Circles trip to Philipsburg is nearly that far. However, the mileage king for the first round will belong to Sheridan. Their quest will take them across the state to Fairview on the North Dakota border, a total of 517 miles on a bus.

560 KMON AM Is The Home For The Class C Game Of The Week

Stay with KMON for all the fun and excitement of high school playoff football. Remember, Saturday at about 1:50 the second season starts. Tune in to all the action on Montana’s sports leader, 560 KMON: On-Air at 560 AM, Online and on the KMON app.