Central Montana Sports Round-Up with Karl Koontz

Country Football on KMON Week #8 (10-15-23)

The penultimate weekend of the 2023 high school football season is in the mirror now and a lot got settled Friday and Saturday night in terms of which teams will extend their season beyond this coming Saturday. As usual, KMON was on hand bringing game of the week play-by-play from the Class C schools in the Great Falls listening area.

Scheduling gets interesting to say the least these days so the station carried Thursday and Friday night games this past week; Thursday Chris and Randy enjoyed Memorial Stadium for a 6-man clash and then on Friday Chris and Karl got another look at playoff bound Belt in their final regular season game.

One of the great area sports is Memorial Stadium on a beautiful fall evening and Chris and Randy were on hand the Central C 6-man battle between the Hobson-Moore Titans and the Great Falls Central Catholic Mustangs. Both squads have a had a tough year, but the Titans picked up their second win on the season with a 52-7 victory over the ‘Stangs. The visitors used a balanced run-pass attack to take control early on, pulling away in the first half to a 52-0 lead. Coach Duffy and his Great Falls Central squad are young and working their way through the growing pains that should result in good things down the road. The Mustangs have one more shot at a conference win when they host DGSG Saturday night.

It was Senior Night on Friday in Belt and Chris and Karl took to their mics to broadcast the final Northern C 8-man conference of the year. It was a great night for the game, and Belt showed why they think they have a shot at a repeat state title. Chinook is a perennial power on the gridiron, winning a pair of state championships in the last decade or so, but the Sugarbeeters are young this year and the Huskies are loaded with strength and speed. Belt got off to a great start and coasted to a 56-0 to secure their second consecutive division championship. Chinook’s season is over and Belt gets a week off to prepare for a first round playoff game which will be in Belt against the #3 seed from the Southern Division (probably Park City).

Another big game in the Northern 8-man rank was Shelby at Fort Benton. The Longhorns pulled away in the second half to capture a 58-14 victory. That mean Fort Benton will also host a first round game on October 21st. Shelby, meanwhile, finished third in the north and they’ll head to Fairview for a tough first round pairing.

While the north is done with their regular season games, the Central 8-man has one more of play to finalize the playoff picture there. Results from Week #8 are as follows: Ennis 55-Cascade 0, Simms 76-Deer Lodge 16, Manhattan Christian 36-Choteau 24, Flint Creek 26-Seeley Swan 22, and Lone Peak48-Sheridan 7. Ennis owns the division, with Simms and Manhattan Christian likely candidates to grab the other two playoff spots. In 6-man action from the Northern Division, the big games are next week to determine conference champs.

Scores from the Northern 6-man went like this: Big Sandy 66-North Star 7, CJI 61-Sunburst 7, PDB 56, Heart Butte 0, and Box Elder over Valier 66-64 in a wild one. Big Sandy and CJI square off next week for the division chipper. The Central 6-man action saw Hobson/Moore take down GFCC 52-7, Harlowton/Ryegate/Judith Gap handled Highwood 51-22, and DGSG grabbed a huge win over Roy/Winifred to give themselves the inside track on a playoff berth. The big game in that division next week is Harlo/Rygate @ Centerville for conference title and #1 seed.

This week’s 8-man games are all from the Central Division: Ennis @ Manhattan Christian, Deer Lodge @ Lone Peak, Sheridan @ Cascade, Simms @ Flint Creek, and Seeley Swan @ Choteau. There are several things to settle in that division in this last week of play.

From the 6-man ranks, it’s Harlo/Rygate @ Centerville, DGSG @ GFCC, and Highwood @ Hobson/Moore in Central Division play. Up north, the big one is Big Sandy @ CJI, and Heart Butte @ Box Elder, PDB @ Sunburst, and North Star @ Valier

This week KMON is pleased to offer three games for your listening pleasure. The trio of contests all kick off at 7:00. Wednesday night we’ll be in Choteau for the Seeley Swan game. Thursday evening the battleground will be in Cascade when Sheridan comes to town, and we’ll cap off our regular season coverage in Great Falls on Saturday night When GFCC hosts DGSG. Don’t miss a minute of the excitement! on 560 KMON and on the KMON app.