Sports Rivalries With Karl Koontz: Belt/Fairview

Rivalries

Rivalries are one the great elements of sports at every level, Yankees-Red Sox, Lakers-Celtics, Cowboys-Giants. In a good rivalry two teams feed off each other and produce their best, and sometimes worst results. At the high school level, most rivalries are simply the result of geography, be it cross-town or the nearest school in the area. Lots of times the most important foe on each team’s schedule is the one standing in the way of a conference title, as is the case with Michigan-Ohio State, Georgia-Alabama, or Oklahoma-Nebraska in the old days.

Fairview and Belt

A pretty good feud has developed the last couple years between two unlikely teams, the Fairview Warriors and the Belt Huskies. Separated by nearly four hundred miles, the Blue and Gold of Fairview and Belt’s Maroon and Gold have squared off in some really big games over the last three years with another huge game looming this weekend when they battle for the state football title for the second consecutive year.

The recent round of “Big Games” began two falls ago on the Hi-Line when the two 8-Man juggernauts met on the campus of MSU Northern to open the non-conference season. On a sweltering day in Havre, Belt came from behind to run away with a 30-12 victory and set the stage for a championship campaign. The two team almost met again that season, but Fairview lost to Mission High (St. Ignatius) in the semifinals. In that game Fairview turned the ball over half a dozen times and still almost came back from a 40-8 deficit, losing 54-48. The next week, Belt claimed its second ever state championship with a 54-24 win in St. Ignatius.

That winter, both teams qualified for the State Class C Basketball Tournament at the Metra Park in Billings. As fate would have, they met in the tourney opener with Belt prevailing 53-43. The Warriors stayed alive and were waiting the Huskies Saturday night in the consolation game where they turned the tables and took home the 3rd place trophy with a six-point win. Fairview was led by Hunter Sharbono, who is now playing football for the unbeaten Bobcats at MSU. Sharbono’s grandmother Cindy Antonich Reynen just happened to graduate from Old Belt High several years back.

In 2015, when Belt won its last state basketball crown, the title game was a 61-39 triumph of the Warriors. Fairview moved up to Class B last year, but still plays 8-Man football so the gridiron is about the only place the two will meet in the foreseeable future.

In 2023 the two football teams opened the season again, this time on the inferno red turf at Winifred. It was see-saw affair all the way, with Fairview taking a late lead at 21-14. Belt scored with less than 10 seconds remaining but missed the try for two and fell 21-20. Both teams cruised through the rest of the season and met once more in the championship game last fall in Belt. The title tilt was tied at the break 14 apiece and Belt held a brief lead in the third period, but a late charge by the Warriors secured the top prize by a mark of 40-28.

Now the two top teams in 8-Man Montana football are getting ready to tangle once more, this time in the far eastern portion of the state. The match-up this weekend will feature the rugged style of play favored by the Eastern Division champs Fairview, while Belt will rely on speed and experience in their effort. The game is set for 1:00 p.m. and will be aired on 560 KMON AM, on our website, and the KMON app.