Montana High School Football: Semi Finals this Week

One game left to make it to the Championship, and 16 teams across the Treasure State are ready to fight.

CLASS AA

After some early upsets, AA returns to chalk as we enter the semifinals. #1 Helena Capital took down a #5 Sentinel who had a lot of momentum on their side after upsetting Bozeman 42-19. Unfortunately, the Spartans couldn’t maintain said momentum, as their engine blew against Capital in a 50-18 loss. Helena moves on to host #2 West this Friday.

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West took down Big Sky by 10, who had beaten cross-town rival Senior the week before. #3 Big Sky tamed the Broncs last week at home, but couldn’t handle the #1 Bears on the road. #2 West will take on the top-ranked Bruins in Helena.

On the other side of the bracket, #1 Gallatin will face off against #2 Glacier, both teams winning their quarterfinal matchups after their first-round byes. Gallatin will look to do their part for the East, coming into the game in top form after handling Helena 35-13 and continuing their perfect season.

Glacier took down Butte at home, 48-38. Glacier will be traveling to Bozeman to take on the Raptors.

CLASS A

The East reigns supreme in Class A, with seeds 1-4 making it into the semifinals. Central took care of Whitefish 55-21, and they’ll welcome Fergus into Billings for their second game of the playoffs, receiving the first-round bye for the #1 seed.
Laurel also got a bye as the #2 seed, and they welcomed in #3 Columbia Falls for what turned out to be a close one by the tracks, with the Locomotives holding onto the lead 35-28 as the horn sounded. They’ll host #4 Havre for their semifinal matchup.

#3 Fergus started their playoff run in the first round, beating Custer County by 30 and riding that momentum into Dillion where they took down the #2 Beavers 21-13. They lost their last matchup against Central 39-0, we’ll see what adjustments they make in pursuit of that championship bid.

Havre looks to continue their Cinderella run, the #4 seed pushing their way through East Helena (42-19) and Frenchtown (47-30) on their games thus far. They’ll head to Laurel, looking to repeat the story the last time the two met when the Blue Ponies managed a 27-20 win over the Locomotives.

CLASS B

#1s stop the fun in Class B, returning the bracket to its natural form. Starting with the #1 out of the North, Malta has been in control in each of their games thus far as they beat Thompson Falls handily (45-8) before handling Three Forks (59-36) last week. They’ll get a home-field advantage as they welcome in the Falcons.

The Florence Falcons will look to tarnish Malta’s perfect record on Saturday, entering the game off the back of a pair of strong wins, first with Fairfield 56-20 and then handling Jefferson 35-14.

Red Lodge is hoping for revenge, but they’ll need to win this next one to have a chance at it. The 9-1, #1 Rams lost a close one earlier in the year to Malta 21-18, but the Rams will have to beat Manhattan before they get a chance to face the Mustangs again.

Manhattan got the #1 out of the south, and they showed why after beating Baker 47-8. They’ll need to regain that form, however, as they squeaked past Eureka 16-11 last week to meet the Rams in the semifinal matchup. 11-0 on the season, they’d hate to tarnish their perfect record.

8-MAN

8-Man is anything but ordinary, and the playoff bracket shows it with an underdog #4 seed making it into the semifinal round. Scobey has had quite the playoff run, having to go through the #1 Manhattan Christian in the first round (26-18), and then handling Fort Benton 36-20 last week. They’ll take on the #1 Warriors from the East with hopes of continuing their playoffs.

Fairview will be preparing for a dogfight with the underdogs, though their past performances suggest it may not be much of a battle. They beat Sheridan in their first-round matchup 70-21 and moved through Choteau last week while holding them scoreless, 48-0. Fairview enters 11-0, with only Belt above them as favorites.

Speaking of Belt, the #1 seed from the North has had some dominant performances themselves, handling St. Regis 57-6 in the first round before pushing through Culbertson 48-12. They’ll prepare the defenses for the Titans, looking to complete the perfect season.

The #2 Drummond Titans haven’t scored much this playoffs, scoring 28 in both of their games thus far in the postseason. With an average of 14 points scored in the second half this season, the Titans will have to play their most complete game this year to get past the Huskies on Saturday.