Montana Football Wrap-Up

Capital High in Helena has only been around for about fifty years, yet the Class AA powerhouse has amassed a total of 13 state titles on the gridiron. The most recent came last Friday night when the Bruins eclipsed the Glacier Wolfpack in the championship game at Vigilante Stadium in the Queen City. Coach Kyle Mihelish and his quarterback son relished the 34-21 home victory, their second in three years. It was close early, tied after one quarter and still a one-touchdown game at the break, but Capital opened things up in the third with a two-touchdown outburst to provide a working margin for the final period and ultimate victory.

The Class A title match required the shortest of trips among the contestants. The Laurel Locomotives journeyed less than 20 miles to duel it out with the Rams of Billings Central. The Rams scored first on a short field goal, but Laurel answered with the long run to take their only lead of the game at 7-3 through one period of play. Central scored two straight TDs and led 17-14 at the break. After intermission, the Rams notched two more touchdowns to just one for the Locomotives, and the Magic City school completed an undefeated season with a 31-21 triumph.

Up on the Hi-Line, the Malta Mustangs also put the finishing touch on a perfect season when they handled the Manhattan Tigers 13-8 in a low-scoring affair for the Class B crown. Malta drew first blood late in the first half of a defensive slugfest to carry a 7-0 lead into the locker room. Manhattan scored early in the third quarter, and the conversion gave the Tigers a slim margin at 8-7. Malta tallied another TD late in the period, and the teams went back and forth from there to the end. It took a goal-line stand to preserve the win and hand the Tigers their only loss of 2024.

Since the fall of ’23, a rematch seemed inevitable in the 8-Man ranks. Belt and Fairview both handled all foes since their state title encounter in Belt last season, won by Fairview 40-28. This time around, the same two teams met for all the marbles, with a venue in extreme eastern Montana. The homestanding Warriors scored on their first two possessions and had the ball with a chance to blow it wide open, but the Huskies dug in and got back in the game. The lead remained 14-0 at the break, but Belt scored early in the second half to creep within a score. The Huskies had the ball in the red zone a couple of times down the stretch, but the Warriors held tough. The final two scores of the game belonged to Fairview, as did the prized trophy when the final klaxon sounded.

The only squad from the Golden Triangle to fulfill their title aspirations was the Box Elder Bears, whose second-half heroics resulted in a trip to the top of the ladder when they handled Bridger 84-56 in the 6-Man championship. The Bears trailed the Scouts 38-36 through two periods but held down the Southern C champs to just 18 points down the stretch and cruised away to the win. The first-place award will look pretty nice alongside last winter’s basketball trophy in the display case at Box Elder.

Now there is barely time to catch one’s breath and head indoors for another Montana tradition: high school hoops.