SHOWCASING THEIR TALENTS

by Brandon Hansen & Sports Editor
| June 15, 2012 10:15 AM

BILLINGS — The Mission Valley knew Ronan had one heck of a football team after they advanced to the state semi-finals in Class B last season. Last weekend, three senior football players and head coach Jim Benn only cemented that fact at the Big Sky Class B All-Star Football Game at Rocky Mountain College.

Benn, who was the head coach of the North team in the all star game, busted out an unexpected game plan and helped lead his squad to a 41-0 victory over the South team last Saturday.

“We kind of took some ideas of stuff that we want to try and use for next year and we tested it out in this game,” Benn said. “We also came out throwing and threw the ball 19 times before it was well in order.”

The North team scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone, a short run near the goal line and a short pass to make it 22-0 at halftime. Then the team scored 19 points in the third quarter en route to victory. Senior Ronan running back Jake Skelton scored two rushing touchdowns and was named the team’s offensive MVP after rushing for 124 yards on 19 attempts.

“It was a really good time,” Skelton said. “It was fun to play with some of the kids that we had competed against during football season. We just put our nose to the grind stone and went to work.”

Skelton, who reports Aug. 1 to play football for MSU Northern, scored on six and three-yard runs. He gave plenty of credit to his offensive line, which opened up the holes he needed to reach the end zone. Also playing in the game was Chiefs speedster corner-back Marcus Hungerford and linebacker Robert Faoa. A highlight reel for Ronan all season, anyone getting covered by Hungerford during the all-star game might as well have been on an island. Hungerford was also named a team captian for the game.

“The other team didn’t throw at him,” Benn said. “They threw at the other corner we had and he had two interceptions for us. The other team didn’t have the ball a whole lot.”

Faoa was also a defensive force, making some great tackles and tipping a ball that led to an interception.

“It was awesome playing with Robert and Marcus,” Skelton said. “They both played really well.”

Ronan coach Clayton Curly also helped on the defensive side of the ball, meaning that the Chiefs players really knew what to expect.

“It was a hectic week for us, we had three-a-day practices and we had to get adjusted with all the coaches on staff,” Benn said. “It’s hard trying to teach kids your sys-tem in just four days, but you find the kids are really recepive. It’s a fun challenge.”

Skelton said the players on the North team were im-pressed with the way that Benn coaches.

“He’s great to have as a head coach,” Skelton said. “Everyone thought that he was a good coach. His game plan was to go out and throw the ball and then we ran the ball well behind the offensive line.”

The game was a chance for some of the state’s best Class B players to showcase their talents and they did just that. It was also a chance for future college teammates to meet one another. Hungerford, who will be playing at Rocky Mountain College, got to play with some fellow Bears he’ll be suiting up with next season.

“It really breaks it down to what football is all about: fun and bringing people together,” Benn said. “You can have bitter rivals like Loyola, Florence, Bigfork and Malta and you have this game and they go from adversaries to friends almost immediately.”