Reassignments revamp local rivalries

POLSON – Ronan football coach Matt Detwiler said he “welcomes” the change of his Chiefs’ football program moving from Montana State Class B to Class A for the 2017-2018 football season.

According to Detwiler, there were several programs that petitioned to remain in the classification they were in but the Montana State Activities Association said “no.”

Other valley-area schools that will be affected by this include the Mission High School football program. According to athletic director Jacob Bosley, the rest of the schools athletic teams will remain in the Class B classification while the football team shifts from Class B to Class-C 8-man.

The move will not affect just the Ronan school football program. According to athletic director Lucky Larson, the Chiefs and Maidens athletic programs will all

move up to Class A. This means the Chiefs and Maidens will compete in the same conference as the Polson Pirates.

When Detwiler was a football player at Ronan High School, the Chiefs were in Class A.

“I am really excited and now our rivalry and classification will be back to where it was when I was in high school,” Detwiler said. “It’s going to be fun for our kids to play some different teams and play at a new level of competition. I like the change better. We were the underdog at the beginning of the season and I even heard some people in our District mention we did a lot better than people were expecting.”

Detwiler said he is also “pumped” to renew the rivalry with Polson.

“I am pumped for it and excited for the kids,” Detwiler said. “It really makes the rivalry special when you are only 10 to 15 miles away. I played baseball in the summer with a bunch of kids from Polson and on their AAU teams. If you win, it’s big-time bragging rights and you can go up to the lake and rub it in people’s faces, or you lose and you try to hide your face.”

Though Detwiler admits the rivalry is “friendly,” he said there is one night a year when the Polson, Ronan rivalry becomes fierce.

“I have a ton of friends from Polson and there is one night a year it doesn’t matter how many times you spent the night at someone’s house or how many baseball tournaments you played in together,” Detwiler said. “There is one night a year when they are not your friend and they are playing across that line in purple and gold.”

Detwiler said he also embraces the challenges of being one of the smaller schools in the Class A classification.

“It’s not that different of a game than Class B,” Detwiler said. “I know I was hearing some of our players at a banquet whispering. I basically told them there are still 11 people on either side of the line and the game is the same. We will just be playing different teams. I don’t think the transition will be fair to everyone but all sports will just have to step up to the plate and be competitive.”

Detwiler said the fact the two teams are playing each other in football will also revitalize the interest in the Polson, Ronan rivalry in basketball.

“I think the rivalry will carry over into all sports and I remember being in the student section for those basketball games,” Detwiler said. “The place was packed whether it was at Linderman or the Events Center. Right now it doesn’t have quite the same feel as it used to but with us going back to Class A, it’s going to be go back to what it used to be and it’s exciting and fun.”

Detwiler also said he felt his Chiefs will be “competitive” when they transition into Class A.

“I am kind of looking around at the other teams and I think we will be right in the running for stuff,” Detwiler said.

Polson Pirates Coach Scott Wilson said the realignment will make Class A “more competitive.”

“It will give us six teams up in the northwest and the more teams you add, the tougher it is,” Wilson said. “You still have to year in and year out make winning the conference. and nothing really changes from that perspective.”

Wilson said the added teams will force their schedule to change.

“We will redo the schedule,” Wilson said. “All of the schedules will be revamped. We will add the teams in the conference and pick up some non-conference ones to fill up the slots. We usually play conference in the middle to the end of the year. Now, it will make two-a-days different because you will have to prepare for a conference opponent but your goal should always be to be ready no matter what.”

Bulldogs football to move from Class B to Class C 8-man

The Mission High School football team will transition from Class B to Class C 8-man football and compete in the same conference with Arlee and Charlo. According to football coach and athletic director Jacob Bosley, all of the other football programs will compete in Class B.

According to Bosley, the numbers game for football specifically for 6-man is 65 or fewer students, 8-man is 66-130 students, and Class B is 131-350 students attending the schools.

Bosley feels like his team will be “well-suited” for the change.

“We have a smaller team than in past situations and we played several freshman this year,” Bosley said. “Because of their experience, that is going to help our chance to compete considerably because we have a much more experienced team coming back.”

According to Bosley, they will benefit from playing in a smaller class. The Bulldogs began its season with a total of 27 football players on its active roster.

“I’ve kind of known about this for about a year,” Bosley said. “We learned about it right after football season got over last year. I am excited about making that change and it will be good for our school. We are used to playing Charlo and Arlee in basketball and now, that gives us a new playing field to be able to compete with the other schools and local athletes. Any time you can bring the excitement level up in these contests, it certainly helps.”

Bosley said he felt there will be a “learning curve” associated with transitioning from 11-man to 8-man.

“I am excited for it but I am not really familiar with the Xs and Os of 8-man and will have to get everyone up to speed,” Bosley said. “The Western Class-C Conference is a very competitive division even though they are smaller schools. We are just hoping for the best and we are really excited to play some of these local teams. I also feel this will work in our favor. We will be able to have some depth, be able to rotate kids in and out, and give kids a breather. The change will help us out in the long run.”

Bosley will have to get acclimated to the type of travel associated with Class-C football programs according to Charlo Vikings coach Mike Krahn.

“I like the idea of Hot Springs and Mission just because of proximity and it’s easy to travel,” Krahn said. “We play them in other sports so there is a natural rivalry in basketball. We also see them in track. They are only 20 to 45 minutes away from Hot Springs and they are just really nice editions.”

Krahn said he felt it will make conference games even more crucial.

“I used the word urgency all of the time and our first game last season was with Fairview,” Krahn said. “They are a playoff caliber team and that would be a state championship focused on your off season preparation. That is going to require us to really focus and prepare in the off season because everything will matter. You really can’t afford to get a game behind in your conference.”

Krahn, who said he is accustomed to constant changes in the type of profession he works in, will have to continue adapting on the football field.

“This should be interesting and really keep us on our toes,” Krahn said. “There is a lot of talk going on around school where I teach. I teach computers and every three years, they release a new office. I can’t just sit back and do the same thing. I’ve been doing technology and to me, that is exciting. You learn something new and it’s always a challenge instead of the same old thing.”

Krahn said he expects Mission and Hot Springs to compete instantly in their conference citing that Hot Springs just became the football champs in their Class-C 6-man competition.

“Football is a numbers deal that is really tough and I think Mission is looking at it that it is hard to compete at B level,” Krahn said. “I think it is easy to stick football out when you are competitive but it is hard to stay motivated and keep the community interested when you are struggling.”

Krahn said he felt the realignment will make the change “more interesting.”

“It will make the postseason a little tougher, that is for sure,” Krahn said.

Class A realignment

*Editor’s Note: The following list was provided by the Montana State Athletic Association

East

1 Billings Central

2 Custer Co. (Miles City)

3 Dawson Co. (Glendive)

4 Hardin

5 Laurel

6 Sidney

Central

Belgrade

Fergus (Lewistown) Havre

Park (Livingston)

Southwest

Beaverhead Co. (Dillon) Butte Central

Corvallis

Hamilton

Stevensville

Frenchtown

Northwest

Browning Columbia Falls Libby

Polson

Ronan

Whitefish

Class B realignment

East

1 Baker / Plevna

2 Colstrip

3 Huntley Project

4 Poplar

5 Roundup / Melstone

6 Shepherd

7 Wolf Point / Frazer

North

Conrad

Cut Bank

Fairfield

Glasgow / Hinsdale / Nashua Harlem / Turner

Malta / Whitewater / Saco Shelby

South

Broadwater

Columbus

Jefferson

Manhattan / Manhattan Christian Red Lodge / Roberts

Sweet Grass County

Three Forks / Willow Creek Whitehall/Harrison

West

Anaconda

Bigfork

Florence-Carlton

Lincoln County

Loyola Sacred Heart

Powell County

Thompson Falls

Class C 8-man

East

Circle

Culbertson

Fairview

Forsyth

Lame Deer

Lodge Grass

Plentywood

Broadus

St. Labre

Scobey

South

Absarokee

Broadview-Lavina

Ennis

Gardiner

Harlowton

Hobson-Moore-Judith

Gap

Joliet

Lone Peak

Park City

Denton-Geyser-Stanford

North

Belt

Box Elder

Cascade

Centerville

Chester-Joplin-Inverness

Chinook

Choteau

Fort Benton

Great Falls Central

Hays-Lodgepole

Rocky Boy

Simms

West

Arlee

Charlo

Darby

Drummond-Philipsburg

Hot Springs

Plains

St. Ignatius

Seeley-Swan

Alberton-Superior

Troy

Twin Bridges

Victor