Chiefs get ready for first round of state playoffs against Columbus

RONAN — For Ronan High School football coach Matt Detwiler, the 61-0 victory over conference rival Mission Friday night in Ronan could have been all for not. 

The Chiefs took care of the business they needed to but still needed help from their conference-rival Anaconda against Deer Lodge. A Deer Lodge victory or a loss by five points or less would have secured a playoff spot for the Wardens.

A 37-point or more victory would have secured a playoff birth for the Copperheads.

Fortunately for the Chiefs, it all fell together perfectly when Anaconda defeated Deer Lodge 20-8 Friday night.

“When we got done and we got done fairly early, it was 12-2 in favor of Anaconda,” Detwiler said. “We basically went into the locker room and got the radio station online. All of the coaches and players sat in the locker room and listened to the radio. We gave Anaconda the biggest crowd and we just sat in the locker room and listened to the radio.”

Detwiler equated the experience to the NCAA Divisional Tournament selection type of environment where the Chiefs, a team on the bubble to make the playoffs, were able to squeak in with help from their conference rivals: the Copperheads.

“That is exactly what the experience was like and we sat there and cheered,” Detwiler said. “One of the coaches got a call from his mom during a 4th down measurement and just as the officials are pulling out the stick to measure, the phone rings and our coach is trying to hang up with his mom. That was just a little moment of panic for our team.”

The sit and wait wasn’t without its dramatics. With Anaconda leading 20-2, Deer Lodge not only scored but also recovered the onside kick, according to Detwiler.

“If Deer Lodge would have scored and got a 2-point conversion, that would have made the game 20-16 and we wouldn’t have made the playoffs,” Detwiler said. “Deer Lodge was plus-5 on us, and that would have meant they would have made the playoffs.”

Detwiler said the atmosphere in the locker room was ‘electric.’

“Our ball boys were in there, our radio guy was in there, my little brother, my wife, one of the other coaches’ wives, the athletic director, and other school principals were in there,” Detwiler said. “There was just a bunch of people in the locker room.”

Detwiler described the experience as “fun.”

“It was fun and am I guessing watching football on television on Sundays isn’t as exciting,” Detwiler said. “They were cheering and it was just cool to see. They are invested and it’s hard not to be when it’s senior night.”

Detwiler, a former Chiefs player himself, recalls the experience of making it to the playoffs in 2009.

“It was really cool my senior year when we made it to the playoffs and it was the first time in like 15 years that Ronan had made it,” according to Detwiler. “I remember people talking about it back then and now we are going to the playoffs. This time I am doing it as a coach instead of as a player.”

Detwiler, who is in his first season as the Chiefs’ head coach, credits coach Jim Benn for developing the team he inherited.

“He really brought these kids up during their freshman, sophomore and junior years,” Detwiler said. “I inherited a pretty sweet situation. I have to give a lot of credit to the years Benn put in and the work he put in to make the kids (I have now) the football players they are.”

Detwiler has reached out to former Chiefs’ coach Benn for guidance as the Chiefs prepare to travel to face the No. 1 seeded Columbus High School Montana team.

“I’ve talked to Benn and he shared his itineraries from 2011,” Detwiler said. “Where they went and how they traveled, leaving, practicing and stuff like that.”

Detwiler talked to Athletic Director Lucky Larson and is still getting used to how to prepare for his team’s travel in this unfamiliar scenario.

“He had an Elk that he had shot in the back of his truck and I asked him ‘how does this hotel thing work,’” Detwiler said. “Do you need to call the hotels or do I have to book the travel? It was a little overwhelming but by mid-week, I think we will get everything straightened out and be ready to go.”

For senior WR Happy Cheff, defeating conference rival Mission in the season-finale was “bittersweet.”

“You know in the back of your mind this game is useless if we don’t end up playing next week,” Cheff said. “For us seniors out there, half of us didn’t know if we were going to get another down of high school football.”

Cheff, whose father Happy Cheff was a Ronan graduate in 89, said the game against the Bulldogs was hard to focus on.

“We didn’t run our normal scheme against Mission,” Cheff said. “Whenever we sat down, most of our starters were sitting on the sidelines wondering if it was our last game. That made it hard to focus.”

When Cheff and his other senior teammates did their senior walk, he couldn’t help but think it might be the last time him and his teammates who had played together since the fourth grade suited up for the last time together.

“Doing that senior walk was hard with seeing some of my best friends that I had played together since fourth grade, the year I picked up my first football, and not knowing if it was the last game,” Cheff said. “They told us at the end of the game that Anaconda was winning and that lifted everyone’s spirits. The kids didn’t even get undressed out of their football pants in the locker room. We were just listening to the game on the speaker we had in the locker room.”

Cheff said he credits his father for instilling that winning tradition that the Chiefs had during the 80s into him. Cheff, who was 12 years old when Ronan made it to the semifinals, said seeing those games was also a “motivating factor.” Chef currently leads the team with a total of nine touchdown receptions on the season.

“Ronan hasn’t been to the playoffs in five years,” Chef recalled. “My dad played football for the Chiefs during the 80s and when he played, they made the playoffs three out of four years. The idea of helping bring back that excellence has been in my mind since 2011. We wanted to be successful in football and hopefully our team year-in and year-out would be pushing deeper and deeper into the playoffs. I still remember in 2011, the last time we went to the playoffs, it really drove the town and the excitement. Hopefully, our team can start the tradition of bringing back playoff and Chiefs’ football.”

As a wrestler, Cheff said he is used to traveling to several different towns.

“During wrestling season, my team and I travel a lot and stay over night,” Cheff said. “I am used to having to perform after traveling. I think we just have to have a really good week at practice at home and having that game on Saturday will give us four days of practice to use to our fullest. I guess use most of what we know for sure in practice. On Friday we will be leaving school second period, travel over to Livingston, and stay 1 hour from Columbus. We will practice at the high school, stay locked into practice, and stay locked on the game. I don’t see a problem with traveling.”

Detwiler said the Chiefs will face a team that likes to run the football. Ronan has faced physical teams that had good ground attacks such as Deer Lodge all season.

“They line up from the wishbone half of the time,” Detwiler said. “We haven’t seen the wishbone all year. Teams in the east like to pound the rock and run the ball. We just have to wrap up the legs, drive our feet and tackle 1-on-1 well.”

Assistant defensive coach Zach Rowan wore a t-shirt with a message to his team this week that said: “Do your job.” He was out spreading the message yelling at players while wearing the shirt and trying to drive the message home.

Detwiler and his Chiefs will stick to their guns and try to play their fast, up-tempo offense they are accustomed to.

“We will stick to our guns, play fast, and score fast,” Detwiler said. “We will see where in a certain situations we have to run the time off the clock. We will slow things down but we will play football in the style we have all season.”