Mission Valley football players shine in all-star showcase

Five Mission Valley Class-C, 8-man football players got an opportunity to showcase themselves in the 34th annual Bob Cleverly All-Star football game Saturday night at Montana Tech.

Zane Hafliger, Jared Doty, Trent Dennison and Kane Shenyer all represented Charlo at the all-star event. Arlee’s QB Tyler Tanner also represented the Mission Valley team in the all-star showcase.

Vikings’ coach Mike Krahn was the defensive coordinator in this, the fifth time he coached in the all-star game.

“The greatest thing about the all-star week is that you get to compete against these kids on the football field and you never know what they are athletically,” Krahn said. “Football is such an intense sport and you usually only see them with their game face. Here, you get to spend a week with them all day and get to know them personally. I am amazed how great and how good the kids are. They are awesome kids. Class-C football not only has some good football players, but the kids are nice, polite and hard working.”

Krahn credited Tanner, who was named the offensive MVP for the red team, on his work ethic.

“The kids worked hard, played hard, and all had a good time,” Krahn said. “The thing that you take away with is it was fun to play Arlee, Charlo and the kids you’ve been battling with on the field athletically. It’s a pretty neat deal.”

Krahn said he enjoys working with some of best players Class-C had to offer.

“You get to know some of the coaches you haven’t seen before and you might not have known them,” Krahn said. “Eventually, you become good friends over time and make lasting friendships. When you go and play your friend, you still want to beat them. It makes the game more enjoyable and they aren’t just another body that you are wanting to compete against and beat.”

In Krahn’s fifth season, he said the all-star experience never stops “being fun.”

“It’s pretty fun to coach because these all-star kids are selected by the coaches and know they are just really good football players,” Krahn said. “They are smart to be able to put something in on Monday and work on it all week. We only had six or seven practices. For them to pick up schemes and offenses and defenses they weren’t familiar with and you don’t have do much motivating as a coach, it’s just a dream situation.”

Blue Team 32, Red Team 16

Blue;0;12;6;14;-;32

Red;0;8;0;8;-;16

Scoring

Red Team – Coulton Lewis 11 pass from Harry Green (Tate Neideregger run)

Blue Team – Gavin McKitrick 5 pass from Edward Starz (pass fail)

Blue Team – Brock Peterson 2 run (run fail)

Blue Team – McKitrick 5 pass from Starz (run fail)

Blue Team – Shawn Schaefferkoetter 1 run (Pat Hardy pass from Noah Schneider)

Blue Team – Peterson 48 run (pass fail)

Red Team – Jess Bodner 12 pass from Green (Green run)

Rushing – Blue Team: Peterson 13-95, Brett Delp 10-50; Red Team: Wesley Harshbarger 7-81, Ty Tanner 8-47.

Passing – Blue Team: Starz 6-10-1-88; Red Team: Green: 8-18-2-126.

Receiving – Blue Team – McKitrick 5-66, Hardy 2-61; Red Team – Kye McCollaum 1-43, Bodner 2-42.