2024 Week 7 (Montana & Wyoming)
What a weekend of football it turned out to be. I was in Montana, with the prospect of another Saturday afternoon in the central part of the state. Or, I could go far east or south into Wyoming. Eastern Montana had just a couple afternoon games. While Midwest, Wyoming was hosting a Saturday night homecoming game. And I chose that. And did I pick a great one.
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I knew where I would be on Thursday night. And planned to be in Wyoming on Saturday. But Friday was still an open slot. I had some fallback options. For instance, being in Choteau northwest of Great Falls, I was anticipating the possibility that I wouldn’t make it far enough Friday night for a game. I really didn’t want to see a game in or around Great Falls. As a drive to Midwest would be near impossible. The only true fallback would be to see Denton/Geyser/Stanford/Geraldine host Hobson/Moore instead.
So Friday night had two options. The ambitious one, and the more relative one. Ambitious would be driving from Choteau on Friday morning all the way to Lavina, Montana. A long snaking drive through MT200 to US191 past Geyser, Stanford, Hobson, and Judith Gap south to Harlowton and east along US12 past Ryegate into Lavina. Or, go northeast from Stanford past Denton where I was the previous Saturday and stop in Winifred. Winifred/Roy was hosting Harlowton/Ryegate/Judith Gap. And I was strongly considering that. But, that still would make for a very long drive Saturday before the Midwest game kicked off.
So, I set my sites on Lavina. Lavina is a town I had grown quite familiar with. Located on MT3 north of Billings at the intersection with US12, it’s a simple small town with one main road and no lights. South of Lavina sits Broadview, which are part of the co-op forming the Broadview/Lavina Pirates. I had seen Broadview’s field many times and had anticipated that they would host games there. But looking at the schedule I found out that the co-op does not alternate hosting duties. All home games are scheduled for the small field behind Lavina.
But before all that, I was in Great Falls taking in the sites of the once great falls.
It was a bit disappointing that the dams, 5 in all, along this stretch of the Missouri River had eviscerated what was a fairly notable landmark for the area.
I left town along I-15 heading due north Shelby. Shelby sits at the interchange with I-15 and US2. A small town I had been two a few times in the past. Only once going further north into Toole County.
The Shelby Coyotes were hosting a rare Thursday night game and it was my opportunity to see a game here. I had thought I had tweeted out an arrival image, but it appears Twitter did appreciate it and the only pre-game tweet I have was of the game starting.
#41 – Shelby v. Simms
When I arrived at the field, I couldn’t find a stadium name anywhere. And no one seemed to know if the school’s field had a name. The school sits north of town, in a residential area on the northwest fringes just east of I-15. The field sits north/south and is fully grass. With a maroon S at midfield. Which sits off-center to the stadium.
Common with football fields moving from 11 to 8 or 6 man, is moving the goal posts. 11-man plays on a 100-yard field. While 8-man and 6-man play on an 80 yard field. The south goal post remained in place, but the north endzone goalpost was moved in twenty yards. Putting the light standards at the goal line at one end and the 20 yard line at the other. The home stands then sat from the 10 to the 40. Not the most unusual setup I had even seen. But noticeable.
Shelby came out wearing bright yellow which made photography easier. Simms meanwhile wore all white with black lids depicting the Missouri Tigers old logo. I decided to dub the field “Coyotes Country Stadium” as that was the name plastered across the front of the stands. Though they may call it other names, nothing else seemed any more official than that. And that was at least written across the stands for all to see.
For the game itself, there was a lot of back-and-forth. A lot of turnovers. And it was close. As the air chilled, Shelby went into the halftime break, up 18-13.
The second half saw more turnovers, and less scoring. Simms could not move the ball effectively. First giving up a safety to go down 20-13. And then another touchdown and two-point conversion. Giving them a 28-13 victory.
There wasn’t a gigantic crowd for this game. Simms brought very few fans the 89 miles from home. Shelby, meanwhile, seemed like Thursday may have been the issue. The field did have great views of the sunset behind the home side. The field was soft from rain but not muddy. Just squishy. Meaning I had to walk along the long jump pathway behind the home side.
After the game, I headed out. I had business to attend to in Choteau in the morning. And a long out-of-the-way path to get there. Including a quick drive in the morning past Glacier National Park on US2, which is always fun.
Leaving Choteau, I had planned to get to Lavina no later than 6pm. And it was 227 miles of almost all non-freeway driving to get there. And would be arriving just after 6pm. With no opportunity to stop. So, I was hoping there’d be food at the game.
Leaving Choteau heading southeast, I got onto I-15 into Great Falls and followed MT200 east. A long, well worn route for me. Through the canyons of the Belt Mountains, and east past Geyser, and Stanford, and Hobson to Moore. Traveling south quickly through Judith Gap and into Harlowton. Past Ryegate on US12 and seeing Lavina in the distance. I stopped on Main Street and got photos of the welcome sign stood afront of a large array of solar panels.
I got some photos of the front of the school, and made my way back to the field. The small concession stand was in the northwest corner. I had a double cheeseburger. Though it had cooled considerably and the cheese therefore didn’t melt. But it was good. That along with a Gatorade.
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I walked around the field. They were hosting Military Appreciation Night. With two military vehicles parked behind the west endzone.
A small white rope was affixed to posts to serve as the barrier. I watched the end of another JV game. And then made my way onto the field past the ropes. The field was small, with cars lined around it on the home side. A small two-story pressbox stood by itself with two small bleachers. Visits were situated on one bleacher with an array of folding chairs used to spread fans out along the perimeter.
#42 – Broadview/Lavina v. Bridger
I had anticipated this game being good. Broadview/Lavina was #1 in their C-6 South region. While Bridger was #2. Broadview/Lavina was undefeated while Bridger had one loss. But it was all Bridger. From the first play, Bridger dominated. A bad snap which entered the endzone on the first play, was recovered by Bridger for the touchdown. Broadview/Lavina answered with their own score, but then Bridger reeled off 46 straight points to lead 54-6 at the half.
The second half was entirely running clock. As Bridger added two more scores and Broadview/Lavina added two more of their own. Bridger wins, 67-18.
The lighting was poor, and made photography difficult. The internet did not work during the game. Cutting out as I reached the southeast corner of town being behind the high school. I documented the plays, but could only relay them after the fact. Combined with the ons-sided nature of the game and it wasn’t the best night to be on the sideline. But I still enjoyed my time in Lavina.
After the game, I drove south through Billings, along I-90 past a grass fire off the side of the highway I reported, and then into Wyoming and stopping for the night in Sheridan.
Given that I entered the state at night, I simply used another old photo of the Wyoming sign from the Cheyenne end of the state from earlier this season.
It was only two hours or so south to get to Midwest. And I wasn’t in that big a hurry. Another Junior High game was taking place prior to the Varsity game, but I opted to not make an attempt to get there prior to kickoff. Instead, showing up an hour or so prior to kickoff of the varsity game.
#43 – Midwest v. Hulett
This was my second straight 6-man game. My 7th in the past four weeks. I enjoyed six-man. It was different. But it was football. A fun offshoot variety. A fact of reality in these small towns where even 8-man would struggle to exist. 11-man just wishful thinking for most who didn’t even have eleven players on their roster.
As with the game in Lavina, the internet was problematic. It said I had service, but no tweets would send out. And I could not connect to the internet to view anything. But I could call and text.
Before the game, I had a hot dog meal for $4. Which included the dog, chips, a cookie and a drink. Not a bad deal. I ate it then prepped for the start of the game. It was homecoming, and there was an excitement in the air.
The field sits to the south of town. Down a hill from the school. Several dirt trails taking you from the corner of the building down a few blocks west to the field. Houses overlooking the bluffs to the north behind the home side.
I wasn’t expecting much of anything from this game. And early on, it seemed like Hulett was going to run away with it. Going up 19-8 after the first ten minutes.
And then 76 points happened. In the second quarter, Midwest scored 36 points. While Hulett scored 40. Taking a tenuous, though emphatic 59-44 lead into the break. At halftime, the homecoming king and queen were crowned. And an entire second half of football was still on tap.
No matter how well Midwest played, they constantly seemed a step behind Hulett. Whose Hudson Reilly was their star player. For Midwest, it was Quincy Paris. Who at QB was doing everything he could to keep the Oilers in the game.
By the end of the third, Midwest trailed by just one score, 80-72. And my comment to the officials that we might hit 100 becoming much more realistic.
After scoring another touchdown, Midwest missed the kick that would have tied it at 80-80. Hulett retaliated, going up 87-78 on a single point conversion to make it a two-score game. But Midwest wasn’t wavering. Scoring a TD and conversion to cut the lead to 87-86. An onside kick and on the first play Paris went the distance for the TD to go up 92-87. A two-point kick made it 94-87. Hulett’s turn moves them down field, and with under two minutes remaining scoring another TD of their own. But the single-point try via pass fell incomplete after clanging off the arms of Reilly in the back of the endzone. Midwest recovered the onside kick, and one first down was all was needed to end the game. A nail-biting, exhilarating 94-93 victory by the home team Midwest Oilers.
It turns out this was the highest scoring game in Wyoming state history. Exclipsing the record by 25 points. And though neither team cracked triple-digits, it was still an incredibly memorable game for me. One that I wouldn’t soon forget.
For the weekend, I saw six new teams in three new stadiums. One 8-man game and two 6-man games. It was an eventful, and extremely fun weekend of football.
ECONOMICS
For the entire weekend, I drove 962 total miles. Starting in Great Falls and ending in Midwest, Wyoming. The only money spent on the weekend was $38 for food. I spent nothing on Thursday night. But on Friday night I spent $8 for the double cheeseburger and a gatorade. And then another gatorade. For a total of $10. On Saturday, I spent $18 for two sandwiches at the convenience store kitchen in Sheridan. And $4 at the game for the hot dog bundle. And $6 after the game for something to drink and eat at the gas station in town.
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
2024 Statistics
43 Games
85 Teams
24 Stadiums
10 States
51 New Teams
19 New Stadiums
1,620 different teams
514 different stadiums
1,503 total games
NEXT WEEK
I will be home. And have one major game in mind. Sheffield hosting Union City in what might be the final home game ever for the Sheffield Wolverines. Saturday night will be down the road in Warren.
For photos from this game, and others this weekend, click HERE.
For photos from previous weeks and seasons, visit http://www.flickr.com/sykotyk/sets/