AA Football Tidbits – Week 9
It’s the final week of the regular season and it also happens to be crosstown week in a couple locations around the state. We also have two winless teams squaring off Friday night in hopes of securing their first win of 2019! In addition, a few of next week’s postseason matchups have all but been decided, but there are a few seeds left up for grabs. Read on to see what’s in store this week and beyond!
Week 9 Match-ups…
- CMR @ GFH
- Capital @ Helena
- Skyview @ Belgrade
- Glacier @ Sentinel
- Hellgate @ Butte
- West @ Bozeman
- Big Sky @ Flathead
- Bye – Senior
Minty’s Predicted Winners…
- GFH
- Capital
- Skyview
- Sentinel
- Butte
- Bozeman
- Big Sky
Last Week: 6-1, Overall: 44-13
What To Watch For…
- Game of the Week: West @ Bozeman. Both teams are flush with athletes. West is unscathed through eight weeks and Bozeman’s only loss came during a sloppy, turnover-filled game against Big Sky. This one features a plethora of next level worthy athletes: Asher Croy, Kenneth Eiden, McCade O’Reilly from Bozeman and Demarcus Carr, Josh Erbacher and Connor Ryan from West. While undefeated, the Golden Bears have been challenged by the likes of Senior and GFH in recent weeks. Bozeman also played close games against those same two squads. On paper, this looks like a matchup of two very even squads, but I’ll give the edge to the Hawks seeing as it’s Senior Night at home.
- Upset Special(s):
- Glacier – The Wolfpack is very similar to Sentinel in terms of their speedy skill positions and adequate a mobile gunslingers. However, Glacier has a stout offensive and defensive front; a group that I feel is just a tick better than Sentinel’s. The Spartans are stingy in the defensive secondary and feature the state’s best tailback in Jaxon Lee. The Spartans come in at 7-1 and have to be the clear favorites, but Glacier has the horses to pull off the upset; especially if they can control the ball with their run game on offense.
Minty Tidbits…
- At least for this season, the AA has switched to a divisional playoff format in which all 15 teams “make the playoffs”. If the postseason were to begin today, here’s what Round 1 would look like:
- Butte – Bye
- Skyview @ Sentinel
- Belgrade @ Capital
- GFH @ Helena High
- Hellgate @ Senior
- Glacier @ CMR
- Flathead @ West
- Big Sky @ Bozeman
- Montanans in the NFL: Will Dissly is out for the year. Brock Osweiler recently retired. That leaves Mike Person, former Glendive and Montana State offensive lineman, as the only Montana-native currently suiting up in the league (San Francisco).
- Speaking of Montanans in the NFL…according to pro-football-reference.com, 69 Montana-born athletes have logged action in the National Football League. Butte, America leads the way with 8 former Mining City gridders reaching the NFL, while Billings and Bozeman have each had 7. This list does not include the likes of Brock Osweiler, who was born in Coeur D’ Alene, Idaho, and it also omits all-time Treasure State great Dave Dickenson, who never actually logged a down while spending time with three different NFL franchises.
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