AA Football Tidbits – Playoff Round 1
The postseason has arrived! First off, a big congratulations goes out to the Belgrade Panthers for securing their first AA victory last Friday in a scrappy affair against the Skyview Falcons! We have some great games in store this week and a Round 1 rematch of last year’s state title game. Minty also thinks we’ll see an upset on Saturday, read on to find out who he thinks will shock the state!
Week 10 Match-ups…
CMR @ Helena
Glacier @ GFH
Skyview @ Sentinel
Big Sky @ Bozeman
Flathead @ West
Belgrade @ Capital
Hellgate @ Senior (Saturday)
Bye – Butte
Minty’s Predicted Winners…
Helena
GFH
Sentinel
Bozeman
West
Capital
Hellgate
Last Week: 5-2, Overall: 49-15
What To Watch For…
- Game of the Week: Glacier @ GFH – The Bison, fresh off a win over rival CMR, have now won three of their last four and have some serious momentum going as they enter the postseason. Glacier went toe-to-toe with #3 Sentinel last week, ultimately falling short by a mere three points. Both squads have weapons and a little momentum on their side; it should be a battle in the Electric City!
- Upset Special(s):
- Hellgate – The Knights reeled off three consecutive wins to start the 2019 campaign and have yet to win since, losing five in a row. To be fair, they’ve faced some of the state’s best teams: Helena High, Sentinel, Helena Capital, Butte and Glacier. They suffered close losses to both Glacier and Capital, losing both games in the final minutes, so it’s clear they can play with damn near anyone. Senior comes in at 4-4 on the year and while they have some talent, they aren’t the same team that reeled off two consecutive state titles a couple years ago. The Knights feature one of the state’s best athletes in Rollie Worster, and when he gets going, they’re hard to stop. Give me Hellgate on the road over the Broncs!
Minty Tidbits…
- Postseason Honors (Early Predictions):
- AA Offensive MVP – Tommy Mellott, QB, Butte High (3141 total yards, 13 TD)
- AA Defensive MVP – Hard to say…Carter Ash (S; 7 int.) or Kenneth Eiden (DE; 9 sacks) out of Bozeman High? Perhaps Zach Evans, MLB out of Helena High (108 tackles, 6 sacks)? Zane McCormick, MLB, Capital High (109 tackles, 82 solo)?
- Gatorade Player of the Year – Tommy Mellott, QB, Butte High
- If you follow Major League Baseball you know that the Nats won their first World Series last night. That made me wonder how many AA squads have yet to win a title? Here’s what I found:
- Belgrade – No, Class B Champs in 1978
- Billings Senior – Yep
- Billings Skyview – Yep
- Billings West – Yep
- Bozeman – Yep
- Great Falls High – Yep
- CMR – Yep
- Helena High – Yep, 1932 Class A Champs
- Helena Capital – Yep
- Flathead – Yep
- Glacier – Yep
- Missoula Sentinel – No? They have all the trophies, but Missoula County High School was housed in the current Missoula Hellgate building (Sentinel opened in 1956). I say those trophies belong to Hellgate. However, they were known as the Spartans, so….not sure how to decide that?!
- Missoula Hellgate – Yes? See above.
- Missoula Big Sky – Yes
About the Author
Minty Coach A proud native of Great Falls, Coach now resides in Missoula, however he's a Bobcat to the core.
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