Let the games begin

While a few programs have gotten off to an early start to the fall sports season, for the rest, the wait is almost over.

The Havre High golf team and the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team both have begun the 2013 season, but Thursday night marks the beginning of a huge weekend of local sports.

Thursday night, the college football season begins when the MSU-Northern Lights travel to Dickinson State for the first game of the 2013 Frontier Conference season. That game will kick off at 6:30 p.m. at the Henry Biesiot Activities Center in Dickinson, N.D.

And the Lights’ first game of 2013 is just the tip of the iceberg this weekend.

The Havre High football team gets to work Saturday afternoon when the Blue Ponies travel to Whitefish for their annual season-opener against the Bulldogs. The game is set for a 2 p.m. starting in Whitefish, and the Ponies will be trying to bring home the BNSF Trophy yet again. Meanwhile, the HHS volleyball team heads west as well. The Ponies will be in Browning Saturday afternoon for a Central A Conference matchup against the browning Indians. That match is slated to begin at 1 p.m.

This coming weekend will also see the MSU-Northern volleyball team in Florida for a huge non-conference tournament at Embry-Riddle University, while the Pony golf teams play at the East Glacier Lodge Golf Course Thursday morning.

And the action doesn’t stop with Northern and Havre High.

One of the biggest rivalry games in Northern C football is the season-opener this year as Chinook and Chester/J-I clash Saturday night in Chinook. The Sugarbeeters and Hawks were both playoff teams a year ago, and have played some memorable games the last two seasons. The Chinook/C/J-I tilt kicks off at 7:30 p.m. in Chinook. There’s also a ton of high school volleyball at the Class B and C level, which makes this weekend one of the biggest in the last four months.