Chinook's man in charge enjoying second stint

There are some interesting storylines across the state of Montana heading into state championship weekend for high school football. But perhaps no story is more compelling than that of the Chinook Sugarbeeters and head coach Scott Friede.

Fresh off a 4-5 campaign and in need of a new head coach, it was hard to know what to expect out of Chinook football in 2014. Friede, who had been the head coach previously from 1994-99, had the difficult task of replacing Chinook coaching legend Matt Molyneaux, who led the school to its first and only state football championship back in 2010.

Normally, when a new head coach is hired, time is needed to make the transition. But thanks to Friede and an extraordinary group of football players, the transition has been seamless.

Chinook posted a 7-2 regular season record and won seven of their final eight games to capture the Northern C Divisional championship. That alone would have been great season for Friede and the Beeters, but they were far from finished.

Chinook used an intimidating home-field advantage to their benefit and dominated Victor, Broadus and Fairview in consecutive weeks to earn a berth in the Class C 8-man state championship game this Saturday in Wibaux.

Now, the Beeters are just one win away from a second state championship, one that will cap a memorable season and one of the most impressive coaching debuts in Montana high school football history.

“It’s all about these kids,” Friede said. “They are the ones that deserve the credit. They are the ones that have worked so hard and been so willing to learn. At the beginning of the season, I told them to dream big because I think it’s important to dream and have goals, and they have just run with it. It has been a really memorable season and they have continued to have fun, which is important because it goes by so fast, and that’s really what it’s all about.”

As far as head coaches are concerned, the Beeters couldn’t have done any better than Friede, who had success in his previous stint as head coach before moving on to pursue other opportunities. Yet, even though he was no longer the head coach, he taught in Chinook and spent the last decade coaching youth football, including some of the kids who will be playing for him Saturday, such as quarterback Ian McIntosh, tight end Kenneth Pruttis, tight end Jake Norby and others.

“I’ve probably always been a coach and a teacher at heart,” Friede said. “And football to me, just has so many things to offer a young person, and I just always dreamed I would get back into and get a chance to coach football again. So, when the opportunity came up after Mr. (Matt) Molyneaux decided he was going to move on and spend more time with his family, that is when I really strongly considered stepping back into the program.”

While the Beeters were fortunate to get Friede back at the helm of their football program, what he found when he took over was a cupboard that was far from bare. It didn’t take long for him to realize that thanks to the unique combination of talent and work ethic possessed by McIntosh, Gavin Gunderson, Lane Seymour, Norby, Pruttis, and countless others, the 2014 season had a chance to be special.

“Coaching football is a lot of work,” Friede said. “It takes a lot of time and a lot of preparation. But the kids that we have this year just make it really easy to work and put in that time for them because they are so eager to learn. The coaches believe in them and they believe in us and that is just a really cool feeling and a very rewarding experience whether you are winning or losing. When you believe in each other and what you are trying to accomplish together, it’s just an awesome feeling.”

“We knew after our first two weeks of camp, which is normally something players dread, that we had something. Our players were actually sad to see it end,” He added. “Then we came out and played a Great Falls Central team that had all of its specialty kids returning and they jumped ahead of us early in that first game of the season, but our kids bounced right back and had a chance to make that game go the other way. So, after seeing that, I knew we had something going on that really motivated me to do more to try and prepare as much as we could for these kids because something was clicking there and I still can’t put my finger on it, but it’s been a lot of fun.”

There is no question that it has been an incredible journey for Friede, who was out of coaching this time last season and is now just one win away from a state championship.

But, before Friede and the Beeters traveled to Wibaux for the championship game, the Havre Daily News caught up with the coach for five questions with Chinook’s unquestioned leader.

HDN: What is the one thing that you enjoy the most about coaching football?

Friede: “I think there are a few things. When you can get kids to believe in one another and when you know on your team that each player has the other player’s back and will do anything for each other on the field. When you have them playing with that kind of team unity, that is the most rewarding experience.”

HDN: You and the players often get a lot of credit, but the guys that are often forgotten are the assistant coaches, tell me about your assistant coaches?

Friede: “Rick Lindquist is one of my assistants, he coached with me the last time I coached here, so I brought him out of retirement to coach with me again and it has been a pleasure coaching with him. The other assistant is Christian Lehnert. Christian played football for Montana State University-Northern on the defensive line, and he coaches the offensive and defensive lines for us. He is very good at what he does. He is a very good defensive technician and a lot of the credit for the outstanding play of our linemen can go back to what he does with them in practice.

HDN: What makes the community atmosphere about coaching at the Class C level so special?

Friede: “Well, I think in the Northern C Division, all of the communities are special within their community but the neatest thing about it is that you don’t have to look very long to see one community helping out another community. We know that we are all in this together and Chinook is an outstanding community for that. And that is one of the best things about coaching and being a part of a small community.”

HDN: What is your favorite thing about Hoon Field in Chinook?

Friede: “I played football (at Chinook) in high school. I graduated in 1983 and played football there myself, so I have memories of that field when I was in high school and I think some of the memories you have ofyour high school days are some of the greatest you will ever have. I played when we had the lights and for whatever reason we didn’t have lights for a long time. And when I was the coach the last time, one of our goals was to get the lights back and, in 1997, we had our first game under the lights against Glasgow and we had to beat them by eight points to get into the playoffs. It was senior night, it was homecoming and it was just a night full of memories. The kids still bring it up when I see them and we were able to get into the playoffs and it’s just those kind of memories. It has a lot of history and a lot of memories.”

HDN: What would it mean to you to win the state championship?

Friede: “I think I might have a different philosophy on that than some others. I have always told the kids that the scoreboard doesn’t really matter to me. But what matters is how you play the game, what kind of character you play with. There are some games that we win that I am not overly pleased with, but if a kid goes out and does the absolute best that he can for himself and his teammates, then I am OK with it. We are going to work hard and prepare as much as we possibly can and then we will let the chips fall where they fall and, if it happens to be winning the state championship game, it will be a wonderful ending to a great season.”