Box Elder hires Havre area coaches

The Montana high school sports season officially came to a close last weekend with state tournaments and track meets closing out the final season of the 2017-18 school year.

However, just before the school year ended, the Box Elder Bears announced a couple of head-coaching hires, as Box Elder filled vacancies in both football and volleyball, according to a press release by athletic director Neal Rosette Jr., which was sent out last week.

Box Elder's new head football coach is a name that should resonate with local football as former Montana State University-Northern interim head coach and defensive coordinator Jake Eldridge will take over after Rosette Jr. has coached the team the past three seasons. Eldridge, who played and coached under former MSU-N head coach Mark Samson, was the Lights interim head coach during the 2014 season. He then spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator under Aaron Christensen, before taking over again as interim head coach late last season.

"I want to thank the administration; Superintendent Jeremy MacDonald and Activities Director Neal Rosette Jr. as well as the school board for giving me the opportunity to lead this football program as its head football coach," Eldridge said in a statement. "I'm very excited about the potential of our football team and can't wait to start working with these kids. Coach Rosette Jr. and Coach Simmons have already set a great foundation that I plan to grow and build upon."

Rosette Jr., who helped coach the Bears to the Class C Six-Man state championship game back in 2015, had this to say about the hire:

"I am extremely excited for the new addition to the program," Rosette Jr. said. "And I am looking forward to working with Coach Eldridge and for the future of the Bears football program."

While the Bears filled their football vacancy, they also found a new head volleyball coach, and that will be Autumn Elliot, another former alumni of MSU-Northern, where she played volleyball for the Skylights from 1994 until 1997. Elliot will bring years of coaching experience to Box Elder and she has served in different capacities as a coach at the high school, middle school and college levels. She has coached at MSU-N, CMR in Great Falls, Fort Benton, Chinook and in Minot, North Dakota.

"I am very excited to be coaching at Box Elder," Elliot said. "The raw talent is here and with some hard work and skills training we will be a team to watch out for."

The Box Elder volleyball team will open its season Aug. 25 in the Sunburst Showcase. The football team, on the other hand, which will play 8-Man football in the Northern C again, will open its season Aug. 24 against Lone Peak.