Never too early to think about football

We aren't even to the dog days of summer yet. No, that doesn't come until August. But, the start of another football season, on the Hi-Line and beyond isn't far away now.

For Havre High, and high schools around the state of Montana, the new season will officially begin Aug. 10. That's when the Montana High School Association allows schools to begin practicing in football, cross country and volleyball. Leading up to that date, Havre High head coach Ryan Gatch, now in his third year, will hold his annual Blue Pony Football Camp, which is set for July 23-25.

The Blue Ponies open their 2018 season in the friendly confines of Blue Pony Stadium with a home game against the Hardin Bulldogs.

That weekend will be a big one for football fans in Havre as well. The Montana State University-Northern Lights will kick off the Andrew Rolin era Aug. 25, with their home-opener against Mayville State at Blue Pony Stadium.

Rolin was hired back in December, and has been hard at work ever since. His Lights will report for fall camp in just a few short weeks, and they will open the season with two straight home games. After taking on Mayville State, the Lights will remain at home to play Rocky Mountain College in a Frontier Conference opener Sept. 2 inside Blue Pony Stadium.

The Havre Daily News will once again have complete Northern football coverage this season, starting with our annual series of the top players at each position in the Frontier Conference. That series will begin with quarterbacks on July 24. The HDN will also have complete pre-season coverage of the Lights and will once again be putting out our Lights Game Day special for each home game this season.

The Frontier Conference will also once again hold its annual preseason Media Day in conjunction with the Montana Coaches Association Clinic in early August in Great Falls.

And while many of those events are a few weeks out still, fans of the Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats don't have to wait much longer to start getting excited about college football.

Next week in Spokane, the Big Sky Conference will hold the 2018 Big Sky Football Kickoff Media Days. The event will feature every head coach from the conference, as well as two players from each team. The Big Sky Preseason Coaches and Media Polls will also be released at the event, as will the Preseason All-Conference Team, and Preseason Offensive and Defensive MVP honors.

Both the Bobcats and Grizzlies report to fall camp in early August. Montana State opens its 2018 season with a Thursday night game against Missouri Valley Conference powerhouse Western Illinois. That game is set to be a night game at Bobcat Stadium Aug. 30. The Cats, under third-year head coach Jeff Choate and with star quarterback Chris Murray at the helm, are likely to be a popular pick this season to compete for a Big Sky championship and a deep playoff run.

The Griz open their season Sept. 2, also under the lights. Montana, which has missed the playoffs the last two years and is on a two-game losing streak to rival MSU, will open the season Sept. 2 against another MVC power, Northern Iowa. That game is slated to be a night game, and will mark the return of head coach Bobby Hauck, who was hired in early December to replace Bob Stitt.

As always, the Havre Daily News will have full coverage of both the Bobcats and Grizzlies again this fall, including our annual Cat-Griz Gameday special.

The 2018 Brawl of the Wild is set for Nov. 17 in Missoula.

Fans wanting to see football before August can take in the annual Montana East-West Shrine Game. The longest running high school all-star football game is set to take place July 21 at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls. The game won't feature any local players, but the East roster does include Shelby standout T.J. Reynolds. Reynolds is the son of former Havre High great Tommy Reynolds, and he's also set to join the MSU-Northern men's basketball team this fall.