5 things to watch in local high school football

It's been a long time since local high school football fans were treated to action on the gridiron. Thankfully, the long wait will be over soon, as teams from across the state will hit the practice field for the first time Friday.

Of course, in this part of the state, there are strong football traditions all over the place. However, it has been a struggle in recent years for traditional powers like Havre, Chinook, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Fort Benton and North Star who have combined for just one playoff appearance the past two years. Yet, each season offers its own hope and opportunity. Things can change quickly in the world of high school football and as practice gets going today across the state, and with the live bullets starting to fly in less than two weeks, here are five things to watch in local high school football.

When will the Ponies end their losing streak?

Over the past two seasons, the Havre High football team has fallen on tough times. Following a 5-1 start to the season back in 2016, the Blue Ponies have lost 12 straight games, including all nine last season in an 0-9 campaign that was the first winless season for HHS since the 1960s.

One of Havre's closest defeats came at the hands of the Hardin Bulldogs, the same team Havre will welcome into Blue Pony Stadium for its season opener Aug. 24. HHS will need to come up with a new starting quarterback after the graduation of Trey Murphy but some talented, young pieces return, such as two-way standout Mason Dionne.

Havre was forced to play a lot of young players last season and now it's time for those players to take the next step in their development. If they can, finding the win column should be a foregone conclusion. If not though, nothing will come easy' in the always-difficult Eastern A conference.

Can Big Sandy duplicate its success?

The Big Sandy Pioneers put together a spectacular run in Class C Six-Man football last season, finishing second in the Six-Man North and even winning a game in the Six-Man playoffs before it was all said and done.

Big Sandy may be without Weston Allderdice and Laurence Allderdice, two of its top performers from last season, yet the cupboard isn't bare. Sophomore running back Kade Strutz returns after a 334-yard performance in the opening round of the Six-Man playoffs against Richey-Lambert.

The Pioneers were knocked off in the quarterfinals last season but with Strutz and quarterback Parker Proulx back in the fold, Big Sandy should have a potent offense. Under the direction of first-year head coach Chuck Terry, a former MSU-Northern assistant coach, the Pioneers will look to be a contender again in the Six-Man North Division.

Can Jake Eldridge get the Box Elder football program out of hibernation?

It wasn't that long ago, just a few seasons in fact, since the Box Elder Bears played for the Class C Six-Man state championship. The Bears lost that state title game to Denton-Geyser-Stanford and ever since then, Box Elder has had a tough time winning football games.

Box Elder did win one game last season, knocking off Hays-Lodge Pole 22-6, but other than that it was a struggle for the Bears, who scored in double figures only three times in 2017. Eldridge, who was the interim head coach for MSU-Northern football on two occasions, as well as the long-time defensive coordinator, will look to get some momentum back for a program that was on the doorstep of a state championship just a few season ago.

Will re-alignment make the Northern C even more difficult?

The Northern C Division in Class C 8-Man football expanded again during the offseason as the league added Shelby, who joined the likes of Rocky Boy and Choteau as teams that dropped down from the ranks of Class B 11-Man football to 8-Man in recent years.

Last season, it led to having a 12-team division in the North. The top three teams in each division got at least a chance to play their way into the playoffs with a win in the final weekend of the regular season, but with Shelby joining, making the playoffs will be even more difficult.

Of course, adding the Coyotes, a solid program in Class B, will only make things more difficult, especially for local teams like Chinook, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Rocky Boy, Box Elder, Fort Benton and Hays-Lodge Pole. Fort Benton was the only local team that came close to making the playoffs, missing out after losing a play-in game. Now that another powerhouse has been added to the ranks of the Northern C, however, getting to the postseason is going to be harder than ever, even though five berths are now available for the 13-team conference.

Will more than one local team make the playoffs?

As recently as the 2015 season, teams from across the Hi-Line made their presence felt in the high school playoffs. During that 2015 season, Havre made it to the state semifinals in Class A, while Chinook won the Class C 8-Man state championship. Box Elder also finished as the runner-up in the Class C Six-Man state championship game to Denton-Geyser-Stanford.

Following that magical season of local football, the results have been mixed. In 2016, the North Star Knights were the only team from the area to make the high school playoffs and they made a prompt exit after losing to eventual state champion Hot Springs. In 2017, Big Sandy was the lone team to make a postseason run and the Pioneers managed at least one playoff win before being eliminated by Bridger.

This season, a number of schools look poised to make a playoff run. Big Sandy is one candidate in Six-Man football and in the 8-Man ranks a team like Fort Benton is one to watch out for, along with Chinook, which is hoping to bounce back from a couple of down seasons. Havre will also look to end its two-year playoff drought and will need to finish in the top six in the final Eastern A standings in order to do so.

The high school football season will start Aug. 23 and the state playoffs for all classifications will begin Oct. 27.