Frontier Notebook: Spring football is really here

It's going to be short, but, if all goes according to plan, it's going to be oh so sweet.

Yes, this weekend, there will be Frontier Conference football, though it won't be what league fans are used to. And yet, for the first time since November of 2019, there will be meaningful college football games in Montana.

The Frontier's spring season, which has been reduced to five teams and four games per squad as the coronavirus just kept on getting in the way, is set to begin this Saturday with games between the Montana State University-Northern Lights and College of Idaho and Carroll College and Rocky Mountain College, provided all four teams passed coronavirus testing procedures.

Still, no matter what, the league is planning on playing this four-game spring season out, but, it will look different in several ways. First, three teams won't be playing as Montana Tech, Montana Western and Southern Oregon have all opted out. That caused the league to revamp the schedule one more time, something that's taken place several times since last August.

The second thing that will look different about this spring season is, there will be no fans in the stands at any games. The league has had a no-fan policy for fall and winter sports, but last month said it would revisit the attendance policy for spring events, including football. However, on Monday, the Frontier made it official that there will be no fans allowed at any league sporting events for the remainder of this athletic season.

So again, the spring football season will be different, as has been the case with just about all sports during this pandemic. But what won't be different is, the game of football.

The 2019 Frontier season ended 16 months, and that's a long time to go without football, but, now, it least in a limited way, it's back. And with it is five Frontier teams who have vowed to forge ahead, including the defending Frontier champion College of Idaho Yotes, who win the 2019 league title, but, since that time, have graduated a heavy portion of the roster, including NAIA All-Americans, quarterback Darius-James Peterson, left tackle Josh Brown and kicker Kyle Mitchell. Still, C of I has 1,000-yard rusher Nick Calzaretta back to lead its potent ground game. C of I is rebuilding its defense though with the loss of seven starters from 2019.

Eastern Oregon will also play four games this spring. The Mountaineers, of longtime head coach Tim Camp should be really good on both sides of the ball, but especially offensively, with the return of quarterback Kai Quinn and running back Victor Rosas.

Three Montana schools plan to play this spring, too.

Carroll College, led by former Havre High head coach Troy Purcell has a pair of studs returning in quarterback Devan Bridgewater and running back Mathew Burgess. Add to that a huge offensive line, and a defense anchored by Rex Irby and Nate Mcgree among others, and the Fighting Saints should be a force now, and into next fall.

RMC meanwhile, will have a lot of new faces for head coach Chris Stutzriem, but he returns a pair of star quarterbacks in Drew Korf and Nate Dick, as well as one of the best linebackers in the Frontier in Dallas Mack.

Then there's Northern, who perhaps is excited as anyone to play this spring, as the Lights might finally get to take the field in their new stadium. Two road games await though for what will be another very young Lifghts' team, buoyed by veteran starting wide receiver Marvis Williams Jr.,and standout defensive linemen Joe Fehr and Justin Pfeifer.

And while the season won't be the same as it might be when the fall comes, it's still a chance to play football, something that hasn't happened at the college level in Montana since 2019. And the Lights, and everyone else playing this quick, but important spring season, couldn't be more excited.

Note: For much more on Northern football, see Thursday and Friday's Havre Daily News sports section.