Area Fall Sports 2017

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BLUE PONY GOLF SCHEDULE Sept. 8

at Lewistown (V-JV) Pine Meadows 9:30 a.m.

Sept. 14

at Billings Central — Eagle Rock

Sept. 15

at Laurel

Sept. 23

Divisionals — Livingston

Sept. 29-30

State — Sidney

Blue Pony golf teams shining on the course

Talented Havre High girls seeking a Class A trophy on the links George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com For some time now, the Havre High boys golf team has stolen the headlines. That's because the Blue Pony boys have had a long line of very good golfers and teams.

But the 2017 season will certainly belong to the Blue Pony girls.

Havre head coach Brett Gilman returns four outstanding golfers, all with Class A state tournament experience, and, that has Gilman excited for the start of the new season.

“These girls have a lot of experience, they've been to state, played well at divisionals, and they've all put time into it,” Gilman said. “So I'm excited for their season.

This team has the talent and the experience to get a trophy at state.”

The returning group of HHS golfers, Regan Lammers, Grace Litzinger, Teagan Fee and Kinzee Peterson, were all Class A state participants a year ago. Fee also earned Class A All-State honors last season, while all four were Central A All-Conference. And that group, along with newcomers Jocelyn Staples and Makayla Lindbloom, will make a team poised to do big things this fall.

While the Pony girls return a wealth of experience, the same cannot be said for Gilman's boys team. In fact, there are no returning players from last year's squad.

Instead, losses such as two-time All-State golfer Dustin Haas, as well as standouts Kane Gabrielsen and Aden Passon, mean Gilman is now charged with rebuilding the boys program.

But the rebuilding job is already off to a good start, as a host of newcomers have come out for the boys golf team this season, including freshmen Joram Randolph, Trennis Riley, Nolan Lotton, Clint Owens, Caleb

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Havre High boys and girls golf teams pose for a team photo before the Havre Invitational last month at Prairie Farms Golf Course. The Blue Ponies began their season back on Aug. 13, and have already played in five tournaments so far.

While head coach Brett Gilman has a brand new boys team this fall, his girls team is poised to make a run at a trophy at the Class A state tournament.

Chambliss, Josh Warp and Colby Tilleman.

Sophomores Tyrel Kjserem and Jacob Miller are also out for golf this fall, so Gilman has a lot of potential to work with, and he's hoping this season will be the start of a new beginning in HHS boys golf.

“Really excited about our numbers,” Gilman noted. “There's a lot of potential with those kids, so it will be fun to teach them and watch them grow over the course of this season.”

As for the season itself, the Ponies have been playing since Aug. 13, having already competed in Great Falls, East Glacier,

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Bozeman and Lewistown, as well as meets at both Prairie Farms Golf Course and Beaver Creek. Havre also travels to the Billings Central Invitational and the Laurel Invitational. The Central A Divisional Tournament will be played in Livingston. And the season concludes with the Class A State Tournament Sept. 29-30 in Sidney.

"I'm looking forward to this season," Gilman said. "It's going to be a lot of fun to see how our kids progress and see how far they can take it when it comes to divisionals and state tournament time."

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Chinook has what it takes to A new season, and a new stay on top in local volleyball kind of football for the Bears Box Elder makes the jump to 8-man football Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com For four straight years, no one in the District 6C East has been able to unseat the Chinook Sugarbeeters from the top of the conference. Four years is a long, long time, and to the rest of the district, it must feel like an eternity.

Yes, volleyball success has been plentiful for the Beeters, and with another loaded team, they show no signs of giving up their 6C East crown without a fight.

Veteran head coach Molli Rose returns an

outstanding and talented group of players, and she knows her team has a chance to be successful yet again — on and off the court.

“There’s great potential for this team, they’re a great group,” Rose said. “But overall, my goal for them is to not only have a successful season on the court, but off it, too.

I want them to be great volleyball players and great people.”

No doubt, Rose has plenty of both. She returns a solid core of experienced varsity players, including Sierra Swank, Carrie Hofer and Erin Pula. Swank is an All-Conference performer who will do the setting as well as play outside. Hofer is a strong libero, while Pula,

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Chinook Sugarbeeters pose for their team photo last month in Chinook.

The Beeters have won four consecutive District 6C East championships and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Chinook is also the host of the 2017 Northern C Divisional in November. who missed last season with an injury, gives the Beeters a strong presence in the middle.

But the talent and fun doesn’t end there.

Chinook also has one of the top players in all of the Northern C in Kourtney Hanson.

“She’s going to be a big presence for us at the net, on both sides,” Rose said of her returning All-State standout.

No question, the Beeters have talent, but they also have depth, and the likes of Megan Molyneaux and Rachel Gunderson will also play key roles in Chinook’s powerful system.

In fact, every varsity player will have an impact on the upcoming season.

“They’ll all have to play key roles,” Rose said. “I think we’re going to be a very strong passing team, and I believe the game really starts with that. So that’s one of our strengths and we’ll grow as a team from there. I think we have a lot of potential to do very well this season.”

So does everyone else in the 6C East. Most coaches favor Chinook to win a fifth straight 6C East title, but with a talented North Star team back, as well as CJI, Big Sandy and Box Elder looking much-improved this fall, Rose sees things a little differently.

“I think every team in our district is tough,” Rose said.

“You have to show up every night, and we’re certainly not going to take anyone lightly. Our whole district is going to be tough.”

Chinook opened the season with a non-conference match against Fort Benton and the Malta Invitational.

The Beeters will host the Chinook Invite this week.

The 2017 season leads up to the 6C East Tournament Oct. 26-27 in Chester.

Chinook is the host of this year’s Northern C Divisional Tournament the following week, while the Beeters hope to be at the Class C State Tournament is Nov. 9-11 in Bozeman.

The past few seasons must seem like a whirlwind for the Box Elder football program. Two years ago, the team made the playoffs for the first time in decades, then suddenly played for the Six-Man state championship.

But after losing the best class of football players it ever had, Box Elder struggled in 2016, before being moved up to 8-Man football before the start of 2017. But through it all, the Bears have found a home in the Northern C, which will provide both new challenges and exciting possibilities.

“I think that there are some really good parts about it,” Box Elder head coach Neal Rosette Jr. said of the move to 8-Man football. “One thing is that it opens up more positions on the field for kids. We obviously need to make sure we have numbers overall, but when we do, we will be able to get more kids out there. There are obviously some big challenges. It’s a different game and we need to build up our numbers over the years, but we also have some new rivalries that we can develop and that will be exciting, too.”

One of the most exciting things about this season is the fact that the Bears will get to play Rocky Boy. The schools, which are just a short distance from each other, play each season at the start of basketball and this year at least, they opened the season Aug. 25 in Box Elder.

“It’s kind of weird because we are not in the same division,” Rosette said. “But at least this year we will get to play them and that will be an exciting thing for both schools.”

In terms of numbers, the Bears have some work to do, but to start the season, they had 11. Yet, according to Rosette, those numbers would go up, especially after the start of school.

“I told the kids, we will play with eight if we only have eight,” Rosette said. “We have 11 right now that will be able to play, so we are going to be a little low to start the season, but after kids get all their practices in, our numbers will grow.”

Rosette Jr. said that the Bears were a young team, but that team wasn’t totally lacking in experience. Quarterback Jerrell Anderson will be back for his junior season, along with fellow junior Seth Duran, who saw time on both sides of the ball and could

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Box Elder football team poses for a photo before the start of the new season. Just two years ago, the Bears were playing for a Class C Six-Man state championship. Now however, Box Elder enters 8-man football and will play in the toughest division in Class C, the Northern C. see time at running back. Another running back will be sophomore Chris Burns, who will be expected to help carry the load.

Tanner Parisian is another that will play a key role on both offense and defense.

“We are going to have to have that next man up mentality,” Rosette said. “We are going to have seven freshmen and seven sophomores, so we are going to have to get them ready to go at full strength.”

With the Bears moved up to the 8-Man football and the Northern C, the conference now has a total of 12 teams. Box Elder is in the Northern C A sub-division along with Belt, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Hays-Lodge Pole, Great Falls Central and Choteau. The other sub-division B includes Cascade, Centerville, Chinook, Fort Benton, Rocky Boy and Simms. The top three teams in each sub-division will play for playoff spots in the final week of the season, while the firstplace team in each sub-division will get an automatic berth and a chance to play for the top playoff seed.

Box Elder opened its season at home with a renwewed rivalry against an old foe, the Rocky Boy Stars, who were also playing their first 8-Man game in a long time.

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Box Elder becoming a true threat on the volleyball court

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Box Elder volleyball team poses for a team photo last month in Box Elder. The Bears are known as one of the top girls basketball programs in Class C, but they are also rising in volleyball. Box Elder has a record number of girls out for volleyball this fall, including a host of returning starters, and after a much-improved 2016 season, there's no doubt, volleyball may become yet another sport in which Box Elder dominates.

Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The Box Elder volleyball program has been building over the past few seasons, both in talent and in numbers and in 2017, the Bears might finally be ready to break out in the District 6C East.

Last season, the Bears were still in the middle of the pack in the 6C East, but they managed to go 8-7 in the regular season and finished fourth in the district standings, yet came up short of advancing to the Northern C Divisional Tournament. However, one big change the Bears will undertake this season is new head coach Desiree Sutherland, who takes over a roster that will feature more than 30 players in 2017.

“I have been around volleyball for a long time, it’s something that kind of runs in my family. It’s what we do for fun,” Sutherland said. “But I think we have a good group of girls. We have some really good athletes and I think they just need that little extra push to get to that next level.”

While Chinook and North Star should both

be strong again in the district this season, Box Elder does return one of the eight AllConference players back this season in Lilly Gopher. Gopher, a junior who also stars on the basketball court for the Bears, has the potential to be as good as any individual in the 6C. Yet, Gopher is far from the only talented returning player for Box Elder. Maddie Wolf Chief will be another key player for the Bears, along with Eve The Boy, Joelnell Momberg, Maia Henderson and Sarah Parisian. The other players for Box Elder will be Tallen Oats, Teyler Swan, Trystan Abeita, Zayna Henderson and Alexcia Eagleman.

“I think that we have a really solid foundation,” Sutherland said. “Now we are just working with the girls on the fine details is what we are really trying to do. We want to stop losing time I guess, we want to pick up the tempo.”

Box Elder may have some returning talent, but the Bears are still likely looking up to Chinook and North Star in the standings, at least considering where things stand now.

However, Box Elder does have a lot of room for improvement and with all their athleticism, the potential is there.

“I think that we are really going to compete this year,” Sutherland said. “I think that this is a really good group of girls. This is a really athletic group of girls and I think once we get through some of that detail work and some of fundamentals down, I think we can do some really good things out this season.”

Another good sign of things to come in Box Elder are the overall numbers in the program. According to Sutherland, the Bears have 33 girls out to play and in addition to having a junior varsity team, they are also looking for freshman games.

“We have 33 girls out and that is something that is unheard of in Box Elder,” Sutherland said. “Normally Box Elder has a hard time fielding a JV team, at least that’s how it was in the past, now we are trying to find C-squad games, so that is exciting.”

Box Elder opened its season last month and will also play in the North Star Jamboree. The season culminate with the 6C East tournament in October in Chester.

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Beeters working hard to reload their proud football program Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com Just two years ago, the Chinook Sugarbeeters were the dominant team in 8-Man football, but now, the Beeters are just trying to find their way back to the playoffs, after missing out a season ago.

Yet, getting back will be no easy task.

Over the years, Chinook has lost some of its best players and now, the Beeters will also need to replace Scott Friede, who led the Beeters to consecutive state title games and an 8-Man championship in 2015.

Friede was replaced by his former defensive coordinator Christian Lehnert, who was actually the interim coach at the end of last season’s 2-7 campaign.

“Right now, we have a lot of young guys,” Lehnert said. “Obviously, we want to try and work our way into the top 2-3 teams, but there are a couple of teams that are well above the pack. I think that it’s going to be tough, but we are hoping to work our way into the mix.”

One thing that will make it more challenging for the Beeters is the lack of an experienced quarterback. With Ian McIntosh and Kade Friede, Chinook had experienced signal callers the past few seasons, but this year, there will be some new blood as Steven Mulonet and Trajan Hannum will be competing for the job.

“We sort of need to figure out how to get them both on the field,” Lehnert said. “So they might be a running back or a wide receiver they might be both get some snaps at quarterback.”

However, replacing All-State running back Tate Niederegger will also be a challenge.

Joining either Hannum or Mulonet in the backfield will be the likes of James Christensen and J.J. Colby, who will play fullback. Others who could compete for carries are Chase Moxley and Sam Dumas. At tight end, the Beeters will go with Carson Powell and Brendan Edwards. Lenhert also said the team will be looking for some players to step up on the offensive line, too.

“We are lacking a little size on the O-line,” Lenhert said. “I think we are looking at juniors and sophomores up front. It’s a full-on battle to see who is going to play there. It’s going to come down to who wants to play

the most. We did have to lose a senior who couldn’t play anymore because of injury, so that was a tough day.”

Of course, the Northern C has always been tough, but after the addition of Choteau and Rocky Boy from Class B, as well as Box Elder from Six-Man, should be even more challenging. The league did also lose Power-Dutton-Brady, which dropped down to Six-Man. Yet, it still leaves 12 teams overall and just four playoff spots. To determine those spots, the Northern C opted to split teams in two sub-divisions. Sub-division A features Belt, Box Elder, Chester-Joplin-In-

verness, Choteau, Great Falls Central and Hays-Lodge Pole. Chinook’s sub-division, sub-division B, has Cascade, Centerville, Fort Benton, Rocky Boy and Simms.

Each team in the Northern C will play a total of eight games, two cross division games to start the season that are nonconference, as well as five games within each respective sub-division. Then, the final week of the season, teams will play someone from the other sub-division. The second and third place teams in each subdivision will take part in a play-in game for the 8-Man playoffs, while the top team

in each sub-division will meet for the top overall seed. The teams finishing lower will face the same seeded team in the opposite conference.

“It will be nice for us to have that bye week,” Lenhert said, “and I like what the conference did. I am a competitor, so I don’t have any problem playing that other game. I think it will be good for those teams to earn their way into the playoffs.”

Chinook opened its season against Choteau amd arch rival Chester-Joplin-Inverness. The Beeters host Cascade at Hoon Field this weekend.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Chinook Sugarbeeters football team poses for a team photo last month in Chinook. Just two seasons removed from their last Class C state championship, Chinook is fighting to stay among the top teams in the revamped Northern C. This fall, Chinook also has a new head coach in former assistant Christian Lenhert.

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Big Sandy volleyball looking to make noise

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Wildcats look for more progress

Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The Harlem football team has been in the process of rebuilding itself and with two wins last season, the Wildcats took a big step in the right direction.

However with some key losses, third-year head coach Kelly Mills and his team will have their work cut out for them if they want to match the two wins they captured in 2016.

“We are going to be a really young team,” Mills said. “We have four seniors and I think we will end up having 24 or 25, but a lot of them are going to be freshmen and sophomores, so we are really going to have work to build up some depth.”

In Mills’ first season at the helm in 2015,

the Wildcats went 1-7, but last season, behind the stellar play of running back Damon Adams, Harlem went 2-6, knocking off both Poplar and Rocky Boy. Yet with Rocky Boy’s move down to 8-Man football and the decision by Poplar to cancel its season, a win could be even harder to come by for the Wildcats in 2017.

“The biggest thing for us right now, is we need to learn how to compete,” Mills said.

“We want to get to the point where we are competitive every single week. We have been able to win some games and I think we will have a chance again this year, but we want to kind of close that gap and be able to go out and compete with anybody. That’s our goal.”

While the Wildcats did lose their best players in Adams and Shrine Game standout Reece Hutton, Harlem does return some

experienced players such as Damion Schumaker, Curtis Humphreys, Gavin Moore, Adrian Colbet and Daniel Rasmussen.

“We have five seniors coming back,” Mills said. “We have some experience on the line and Gavin Moore will be playing some running back for us. It’s going to be hard to replace Damon and all of his production, but we will have some guys step in there.”

When it comes to quarterback, the Wildcats will turn to Taggert Devaney or Brad Cichosz. According to Mills, the two have been competing for the job, but regardless of who wins the job, both will be on the field.

“Taggert has been the one that has been getting most of the reps right now,” Mills said. “We actually have three guys that are going to be getting reps there, just so we have someone there in case of emergency, but all three guys are going to get on the

field either at wide receiver or running back.”

One thing that will be working against the Wildcats again this season is the difficulty of the Northern B conference. Harlem will open the season with Wolf Point Sept.

1, followed by games against Cut Bank and Shelby. The Wildcats were scheduled to play Poplar Sept. 29, but that will be canceled, which leaves games against Fairfield, Malta and Conrad.

“Of course our goal is to be competing for the playoffs,” Mills said. “That’s what every team wants to do and I do think that we have a chance to be very competitive this season.

But from a realistic standpoint, that’s probably not going to happen. We just have to learn how to compete and that is what we are talking about right now.”

Harlem opened the season against Wolf Point.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Big Sandy High School volleyball team poses for a team photo last month in Big Sandy. The Pioneers should have a strong team in 2017, but playing the District 6C East with the likes of Chinook and North Star and, in the loaded Northern C Division, is never easy.

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com The Big Sandy Pioneers have always been one of those teams on the fringe of really challenging for a District 6C East volleyball championship. But with the likes of Chinook and North Star always being so strong, getting to the top of the 6C East has been a tough climb for the Pioneers.

And this season, while the Pio-

neers are talented, and have an excellent coach in former Big Sandy and Montana Tech star Shersteen Cline, the Pioneers will likely again have a tough road to the top of the district.

However, that doesn’t mean Big Sandy won’t be a force itself. In fact, the Pioneers should be a very tough team night in and night out in conference play.

“My expectations for the team this year are that they will learn to overcome adversity, encour-

age each other, and continue to improve and build upon their skills,” Cline said of the upcoming season. “I want them to maintain positive attitudes as they work to achieve short and long-term season goals.”

Graduation did hit the Pioneers hard last year, but they do have talent returning, including senior outside hitters Jessica Roth and Dakota Terry. Junior outside/middle Jaylyn Cline also returns and she will be a true impact player

this season. Stacey Allderdice, Lainey Gregory and Georgia Wortman also return for the Pioneers, giving them a host of players who have experience at the varsity level.

As for where Big Sandy might finish in the 6C East this season, Cline says the top is still about Chinook and North Star. But she’s also optimistic about her Pioneers, and one thing is for sure, Big Sandy will be a tough opponent for everybody else in the district this

fall.

“I think that we have some strong teams in our district this year,” Cline said. “North Star and Chinook have always had some pretty strong programs, and Box Elder was good last year, they have the numbers.”

Big Sandy opened its season with matches at Centerville and the Belt Preseason Tournament last weekend. The 6C East tournament will be held in Chester at the end of October.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Harlem High School football team poses for a team photo last month in Harlem. The Wildcats have had limited success in football in recent seasons, and they graduated two All-State players from last year's team. So life in the District 2B will once again be an uphill climb for the Wildcats this fall.

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Harlem spikers looking to make a big jump this fall

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Pioneers have their eye on the playoffs Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The Big Sandy football team was one win away from the making the Six-Man playoffs in 2016, but with a deep group of returning players and a little luck, the Pioneers could find their way back into the postseason.

One thing that works in favor of the Pioneers is the continuity of their coaching staff, as head coach Ronnie Simpson returns to the helm. He will lead a Big Sandy roster that features a total of 16 players, including 2016 All-State performer Weston Allderdice, who was an outstanding two-way player.

Allderdice, who shared the backfield with his brother Laurence Allderdice last season, will now be the primary ball carrier for the

Pioneers, who are looking to build on a 4-4 campaign. Behind the dominant ground attack of the Allderdice brothers, Big Sandy started the season strong, winning its first three games after beating Noxon 33-22, Box Elder 70-38 and Heart Butte 70-21.

Yet, a setback to Sunburst by the score of 47-0 dropped the Pioneers to 3-1 before a critical game against North Star. The two teams met in Rudyard and the Knights won 45-28.

The loss would eventually cost the Pioneers the final playoff berth in the Six-Man North Division. North Star was 4-3 in the conference, compared to 3-4 Big Sandy, which would have been the fourth playoff team with a victory over North Star.

Allderdice is going to be the top player on both sides of the ball for the Pioneers this season, but he is far from their only contributor. The rest of the roster includes Brant

Jones, Cameron Schwarzbach, Clint Darlington, Tanner Allderdice, Duke Darlington, Dylan Darlington, Elijah Wagoner, Everett Sipler, Hunter Jappe, Brady Pleninger, Jordan Schwarzbach, Parker Proulz, Ryan Roth and Kade Strutz.

The reality is that the Pioneers have a core of returners on both sides of the ball, but in the difficult North division, their path to the playoffs won’t be easy. Valier, which won the league with a 7-0 record last season, should be a contender again, along with perennial power Geraldine-Highwood and Sunburst, which has been a playoff contender since dropping down to Six-Man a few years ago.

North Star, the other playoff team, should also be formidable again. On the other hand, the division will have a new look to it with the departure of Box Elder to 8-Man football.

However, there will still be eight teams fol-

lowing the addition of Power-Dutton-Brady, a team that dropped down from the Northern C in 8-Man football.

Following the season-opener against Noxon, Big Sandy will play at Roy-Winifred and Power-Dutton Brady in its first conference game. Big Sandy will then play at Heart Butte, before a crucial closing stretch that includes games against Sunburst, North Star, Valier, Geraldine/Highwood and then the season-finale against Augusta.

Big Sandy scored wins in the North division over Augusta, Box Elder and Heart Butte a season ago, so it will need to find a couple wins against North Star, Geraldine/ Highwood, Valier, Sunburst or PDB to find its way back into the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Big Sandy opened the season Aug. 25 against Noxon.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The Harlem Wildcat volleyball team poses for a photo in Harlem before the start of the 2017 season. The Wildcats have had trouble finding success in the District 2B, but their numbers are high and they will aim to competitive this season.

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com Success in volleyball has always been hard to come by for the Harlem Wildcats.

Especially playing every year in the District 2B. But with each new season comes new excitement in Harlem, and 2017 is no different.

Head coach Kim Faulkinberry is excited about the team she will put on the floor this fall, and even though Harlem will be young, the Wildcats will play hard and compete

hard with all of the teams in the 2B. “I like to think that even though we are young with only three seniors we are going to surprise some teams,” Faulkinberry said. “We want to be the type of team that is relentless ... a team that just doesn’t quit … a team that tries to convert anything that comes our way.”

Harlem will be led this season by its returning setters in Taylor Stiffarm and Taeshon Schaeffer. The Wildcats also return starting middle Eleesha Bell, as well as outside hitters Skylee Dirden and Haylee Johnson. Senior Emily Ramone will also

be looked upon as a leader, while a host of juniors and sophomores will give the Wildcats depth.

Of course, Harlem will still have an uphill battle on its hands in the 2B. Glasgow is a perennial power, and Malta is always strong.

“I could envision us finishing in the top three or four in the district,” Faulkinberry said. “Glasgow and Wolf Point are always strong contenders and Malta is never to be counted out. Poplar lost many seniors to graduation. I guess we will have to see how the season pans out as we go.”

And while the district is tough, Harlem has always played with a great attitude and competitive fire, which makes the Wildcats a tough opponent for all of their district rivals. And the Wildcats approach every season with the same goal, and this season the goal hasn’t changed.

“Right now we have great competition in practice. They are all pushing each other to develop into a better players and teammate,” Faulkinberry said. “One of the many goals of the Lady Wildcats is to make it to the divisional tournament.”

Harlem opened its season at the Malta Invitational.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Big Sandy football team poses for a photo prior to the start of the season last month in Big Sandy. After just missing the Six-Man playoffs a year ago, Big Sandy has high hopes for the 2017 fall, including making a run at the North Division title.

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Athletic Blue Ponies make the move to the Eastern A Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The 2016 season was a frustrating one for the Havre High football team, but now that 2017 is here, it is time for HHS to make amends.

The Blue Ponies did lose some key players from last season’s team, which started 3-0 and 5-1, but failed to make the playoffs. Yet, with starting quarterback Trey Murphy back under center and head coach Ryan Gatch in his second season at the helm, Havre is ready to get back in the playoff hunt.

“I think the guys are hungry,” Gatch said.

“They have been working really hard and they put in a lot of time this summer. It’s a process, but so far things have been going really well.”

Every team suffers losses to graduation, but the Ponies suffered key departures on both sides of the ball. Jase Stokes, an All-State performer was Havre’s top running back and its best defender. Isaac Warp, another AllStater is also gone, as is Nate Korb, a two-way starter at wide receiver and safety. While the Ponies will need to replace Stokes’ 861 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, the offense will have the advantage of Murphy being back under center. The senior missed a start late in the season due to injury, but before that, he tossed 11 touchdown passes compared to eight interceptions. He also completed better than 54 percent of his throws and threw for more than 1,100 yards.

“Working with Trey has been fantastic,” Gatch said. “It’s great to have him coming back. He is doing a great job of leading the offense for us, and he does a good job of getting the ball out to our skill guys.”

In Warp and Korb, Murphy lost two of his top three receivers, but with Ivar Aageson, who was second on the team with 312 receiving yards, back for his senior season, along

with junior Ethan Roberts, the Ponies have no shortage of athletes on the perimeter. Seniors Jacob Irvin and Brady Ophus will both be in the mix, along with sophomore Tanner Parsons, who moved over from quarterback to playing wide receiver full time.

“Ivar has been doing good, he has been improving healthwise, he is about 100 percent,” Gatch said. “Ethan Roberts is a guy that has been a pleasant surprise for us. He’s a mover and a shaker. Jacob Irvin also had a really good camp. He had a really great school year and also had a great summer. Brady Ophus has also been doing good and having Tanner Parsons out at receiver is also helping. He’s a good football player.”

With five athletes at receiver and a veteran quarterback, the passing game should be formidable for the Ponies in 2017, but it will also feature something new, a tight end, as junior Tyson Sangrey leads a group of players at the position ready to make a bigger impact.

Throwing the football will be a big part of

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BLUE PONY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Sept. 8 Sept. 15 Sept. 22 Sept. 29 Oct. 6 Oct. 13 Oct. 20 Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18

vs. Laurel at Belgrade at Glendive vs. Sidney at Billings Central vs. Park at Miles City 1st Round Playoffs - TBA Qtr. Finals - TBA Semi-Finals - TBA Finals - TBA

the Havre offense, but the ground game will still be a big focus, even with the graduation of Stokes and Dane Flammond. One key will be the continued development of sophomore Mason Dionne, who rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman. He will be joined in the backfield by senior Jazz Schroeder. The offensive line, another key component will be led by Tony Antley and Brock Smith, who are the only returning starters. Taylor Gopher, Austin Ratliff, David Duke, Quinn Springer and Daniel Ogden are others in the mix for playing time.

On the defensive side of the ball, Havre lost a number of key starters such as Stokes, Warp, Korb, Chris Gabrielsen, Flammond and Sienkowski. But on the plus side, the secondary, like the receiving group, is deep and talented.

Ophus is back at corner after notching one of the team’s eight interceptions. Irvin will start at the other corner spot, while Aageson and Roberts will be the starting safeties. The linebackers also look solid, with Dionne, one of

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

Above: The 2017 Havre High football team poses for a team photo at Blue Pony Stadium prior to the start of the new season. The Ponies are under the guidance of second-year head coach Ryan Gatch and are determined to reach the Class A playoffs after just missing out a year ago. Right: Havre High's Brady Ophus is one of many key seniors returning to the HHS lineup this season. The Blue Ponies are playing a brand new schedule this fall, as part of the new 10-team Eastern A Division.

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the team’s leading tacklers back at his spot.

He will start alongside Schroeder and Dawson Kinsella. Hughes is another who should get on the field. Up front, the defensive line offers plenty of experience with Smith, Ratliff and Gopher all back after playing significant snaps in 2016. Sangrey is another starter at defensive end. Duke and Springer should also make contributions.

In terms of overall talent, Havre has enough to contend for the Class A playoffs, but after shifting into the 10-team Eastern A, making the playoffs will be anything but easy. The top six teams in the conference will qualify, but with Billings Central, Laurel, Belgrade, Miles City, Sidney, Lewistown, Havre, Livingston, Glendive and Hardin all in the same conference, nothing is a given.

“We feel good about our guys and we think we have a good team,” Gatch said. “Of course, you never really know until you start playing some other people, so we are looking forward to that challenge.”

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Stars changing football levels again After playing its first 11-man season in 2016, Rocky Boy is now a member of the 8-man Northern C Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com During its time in the ranks of Class B, it was always the goal of the Rocky Boy football program to compete at the varsity level. And after doing it successfully in 2016, the Stars will be playing varsity football again, only this time, it will be in 8-Man. Last season, Rocky Boy finally had enough players out to play 11-Man football at the varsity level and did so within the 1B. Yet, after an overhaul to football classifications were done by the MHSA, the Stars are now playing 8-Man football and have joined the 12-team Northern C. This development is promising for the Stars on a couple of fronts. For one, it will make it easier for the program to play and compete at the varsity level. Secondly, it will also allow the Stars to play traditional rivals such as Chinook, Box Elder, Chester-JoplinInverness, and Hays-Lodge Pole. Rocky Boy and Box Elder, who meet every year on the basketball court to open the season, ushered in the 2017 season by meeting up in Box Elder Aug. 26.

Last season, Rocky Boy achieved something on the football field just by playing

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Rocky Boy Stars pose for a team photo last month in Rocky Boy. A year ago, the Stars played their first Class B varsity season since the school moved up from Class C now just over a decade ago. However, MHSA realigned football this past year, which allowed Rocky Boy to move down to Class C 8-man football this season, while remaining a Class B school for all other sports. The move should help Rocky Boy continue to jump-start its struggling football program. varsity football, but this season, with some key players returning, the Stars might have a chance to find the win column. And with a schedule that no longer features Class B powers such as Malta, Glasgow, Fairfield and others, the Stars should have a better chance of getting over the hump.

One thing that will help the Stars in 2017, will be the return of Kordell Small, a dynamic athlete who has played both running back and quarterback for Rocky Boy in the past.

Up front, the Stars can count on big man Kendall Windy Boy to open holes for the running game, while also wreaking havoc from the defensive line. The rest of the Rocky Boy roster includes Blake Cantrell, Cavy Johnson, Cedric Belcourt, Dahntae St. Pierre,

David Rusette, Devin Johnson, Frankie Bacon, Kade Galbavy, Lane Turn Toes, Michael Harris, Olin Arkinson, Remmington Parker, Rylie Willeto and Wilbur Nagel.

Rocky Boy may be new to the Northern C, but it’s far from the only addition. Box Elder also joined the conference after moving up from Six-Man football, while Choteau joined Rocky Boy in moving down from Class B. The three additions would have pushed the Northern C to 13 teams after Hays-Lodge Pole joined last season, but Power-Dutton-Brady dropped down to the Six-Man North.

In terms of deciding playoff spots in the 12-team conference, the league was split into two sub-divisions, the A sub-division and the B sub-division. Rocky Boy is in the

B sub-division along with Cascade, Chinook, Centerville, Simms and Fort Benton. The A sub-division will include Belt, Choteau, Great Falls Central, HLP, Chester-Joplin-Inverness and Box Elder.

The top team in the final standings of each sub-division will meet in the final week of the season to determine the top seed for the playoffs from the Northern C. There will be a championship game of sorts, with the winner going into the postseason as the No. 1 and the loser as the No. 2. The second and third-place teams from each sub-division, will also play the corresponding team from the other subdivision for the final two playoff spots.

Rocky Boy opened its season Aug. 26 at Box Elder.

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Rocky Boy will battle in volleyball HHS cross country teams stride into the fall season

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BLUE PONY CROSS-COUNTRY SCHEDULE Sept. 9 Sept. 15 Sept. 23 Sept. 30 Oct. 2 Oct. 5 Oct. 14 Oct. 21

at Malta at Lewistown Havre at Mountain West - Missoula at Browning at Helena (Preview Meet) Divisionals at Livingston State at Helena

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Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Rocky Boy volleyball team poses for a team photo in Rocky Boy prior to the start of the new season. The Morning Stars have had a tough go of it in District 1B play, but, with good numbers, height and talent, the Morning Stars could be ready to have a big season the volleyball court this fall.

Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The 2016 volleyball season was a difficult one for the Rocky Boy Morning Stars and head coach Ty Watson, as the team struggled to find the win column. Yet, with some experienced players returning and some good participation numbers, there is hope for greater success in 2017.

A year ago, the Morning Stars finished last in the District 1B during the regular season and were unable to advance out of the district tournament. However, with the difficulty of the district, it’s not a surprise, considering half of the teams ended up making it out of the Northern B Divisional

Tournament as well.

When it was all said and done last November, the District 1B had three teams playing at the Class B state tournament as Shelby, Choteau and Fairfield all qualified. Choteau has been a volleyball power for years, but the likes of Fairfield, Shelby, Cut Bank and Conrad don’t make it easier either.

But the Stars still have a reason to be optimistic. Watson, who has been leading to the program for years, has a total of 18 girls out this season, which is a solid number to build upon. Some of those players such as Jaylynn Mitchell, Sean Henry, Sasha Coffee and others played important roles on the team a season ago and should again in 2017.

Yet new contributors will also need to

emerge for the Rocky Boy. Some of those that will be given the chance to play this season for the Stars are Arayiah Four Souls, Ashlyn Sunchild, Colista Sutherland, Jamilla Martell, Jaynah Gopher, Jeralyn Parker, Kiara Small, Kiuana Sutherland, Kirsten Lamere, Lacey Arkinson, Leiani Denny, Rochelle Pease, Summer Big Knife, Tessa Big Knife and Tyra Willeto.

While there was a lot of moving and shifting when it came to football for Rocky Boy, the volleyball team underwent no such changes. The Stars are still part of the Northern B and remain in the 1B district with all the same teams as before.

After opening the season with some nonconference tournaments, the Stars will face their always difficult 10-match sched-

ule within the 1B, culminating with the 1B district tournament at the end of October.

That will be followed by the Northern B Divisional, which features the top four teams from the 1B and the 2B. From there, three teams from the Northern B will advance to the Class B state tournament, which is held simultaneously in Bozeman at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse with the Class AA, Class A and Class C state tournaments, which are all set to take place Nov. 9-11.

The Morning Stars opened their 2017 volleyball season Aug. 25 by taking part in the Malta Tournament. They will play rival Harlem twice on the court this fall as well as their tough 1B schedule, which includes Choteau and Fairfield.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Havre High boys and girls cross country teams pose for a photo before the start of their fall season. The Blue Ponies have a host of outstanding returning runners under third-year head coach Josh Holt. Havre will host the Havre Invitational Sept. 23 at the MSU-Northern race course.

Havre High harriers ready to run up the Class A ranks Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com

A couple years ago, Josh Holt took over as head coach of the Havre High cross country team with the idea that the both Blue Pony teams could compete with the best Class A has to offer. At this point, there is still a ways to go to reach that goal, but so far, both teams seem headed in that direction.

Neither Havre cross country team managed to finish in the top 10 at the Class A state meet a season ago but with all the varsity runners returning for the boys

squad and a majority also back for the girls, each team will be looking to take a big step forward.

“Ultimately, I would hope that we could end up in the Top 5 at state,” Holt said.

“That would be coming off years of finishing in 12th or 13th place. I think we have two teams that can do amazing things this year, I think we will be able to sneak in there and surprise some people.”

Last season, both the boys and the girls teams finished in similar fashion at the state meet, as both teams ended up 11th.

However, the girls team had the top overall performer in freshman Kadia Miller, who finished 19th at state, falling just short of earning All-State honors.

“I think that Kadia is going to get All State this season,” Holt said. “After her freshman year, I think she has improved.

She has worked really hard and she knows the courses. She ran really well on the course state will be on this year, so I expect

her to have a really great season.”

While Miller was 19th, the next best finisher for the Havre girls was Kaylee Nystrom, who was 39th. She will also be back on the team along with Amelia Miller, Melanie Jones and Lily Tally.

“What Kaylee was able to do last season was really kind of unheard of,” Holt said. “She grew in leaps and bounds over the course of the season and she ended up being our second best runner at state. She definitely has the talent and the growth that she had over the season was really incredible.”

Holt said he expects both Amelia Miller and Kaylee Nystrom to improve even more this season and said all they should have strong individual seasons along with Kadia Miller. Yet, Holt will still have two openings on his varsity roster that will need to be filled by a crop of candidates that includes Grace Loftus, Ireland Coyne, Madi Shennum, Natalie Verploegen, Ryen Olson,

Rhoda Peterson and Tamera O’Leary.

The Havre boys, on the other hand, have all their varsity runners back from a season ago, including Austin Jones, who was the top finisher at state (27th). Jakob Keller, Trevor Williams, Quinn Reno, Barrett Kilgore, Cameron Pleninger and Noah Azure are the returners for HHS. The rest of the boys roster includes Alex Azure, Andrew VandenBos, Austin Delarosa, Dylan Young, Garrett Parsons, Kendall Pleninger, Riley Kilgore and Torek Swenson.

“Right now we have a pretty good idea of who our varsity runners are,” Holt said.

“But we will use that time trial in Cut Bank for the basis of that too and we will also adjust things down the road if we need to for things like consistency.”

Havre opened its season at the Cut Bank Time Trials. The Blue Ponies host the Havre Invitational Sept. 23 on the Montana State University-Northern campus race course.

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As usual, North Star spikers will be strong Hawks still formidable on the field CJI football aims to be a factor in the revamped Northern C Chris Peterson Havre Daily News

cpeterson@havredailynews.com

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com The North Star Knights have long stood as one of the premier volleyball teams in the District 6C East. And, as the 2017 season begins, it doesn’t appear as if that’s going to change.

The Knights, who finished second in the 6C East a year ago, return a bevy of talented players for head coach Mackenzie Jenkins, who is excited about this season and this year’s team.

“This year we have a great group of girls,” Jenkins said. “We have a lot of returning

players that either started or received substantial varsity playing time last year. We would like to finish at the top of our conference and go as far into the postseason as possible.”

And the Knights’ lineup could certainly get them deep into the postseason.

Key returning players for North Star include, middle hitter Peytan King, outside hitter Lily Pedersen, setters Kate Hansen and Paij Peterson, libero Jewel Wicks and defensive specialist Chelsea Donaldson.

That group will lead the Knights, but newcomers such as Grace Farinas, Saige O’Neil and Olivia King will also give the Knights even more talent and more depth.

Of course, North Star will once again have to fight Chinook, like everybody else in the district will have to, in order to be the top team in the 6C East. But as good as the Sugarbeeters will be again this season, Jenkins sees the district as a little more wide open.

“I think the district could go in anyone’s favor this year,” Jenkins said. “Chinook has controlled the district the past four years, but I think there are some teams this year that could challenge them.”

The Knights opened the season at the Belt Preseason Tournament. Now, they’ll host the annual North Star Jamboree in Rudyard and Gildford.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 North Star Knights volleyball team poses for a team photo in Rudyard prior to the start of the new season. The Knights have been a perennial contender for the District 6C East title for years now, and this season should be no different.

North Star has one of the tallest and deepest teams in the 6C East, and they're poised to battle Chinook for the district tournament title in October in Chester. Fans can follow all the North Star and local volleyball this fall by checking out the weekly Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup, which runs every Tuesday in the Havre Daily News' sports pages.

For years, the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks have been a staple of football success in the Northern C. But in 2017, the Hawks have a lot of new faces and the Northern C, has gotten even tougher.

In the past few seasons, the conference has expanded to nine teams, then 10 and now 12 as Choteau, Box Elder and Rocky Boy enter the league, while Power-DuttonBrady departs for the ranks of Six-Man. Yet, in terms of CJI, the departures that hurt are the ones on the field.

After making it to the Class C 8-Man quarterfinals in 2015, CJI returned to the postseason in 2016, despite being picked to finish near the bottom of the conference. Thanks to the play of All-State performers Cory Richter and Cory Kelly, the Hawks compiled a 5-4 record before bowing out in the playoffs to Charlo by the score of 60-2. And with four other seniors leaving for graduation following last season’s campaign, getting back to the playoffs will be an even bigger challenge.

“Right now we are really just focused on developing kids,” CJI head coach Jim Vinson said. “We have 18 kids out right now and a lot of them are underclassmen. So we have a young program. We are definitely going out there to be competitive and I think that we will be a competitive team, but it’s going to be a growing year for us.”

While the Hawks may have some new faces on the field for them in 2017, the last name of the starting quarterback will sound familiar as Spencer Richter will follow in the footsteps of his brothers Brandon and Cory Richter, who were CJI’s previous signal callers.

“Spencer is going to take over at quarterback,” Vinson said, “so it will be the fourth year in a row that a Richter has been our starting quarterback. He played some for us last year, mainly more receiver and special teams, but he is a good athlete.”

Richter will take over as the Hawks’ starting quarterback, which gives CJI the ability to move Jackson Diemert, a junior who previously was the backup quarterback, over to running back, where he will join Kobe Tran.

“Jackson played quarterback for us when Cory was out last year and ran the show,” Vinson said. “But we are trying to look at what is best for the team and Jackson runs the ball really hard, so I thought he would do well in the backfield next to Kobe, who played for us last year and also wrestled and did track.”

Of course, Vinson always likes to air it out, and another key part of the CJI offense will

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Chester-Joplin-Inverness football team poses for a team photo before the start of the season in Chester. The Hawks were a playoff team a year ago and still have plenty of talent on this year's squad. But getting to the playoffs out of the Northern C got a lot more difficult with realignment this past year, as teams like Choteau, Rocky Boy and Box Elder have now been added to the Northern C .

be the tight ends, including Evan Dahinden.

The others that should see time at tight end are Andrew Woods and Caden Woods. Others that should contribute this season for the Hawks are Ethan Woods, Cameron Davis, Tyler Wanken, Jarrett Green, Bobby Whitley and Gunnar Wickum.

In terms of schedule, things will be a little bit different for CJI this season. The Hawks are still part of the Northern C, but after the league expanded to 12 teams, two sub-divisions were created, the Northern C “A” and the Northern C “B.” The Hawks are the A sub-division and will compete against Belt, Box Elder, Choteau, Great Falls Central and Hays-Lodge Pole. Yet, there will also be non-conference games against teams from the other sub-division, which includes Chinook, Rocky Boy, Fort Benton, Centerville, Cascade and Simms.

CJI opened the season with a close loss against the Fort Benton Longhorns and will play a second non-conference game against Chinook before playing five division games to determine who has a chance to make the playoffs in the final week of the season.

Friday Night Lights Area football fans can get even more high school coverage with the Havre Daily News. HDN will be running a special high school football section every Friday. The section will get fans ready for all of the weekend's action. Also, don't forget to follow high school football online with the Havre Daily News at www.havredailynews.com.

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CJI netters ready to join T-Birds seeking improvement this fall the 6C East race Chris Peterson Havre Daily News

cpeterson@havredailynews.com

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com With how much Chinook has dominated the District 6C East volleyball landscape in recent years, it’s easy to overlook some of the other teams in that district.

But it would be a mistake to overlook the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks. That’s because the Hawks have a long and storied tradition of quality volleyball and that should continue this season, under secondyear head coach Jimi Sanguin.

“I’m excited for this team,” Sanguin said.

“They are a great group of girls. We only have 10, but they are a group that works hard and they all want to be there. Last year was brand new for everybody, but now, this being my second year, they all know what to expect and how we do things and that’s going to be a definite advantage for us.”

Another advantage is that CJI returns a boatload of talent. While the Hawks may not be as deep as in year’s past, they return some standouts, including juniors Kim Ghekiere and Peyton Hawks, a pair of starters. Hawks is also the setter, and will be a big key to CJI’s success this season. CJI

also has senior leadership with the return of Kayona Fraser and Gabby Mangold, while fellow senior Kendahl Knapton is also out for the team. Add in athletes like Samantha May and Khloe Kammerzell, and the Hawks will put plenty of talent on the floor this fall.

“Our returners know what we want to do,” Sanguin said. “And the new girls are learning their roles and catching on really fast.

We still have some kinks to work out, but it’s going really well so far and this group works really well together.”

No doubt, CJI has the talent to compete in the 6C East again this season. But the

district will again be a dogfight, too, as Chinook and North Star are expected to be strong, while Box Elder and Big Sandy have talent too.

“Chinook always has an amazing team,” Sanguin said, “and I have no doubt they will be again this year. North Star will be very good, too. Those two will be the team’s to beat for sure. But I’m excited for our team. I think they can accomplish great things this season.”

CJI opened the season at the Sunburst Tournament. The Hawks are also the host of the District 6C East Tournament this season.

The Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds have never been known for their strength on the football field. In fact, recently, the T-Birds went multiple seasons without winning a game.

Yet, that all changed in 2016 as HLP won not just once, but twice, knocking off Fort Benton on the road and Chinook at home in the final week of the season to post a 2-7 record. With four games that were decided by 10 points or less, the T-Birds, could have won even more games, but now with a new head coach and a new group of players, the challenge will be to continue moving in the right direction.

“I am pretty excited,” head coach Josh Werk said. “We have a team that is pretty young and inexperienced, but they are working hard at practice and we are excited for the season.”

Of course, losing the likes of Tyson Shambo and Frank Runs Above, two All-Conference standouts will hurt the T-Birds, but so will losing long-time head coach Shawn Mount, who stepped aside after leading HLP to one of its most successful seasons.

“Hopefully, we can keep things going in the right direction,” Werk said. “This will be my first year as head coach, but I was the assistant for a few years. Our main goal this year is going to be developing some of our talent and doing the best we can to stay competitive. Hays has always been predominantly a basketball school, and we are hop-

ing to try and change that.”

In the new Northern C, that will be more difficult than ever. The conference has expanded to 12 teams and split into two subdivisions. The A sub-division is where the T-Birds will compete, and they will contend with the likes of Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Belt, Box Elder, Choteau and Great Falls Central. Chinook, Fort Benton, Cascade, Rocky Boy, Simms and Centerville making up the B sub-division. The top three teams in each division will have a chance to fight for a playoff spot in the final week of the season, but right now, HLP, which has just 12 players out, is simply trying to play its varsity schedule.

“We have just one returning starter, Chance Main,” Werk said. “We lost eight or nine guys from last year’s team. So we had to forfeit our first game because we did not have enough kids at that point. With school starting, we will have more, and our goal is to play the rest of our schedule. We are going to do everything to stay as a varsity team.”

While the football program is trying to build on the momentum from last season, the volleyball team is still trying to work its way into contention in the District 6C East.

But under the direction of second-year head coach Tennae Singer, the T-Birds will be looking to make improvements.

“I think that the team is looking pretty good,” Singer said. “We have some height this year and some good freshmen that are coming in.”

Kahlia Werk, Tasha Kirkaldie and Aleena Walker are all among the top players return-

ing from a season ago, but Sierra Chandler and Kassi Perez are two other freshmen who should play right away. And as usual, the T-Birds will be looking to contend with teams like Chinook, North Star, Big Sandy and CJI in the 6C East.

“I think that we will have a chance to be competitive with the rest of the teams in the district,” Singer said. “We just have to keep improving and it will be tough, but I think we can have a pretty good season.”

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The Hays-Lodge Pole volleyball team hasn't had a lot of success in recent years.

But each new season brings new enthusiasm, and the Thunderbirds, with good numbers, are ready to be competitive in the District 6C East this fall. HLP fans can follow the T-Birds in football and volleyball all season long with the Hi-Line Football and Hi-Line Volleyball Roundups every Tuesday in the HDN sports section.

Longhorns look strong in fall sports George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Chester-Joplin-Inverness volleyball team poses for a team photo in Chester prior to the start of the new season. After a couple of tough seasons, the Hawks return this fall with talent and experience, and that's what's needed to compete in the always-tough District 6C East. Fans can follow all the CJI and local volleyball this fall by checking out the weekly Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup, which runs every Tuesday in the Havre Daily News' sports pages.

Just a few short years ago, the Fort Benton Longhorns missed out on a season of varsity football and ever since, the onceproud program has been rebuilding.

Last season, the Longhorns won just one game, but the game they won, was the final one of the season against playoff-bound Chester-Joplin-Inverness. That win gave the program a jolt of energy and now first-year head coach Jory Thompson, who also happens to be the superintendent of the Fort Benton school system, is looking to capitalize on it.

“I think that we are headed in the right direction,” Thompson said. “These seniors, they are going to leave their mark this year by showing the positive direction that Fort Benton football is headed. As freshmen, they were on a team that did not have a varsity football team and they are committed to ending it on a high note and sending us out in the right direction.”

While Thompson is in his first season as the head coach in Fort Benton, he has coached at different levels in the area and is familiar with the team from his work with the school. He also said that the numbers

were looking good with 23 kids out total, including 17 that are either freshmen or sophomores.

Some of the top returning players are quarterback/safety Landon Taylor, Ryan Scott on offensive and defensive line, as well as defensive end Ethan Davis, who is also a tight end. Running back Connor Schnabel will be another key contributor for the Longhorns, along with sophomore Garret Diekhans, who will play linebacker and receiver.

“I have high expectations for this season,” Thompson said. “But I think we just need to grow and get better. My goal is to play 15 kids on Friday nights. We want to play some

younger guys, realizing that they are going to make some mistakes, but they are going to learn. But we feel like we can compete with anybody, so we are going to get after it and have some fun.”

Fort Benton will once again be part of the Northern C Conference, which has expanded to 12 teams in 8-Man football. The conference has been split into two sub-divisions, the Northern C sub-division A and sub-division B. The Longhorns are in the B sub-divison alongside Cascade, Centerville, Chinook, Rocky Boy and Simms. The other sub-division features Great Falls Central, Box Elder, Choteau, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Hays-Lodge Pole and Belt.

The new format also means a new way of picking playoff teams. The Longhorns will now need to finish in the top three of their sub-division to have a chance in the final week of qualifying for the 8-Man playoffs.

The only teams will wrap up berths prior to that are the first-place finishers of each sub-division who will play in the final week for the top overall seed from the North.

In the big picture, the playoffs may be a ways down the road still for Fort Benton, but in the Northern C, anything can happen and according to Thompson, the Longhorns are good enough to win games now.

“I think that we can compete right now,”

Thompson. “I don’t think there is a team in the conference that we can’t compete with, so we are excited to get out there and see what happens, but we feel like we are headed in the right direction.”

Fort Benton opened its season Aug. 25 against Chester-Joplin-Inverness.

Meanwhile, the Fort Benton volleyball team is not rebuilding. Instead, the Longhorns have their sights set on a glorious season. And why wouldn’t they?

Fort Benton head coach Macy Page has a loaded roster, including setter Alia Evans, DS Emma Arnst, DS Maddie Thompson, outside hitter Leah Gannon, outside hitter Jaelyn Vielleux and outside hitter Nicole Axtman. Add in depth with the likes of McKenna Hanford, McKenize Clark, Abby Clark, Maci Molinario and Aspen Giese, and the Longhorns will be tough to beat in the 7C. “We have a lot of talent this season, fast, strong and athletic girls,” Page said. “I expect that this team will step up and work harder than ever. The returners are ready to build on last year and I have a good feeling we are going to surprise a lot of our opponents.”

Fort Benton played Chinook to open the season, and hosts Belt this weekend.

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Havre High poised for an exciting season on the court

BLUE PONY VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE Sept. 8 Sept. 9 Sept. 16 Sept. 22 Sept. 23 Sept. 28 Sept. 30 Oct. 6 Oct. 7 Oct. 12 Oct. 19 Oct. 20 Oct. 27 Nov. 1-4 Nov. 9-11

Electric City Classic - Great Falls Electric City Classic - Great Falls at Conrad vs. Browning vs. Cut Bank at CMR vs. Lewistown at Cut Bank vs. Conrad at Browning vs. Park vs. Belgrade at Lewistown Divisionals at Lewistown State at Bozeman

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Blue Pony volleyball team has the senior leadership and veteran talent to take the 2017 season far Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Havre High volleyball team poses for a photo before the start of the 2017 season. With a wealth of seniors and juniors, Havre will be a strong contender in the Central A Conference this season.

Chris Peterson Havre Daily News

cpeterson@havredailynews.com The 2016 season was a forgettable one for the Havre High volleyball team, as HHS fell from a state tournament team, to a team with a losing record. Yet, with a new year, comes new optimism that the Blue Ponies can once again find success.

Leading the way for Havre, which was 8-13 overall a season ago, is third-year head coach Tamecia Jarvis and a roster that features six seniors and two juniors. .

“We have six seniors out there, and I think that they are all ready to go and have positive outlooks for the season,” Jarvis said. “They all get along pretty well and have really good chemistry, so I think that we have a chance to have a good season.”

Last season, the Ponies had to worry about replacing Dani Wagner, but this year, HHS will need to find a way to replace the production of Jacey McDonald, an All-State performer last season.

One way Havre will go about that is relying on its seniors, such as Paige Nelson and Emilee Cariveau, who are the team’s top returning hitters. Logan Huebsch is another key returner for HHS and was eighth in the Central A in aces per set. While Nelson was one of the Ponies’ top hitters in 2016, she was also one of the team’s better defenders. She led Havre with 178 digs and ranked seventh overall in the Central A. Senior Katie Donaldson was also effective on defense, averaging 2.99 digs per set, which was fifth in the Central A. Alex Donaldson, another senior is another player who will contribute for Havre along with Camryn Huston, who will be a middle hitter.

However, if the Ponies are going to contend for a state tournament berth, they will need help from sophomores such as Sam Oliver and Cassidy Acor, who are both slated to play big roles this season.

Acor, who is a 5-10 middle hitter, offers some much-needed size on the block. She also has the chance to be a top hitter on the offensive end.

“Cassidy is tall and we haven’t really had any height,” Jarvis said. “She has really come out of her shell and she has been a beast.”

Oliver, who played as a reserve on the varsity team last season, will be the setter. Other players who have a chance to contribute this season are Caitlyn Terry, Kadyn Acor, Peyton Brown and Jessa Chvilicek.

“We have some good athletes,” Jarvis said. “We have

some good experience, but we have some good younger players that have been stepping up, too.”

One thing that Jarvis wants her team to focus on this season is generating more offense. She said that can be achieved with the team running more set plays and trying to be more strategic about where they are placing the ball.

“I want to see us run more of our sets this year,” Jarvis said. “I want to see more quicks and things like that. I just don’t want to see using a high ball all the time. I want to see them mix it up a little bit and be a little more aggressive.”

Unlike football, the volleyball team will still be playing in the Central A for seeding purposes before taking part in the Eastern A Divisional

Tournament at the end of the season. That means the schedule will feature two matches apiece, both home and away against Belgrade, Lewistown, Livingston and Belgrade.

Where the Ponies ultimately want to be, is back at the state tournament, where they were in 2015. Yet, to get there, they will need to

overcome a difficult Eastern A that features traditional powers Belgrade, Lewistown and Billings Central, along with other contenders such as Hardin and Sidney.

Havre opened the season at the Eastern A Tip-Off Tournament. The Blue Ponies' first home match will come Sept. 22 against the Browning Indians. The Ponies also

play at home against Cut Bank, Conrad, Lewistown, Livingston and Belgrade.

The 2017 Eastern A Divisional Tournament will be held Nov. 1-4 in Lewistown, with the top four teams advancing to the Class A state tournament the following week at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University in Bozeman.

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Knights aim to be a North Division Six-Man power this fall Chris Peterson Havre Daily News

cpeterson@havredailynews.com

Over the last decade, the North Stars Knights have built a winning tradition on the football field and after making the Six-Man playoffs a season ago, they are looking to add to it.

Last season, the first under head coach Tyler Han, the Knights posted a 5-4 record in the regular season and a 5-5 mark overall. North Star finished fourth in the Six-Man North Division, which was good enough to make the playoffs. However, the Knights also ran into the eventual state champion, Hot Springs, which crushed the Knights 66-0 in the opening round.

Yet, after getting to experience the postseason and with some key performers returning, North Star is looking to make another run and they are hoping this time, it will be a little longer.

“I think the kids got some really great experience,” Han said. “And we are looking to build on that. I definitely think that getting back to the playoffs is the goal for us. Once you do that, anything can happen.”

While the Knights did lose some talented players off the team that made the postseason a year ago, North Star still has the likes of Devon and Dylan Miller. Both players earned All-Conference honors a season ago and both should see the ball plenty as they will share time in the backfield. Both are also excellent options in the passing game, which will be led by quarterbacks Caden Rettig and Bailey Spicher.

“We are having a bit of a quarterback battle going,” Han said. “Caden had to step in and start a game as a freshman a year ago and he did a pretty good job. He also got some snaps throughout the season and he did a pretty good job.”

Even though both Dylan and Devon Miller play big roles on offense, they are equally important on the defensive end, where both excel as linebackers for the Knights.

“I think that we have a solid team back,” Han said. “We have the Miller boys and we also have some pretty good depth.”

However, one thing that will be working against the Knights in their quest for the playoffs is the North Division itself. Box Elder moved up to 8-Man football for the 2017 season, but Power-Dutton-Brady, a perennial

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 North Star Knights football team poses for a photo before the start of the fall season in Rudyard. North Star was a Six-Man playoff team a season ago, and even though the Knights lost some key pieces to that team, they should still be one of the teams to beat in the North Division. North Star is also one of just two Hi-Line teams playing Six-Man this season.

playoff contender in 8-Man football, is now in, too, which will make qualifying for the playoffs even harder. PDB will join other top contenders in the division, which includes Valier, the defending champion, Geraldine/ Highwood, Sunburst and Big Sandy.

“I think that we can end up being one of those top few teams,” Han said. “That is our goal, but our conference is tough. Big Sandy was a good team and they have some good players back. Power-Dutton-Brady has

a good program and then you expect teams like Valier and Geraldine/Highwood and Sunburst to be contenders, too. But I think that we will be battling right there with those other teams.”

Unlike last season, the Knights will play just eight regular season games. Some of the most important will come down the stretch as they close the season with Valier at home Oct. 14 and Geraldine/Highwood at home Oct. 18. North Star will also battle Big Sandy

Sept. 29 and Sunburst Sept. 9.

“I think our experience from last season is really going to help us,” Han said. “We know what it takes to get to the playoffs and what it’s like to play in big games. So hopefully we can build on that this season. It’s not going to be easy, but I expect us to be one of the top few teams fighting for the playoffs.”

North Star opens its 2017 season Sept. 2 at home against Custer/Hysham.

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Havre High poised for an exciting season on the court

BLUE PONY VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE Sept. 8 Sept. 9 Sept. 16 Sept. 22 Sept. 23 Sept. 28 Sept. 30 Oct. 6 Oct. 7 Oct. 12 Oct. 19 Oct. 20 Oct. 27 Nov. 1-4 Nov. 9-11

Electric City Classic - Great Falls Electric City Classic - Great Falls at Conrad vs. Browning vs. Cut Bank at CMR vs. Lewistown at Cut Bank vs. Conrad at Browning vs. Park vs. Belgrade at Lewistown Divisionals at Lewistown State at Bozeman

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Blue Pony volleyball team has the senior leadership and veteran talent to take the 2017 season far Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Havre High volleyball team poses for a photo before the start of the 2017 season. With a wealth of seniors and juniors, Havre will be a strong contender in the Central A Conference this season.

Chris Peterson Havre Daily News

cpeterson@havredailynews.com The 2016 season was a forgettable one for the Havre High volleyball team, as HHS fell from a state tournament team, to a team with a losing record. Yet, with a new year, comes new optimism that the Blue Ponies can once again find success.

Leading the way for Havre, which was 8-13 overall a season ago, is third-year head coach Tamecia Jarvis and a roster that features six seniors and two juniors. .

“We have six seniors out there, and I think that they are all ready to go and have positive outlooks for the season,” Jarvis said. “They all get along pretty well and have really good chemistry, so I think that we have a chance to have a good season.”

Last season, the Ponies had to worry about replacing Dani Wagner, but this year, HHS will need to find a way to replace the production of Jacey McDonald, an All-State performer last season.

One way Havre will go about that is relying on its seniors, such as Paige Nelson and Emilee Cariveau, who are the team’s top returning hitters. Logan Huebsch is another key returner for HHS and was eighth in the Central A in aces per set. While Nelson was one of the Ponies’ top hitters in 2016, she was also one of the team’s better defenders. She led Havre with 178 digs and ranked seventh overall in the Central A. Senior Katie Donaldson was also effective on defense, averaging 2.99 digs per set, which was fifth in the Central A. Alex Donaldson, another senior is another player who will contribute for Havre along with Camryn Huston, who will be a middle hitter.

However, if the Ponies are going to contend for a state tournament berth, they will need help from sophomores such as Sam Oliver and Cassidy Acor, who are both slated to play big roles this season.

Acor, who is a 5-10 middle hitter, offers some much-needed size on the block. She also has the chance to be a top hitter on the offensive end.

“Cassidy is tall and we haven’t really had any height,” Jarvis said. “She has really come out of her shell and she has been a beast.”

Oliver, who played as a reserve on the varsity team last season, will be the setter. Other players who have a chance to contribute this season are Caitlyn Terry, Kadyn Acor, Peyton Brown and Jessa Chvilicek.

“We have some good athletes,” Jarvis said. “We have

some good experience, but we have some good younger players that have been stepping up, too.”

One thing that Jarvis wants her team to focus on this season is generating more offense. She said that can be achieved with the team running more set plays and trying to be more strategic about where they are placing the ball.

“I want to see us run more of our sets this year,” Jarvis said. “I want to see more quicks and things like that. I just don’t want to see using a high ball all the time. I want to see them mix it up a little bit and be a little more aggressive.”

Unlike football, the volleyball team will still be playing in the Central A for seeding purposes before taking part in the Eastern A Divisional

Tournament at the end of the season. That means the schedule will feature two matches apiece, both home and away against Belgrade, Lewistown, Livingston and Belgrade.

Where the Ponies ultimately want to be, is back at the state tournament, where they were in 2015. Yet, to get there, they will need to

overcome a difficult Eastern A that features traditional powers Belgrade, Lewistown and Billings Central, along with other contenders such as Hardin and Sidney.

Havre opened the season at the Eastern A Tip-Off Tournament. The Blue Ponies' first home match will come Sept. 22 against the Browning Indians. The Ponies also

play at home against Cut Bank, Conrad, Lewistown, Livingston and Belgrade.

The 2017 Eastern A Divisional Tournament will be held Nov. 1-4 in Lewistown, with the top four teams advancing to the Class A state tournament the following week at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University in Bozeman.

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Knights aim to be a North Division Six-Man power this fall Chris Peterson Havre Daily News

cpeterson@havredailynews.com

Over the last decade, the North Stars Knights have built a winning tradition on the football field and after making the Six-Man playoffs a season ago, they are looking to add to it.

Last season, the first under head coach Tyler Han, the Knights posted a 5-4 record in the regular season and a 5-5 mark overall. North Star finished fourth in the Six-Man North Division, which was good enough to make the playoffs. However, the Knights also ran into the eventual state champion, Hot Springs, which crushed the Knights 66-0 in the opening round.

Yet, after getting to experience the postseason and with some key performers returning, North Star is looking to make another run and they are hoping this time, it will be a little longer.

“I think the kids got some really great experience,” Han said. “And we are looking to build on that. I definitely think that getting back to the playoffs is the goal for us. Once you do that, anything can happen.”

While the Knights did lose some talented players off the team that made the postseason a year ago, North Star still has the likes of Devon and Dylan Miller. Both players earned All-Conference honors a season ago and both should see the ball plenty as they will share time in the backfield. Both are also excellent options in the passing game, which will be led by quarterbacks Caden Rettig and Bailey Spicher.

“We are having a bit of a quarterback battle going,” Han said. “Caden had to step in and start a game as a freshman a year ago and he did a pretty good job. He also got some snaps throughout the season and he did a pretty good job.”

Even though both Dylan and Devon Miller play big roles on offense, they are equally important on the defensive end, where both excel as linebackers for the Knights.

“I think that we have a solid team back,” Han said. “We have the Miller boys and we also have some pretty good depth.”

However, one thing that will be working against the Knights in their quest for the playoffs is the North Division itself. Box Elder moved up to 8-Man football for the 2017 season, but Power-Dutton-Brady, a perennial

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 North Star Knights football team poses for a photo before the start of the fall season in Rudyard. North Star was a Six-Man playoff team a season ago, and even though the Knights lost some key pieces to that team, they should still be one of the teams to beat in the North Division. North Star is also one of just two Hi-Line teams playing Six-Man this season.

playoff contender in 8-Man football, is now in, too, which will make qualifying for the playoffs even harder. PDB will join other top contenders in the division, which includes Valier, the defending champion, Geraldine/ Highwood, Sunburst and Big Sandy.

“I think that we can end up being one of those top few teams,” Han said. “That is our goal, but our conference is tough. Big Sandy was a good team and they have some good players back. Power-Dutton-Brady has

a good program and then you expect teams like Valier and Geraldine/Highwood and Sunburst to be contenders, too. But I think that we will be battling right there with those other teams.”

Unlike last season, the Knights will play just eight regular season games. Some of the most important will come down the stretch as they close the season with Valier at home Oct. 14 and Geraldine/Highwood at home Oct. 18. North Star will also battle Big Sandy

Sept. 29 and Sunburst Sept. 9.

“I think our experience from last season is really going to help us,” Han said. “We know what it takes to get to the playoffs and what it’s like to play in big games. So hopefully we can build on that this season. It’s not going to be easy, but I expect us to be one of the top few teams fighting for the playoffs.”

North Star opens its 2017 season Sept. 2 at home against Custer/Hysham.

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CJI netters ready to join T-Birds seeking improvement this fall the 6C East race Chris Peterson Havre Daily News

cpeterson@havredailynews.com

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com With how much Chinook has dominated the District 6C East volleyball landscape in recent years, it’s easy to overlook some of the other teams in that district.

But it would be a mistake to overlook the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks. That’s because the Hawks have a long and storied tradition of quality volleyball and that should continue this season, under secondyear head coach Jimi Sanguin.

“I’m excited for this team,” Sanguin said.

“They are a great group of girls. We only have 10, but they are a group that works hard and they all want to be there. Last year was brand new for everybody, but now, this being my second year, they all know what to expect and how we do things and that’s going to be a definite advantage for us.”

Another advantage is that CJI returns a boatload of talent. While the Hawks may not be as deep as in year’s past, they return some standouts, including juniors Kim Ghekiere and Peyton Hawks, a pair of starters. Hawks is also the setter, and will be a big key to CJI’s success this season. CJI

also has senior leadership with the return of Kayona Fraser and Gabby Mangold, while fellow senior Kendahl Knapton is also out for the team. Add in athletes like Samantha May and Khloe Kammerzell, and the Hawks will put plenty of talent on the floor this fall.

“Our returners know what we want to do,” Sanguin said. “And the new girls are learning their roles and catching on really fast.

We still have some kinks to work out, but it’s going really well so far and this group works really well together.”

No doubt, CJI has the talent to compete in the 6C East again this season. But the

district will again be a dogfight, too, as Chinook and North Star are expected to be strong, while Box Elder and Big Sandy have talent too.

“Chinook always has an amazing team,” Sanguin said, “and I have no doubt they will be again this year. North Star will be very good, too. Those two will be the team’s to beat for sure. But I’m excited for our team. I think they can accomplish great things this season.”

CJI opened the season at the Sunburst Tournament. The Hawks are also the host of the District 6C East Tournament this season.

The Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds have never been known for their strength on the football field. In fact, recently, the T-Birds went multiple seasons without winning a game.

Yet, that all changed in 2016 as HLP won not just once, but twice, knocking off Fort Benton on the road and Chinook at home in the final week of the season to post a 2-7 record. With four games that were decided by 10 points or less, the T-Birds, could have won even more games, but now with a new head coach and a new group of players, the challenge will be to continue moving in the right direction.

“I am pretty excited,” head coach Josh Werk said. “We have a team that is pretty young and inexperienced, but they are working hard at practice and we are excited for the season.”

Of course, losing the likes of Tyson Shambo and Frank Runs Above, two All-Conference standouts will hurt the T-Birds, but so will losing long-time head coach Shawn Mount, who stepped aside after leading HLP to one of its most successful seasons.

“Hopefully, we can keep things going in the right direction,” Werk said. “This will be my first year as head coach, but I was the assistant for a few years. Our main goal this year is going to be developing some of our talent and doing the best we can to stay competitive. Hays has always been predominantly a basketball school, and we are hop-

ing to try and change that.”

In the new Northern C, that will be more difficult than ever. The conference has expanded to 12 teams and split into two subdivisions. The A sub-division is where the T-Birds will compete, and they will contend with the likes of Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Belt, Box Elder, Choteau and Great Falls Central. Chinook, Fort Benton, Cascade, Rocky Boy, Simms and Centerville making up the B sub-division. The top three teams in each division will have a chance to fight for a playoff spot in the final week of the season, but right now, HLP, which has just 12 players out, is simply trying to play its varsity schedule.

“We have just one returning starter, Chance Main,” Werk said. “We lost eight or nine guys from last year’s team. So we had to forfeit our first game because we did not have enough kids at that point. With school starting, we will have more, and our goal is to play the rest of our schedule. We are going to do everything to stay as a varsity team.”

While the football program is trying to build on the momentum from last season, the volleyball team is still trying to work its way into contention in the District 6C East.

But under the direction of second-year head coach Tennae Singer, the T-Birds will be looking to make improvements.

“I think that the team is looking pretty good,” Singer said. “We have some height this year and some good freshmen that are coming in.”

Kahlia Werk, Tasha Kirkaldie and Aleena Walker are all among the top players return-

ing from a season ago, but Sierra Chandler and Kassi Perez are two other freshmen who should play right away. And as usual, the T-Birds will be looking to contend with teams like Chinook, North Star, Big Sandy and CJI in the 6C East.

“I think that we will have a chance to be competitive with the rest of the teams in the district,” Singer said. “We just have to keep improving and it will be tough, but I think we can have a pretty good season.”

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The Hays-Lodge Pole volleyball team hasn't had a lot of success in recent years.

But each new season brings new enthusiasm, and the Thunderbirds, with good numbers, are ready to be competitive in the District 6C East this fall. HLP fans can follow the T-Birds in football and volleyball all season long with the Hi-Line Football and Hi-Line Volleyball Roundups every Tuesday in the HDN sports section.

Longhorns look strong in fall sports George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Chester-Joplin-Inverness volleyball team poses for a team photo in Chester prior to the start of the new season. After a couple of tough seasons, the Hawks return this fall with talent and experience, and that's what's needed to compete in the always-tough District 6C East. Fans can follow all the CJI and local volleyball this fall by checking out the weekly Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup, which runs every Tuesday in the Havre Daily News' sports pages.

Just a few short years ago, the Fort Benton Longhorns missed out on a season of varsity football and ever since, the onceproud program has been rebuilding.

Last season, the Longhorns won just one game, but the game they won, was the final one of the season against playoff-bound Chester-Joplin-Inverness. That win gave the program a jolt of energy and now first-year head coach Jory Thompson, who also happens to be the superintendent of the Fort Benton school system, is looking to capitalize on it.

“I think that we are headed in the right direction,” Thompson said. “These seniors, they are going to leave their mark this year by showing the positive direction that Fort Benton football is headed. As freshmen, they were on a team that did not have a varsity football team and they are committed to ending it on a high note and sending us out in the right direction.”

While Thompson is in his first season as the head coach in Fort Benton, he has coached at different levels in the area and is familiar with the team from his work with the school. He also said that the numbers

were looking good with 23 kids out total, including 17 that are either freshmen or sophomores.

Some of the top returning players are quarterback/safety Landon Taylor, Ryan Scott on offensive and defensive line, as well as defensive end Ethan Davis, who is also a tight end. Running back Connor Schnabel will be another key contributor for the Longhorns, along with sophomore Garret Diekhans, who will play linebacker and receiver.

“I have high expectations for this season,” Thompson said. “But I think we just need to grow and get better. My goal is to play 15 kids on Friday nights. We want to play some

younger guys, realizing that they are going to make some mistakes, but they are going to learn. But we feel like we can compete with anybody, so we are going to get after it and have some fun.”

Fort Benton will once again be part of the Northern C Conference, which has expanded to 12 teams in 8-Man football. The conference has been split into two sub-divisions, the Northern C sub-division A and sub-division B. The Longhorns are in the B sub-divison alongside Cascade, Centerville, Chinook, Rocky Boy and Simms. The other sub-division features Great Falls Central, Box Elder, Choteau, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Hays-Lodge Pole and Belt.

The new format also means a new way of picking playoff teams. The Longhorns will now need to finish in the top three of their sub-division to have a chance in the final week of qualifying for the 8-Man playoffs.

The only teams will wrap up berths prior to that are the first-place finishers of each sub-division who will play in the final week for the top overall seed from the North.

In the big picture, the playoffs may be a ways down the road still for Fort Benton, but in the Northern C, anything can happen and according to Thompson, the Longhorns are good enough to win games now.

“I think that we can compete right now,”

Thompson. “I don’t think there is a team in the conference that we can’t compete with, so we are excited to get out there and see what happens, but we feel like we are headed in the right direction.”

Fort Benton opened its season Aug. 25 against Chester-Joplin-Inverness.

Meanwhile, the Fort Benton volleyball team is not rebuilding. Instead, the Longhorns have their sights set on a glorious season. And why wouldn’t they?

Fort Benton head coach Macy Page has a loaded roster, including setter Alia Evans, DS Emma Arnst, DS Maddie Thompson, outside hitter Leah Gannon, outside hitter Jaelyn Vielleux and outside hitter Nicole Axtman. Add in depth with the likes of McKenna Hanford, McKenize Clark, Abby Clark, Maci Molinario and Aspen Giese, and the Longhorns will be tough to beat in the 7C. “We have a lot of talent this season, fast, strong and athletic girls,” Page said. “I expect that this team will step up and work harder than ever. The returners are ready to build on last year and I have a good feeling we are going to surprise a lot of our opponents.”

Fort Benton played Chinook to open the season, and hosts Belt this weekend.

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As usual, North Star spikers will be strong Hawks still formidable on the field CJI football aims to be a factor in the revamped Northern C Chris Peterson Havre Daily News

cpeterson@havredailynews.com

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com The North Star Knights have long stood as one of the premier volleyball teams in the District 6C East. And, as the 2017 season begins, it doesn’t appear as if that’s going to change.

The Knights, who finished second in the 6C East a year ago, return a bevy of talented players for head coach Mackenzie Jenkins, who is excited about this season and this year’s team.

“This year we have a great group of girls,” Jenkins said. “We have a lot of returning

players that either started or received substantial varsity playing time last year. We would like to finish at the top of our conference and go as far into the postseason as possible.”

And the Knights’ lineup could certainly get them deep into the postseason.

Key returning players for North Star include, middle hitter Peytan King, outside hitter Lily Pedersen, setters Kate Hansen and Paij Peterson, libero Jewel Wicks and defensive specialist Chelsea Donaldson.

That group will lead the Knights, but newcomers such as Grace Farinas, Saige O’Neil and Olivia King will also give the Knights even more talent and more depth.

Of course, North Star will once again have to fight Chinook, like everybody else in the district will have to, in order to be the top team in the 6C East. But as good as the Sugarbeeters will be again this season, Jenkins sees the district as a little more wide open.

“I think the district could go in anyone’s favor this year,” Jenkins said. “Chinook has controlled the district the past four years, but I think there are some teams this year that could challenge them.”

The Knights opened the season at the Belt Preseason Tournament. Now, they’ll host the annual North Star Jamboree in Rudyard and Gildford.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 North Star Knights volleyball team poses for a team photo in Rudyard prior to the start of the new season. The Knights have been a perennial contender for the District 6C East title for years now, and this season should be no different.

North Star has one of the tallest and deepest teams in the 6C East, and they're poised to battle Chinook for the district tournament title in October in Chester. Fans can follow all the North Star and local volleyball this fall by checking out the weekly Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup, which runs every Tuesday in the Havre Daily News' sports pages.

For years, the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks have been a staple of football success in the Northern C. But in 2017, the Hawks have a lot of new faces and the Northern C, has gotten even tougher.

In the past few seasons, the conference has expanded to nine teams, then 10 and now 12 as Choteau, Box Elder and Rocky Boy enter the league, while Power-DuttonBrady departs for the ranks of Six-Man. Yet, in terms of CJI, the departures that hurt are the ones on the field.

After making it to the Class C 8-Man quarterfinals in 2015, CJI returned to the postseason in 2016, despite being picked to finish near the bottom of the conference. Thanks to the play of All-State performers Cory Richter and Cory Kelly, the Hawks compiled a 5-4 record before bowing out in the playoffs to Charlo by the score of 60-2. And with four other seniors leaving for graduation following last season’s campaign, getting back to the playoffs will be an even bigger challenge.

“Right now we are really just focused on developing kids,” CJI head coach Jim Vinson said. “We have 18 kids out right now and a lot of them are underclassmen. So we have a young program. We are definitely going out there to be competitive and I think that we will be a competitive team, but it’s going to be a growing year for us.”

While the Hawks may have some new faces on the field for them in 2017, the last name of the starting quarterback will sound familiar as Spencer Richter will follow in the footsteps of his brothers Brandon and Cory Richter, who were CJI’s previous signal callers.

“Spencer is going to take over at quarterback,” Vinson said, “so it will be the fourth year in a row that a Richter has been our starting quarterback. He played some for us last year, mainly more receiver and special teams, but he is a good athlete.”

Richter will take over as the Hawks’ starting quarterback, which gives CJI the ability to move Jackson Diemert, a junior who previously was the backup quarterback, over to running back, where he will join Kobe Tran.

“Jackson played quarterback for us when Cory was out last year and ran the show,” Vinson said. “But we are trying to look at what is best for the team and Jackson runs the ball really hard, so I thought he would do well in the backfield next to Kobe, who played for us last year and also wrestled and did track.”

Of course, Vinson always likes to air it out, and another key part of the CJI offense will

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Chester-Joplin-Inverness football team poses for a team photo before the start of the season in Chester. The Hawks were a playoff team a year ago and still have plenty of talent on this year's squad. But getting to the playoffs out of the Northern C got a lot more difficult with realignment this past year, as teams like Choteau, Rocky Boy and Box Elder have now been added to the Northern C .

be the tight ends, including Evan Dahinden.

The others that should see time at tight end are Andrew Woods and Caden Woods. Others that should contribute this season for the Hawks are Ethan Woods, Cameron Davis, Tyler Wanken, Jarrett Green, Bobby Whitley and Gunnar Wickum.

In terms of schedule, things will be a little bit different for CJI this season. The Hawks are still part of the Northern C, but after the league expanded to 12 teams, two sub-divisions were created, the Northern C “A” and the Northern C “B.” The Hawks are the A sub-division and will compete against Belt, Box Elder, Choteau, Great Falls Central and Hays-Lodge Pole. Yet, there will also be non-conference games against teams from the other sub-division, which includes Chinook, Rocky Boy, Fort Benton, Centerville, Cascade and Simms.

CJI opened the season with a close loss against the Fort Benton Longhorns and will play a second non-conference game against Chinook before playing five division games to determine who has a chance to make the playoffs in the final week of the season.

Friday Night Lights Area football fans can get even more high school coverage with the Havre Daily News. HDN will be running a special high school football section every Friday. The section will get fans ready for all of the weekend's action. Also, don't forget to follow high school football online with the Havre Daily News at www.havredailynews.com.

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Rocky Boy will battle in volleyball HHS cross country teams stride into the fall season

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BLUE PONY CROSS-COUNTRY SCHEDULE Sept. 9 Sept. 15 Sept. 23 Sept. 30 Oct. 2 Oct. 5 Oct. 14 Oct. 21

at Malta at Lewistown Havre at Mountain West - Missoula at Browning at Helena (Preview Meet) Divisionals at Livingston State at Helena

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Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Rocky Boy volleyball team poses for a team photo in Rocky Boy prior to the start of the new season. The Morning Stars have had a tough go of it in District 1B play, but, with good numbers, height and talent, the Morning Stars could be ready to have a big season the volleyball court this fall.

Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The 2016 volleyball season was a difficult one for the Rocky Boy Morning Stars and head coach Ty Watson, as the team struggled to find the win column. Yet, with some experienced players returning and some good participation numbers, there is hope for greater success in 2017.

A year ago, the Morning Stars finished last in the District 1B during the regular season and were unable to advance out of the district tournament. However, with the difficulty of the district, it’s not a surprise, considering half of the teams ended up making it out of the Northern B Divisional

Tournament as well.

When it was all said and done last November, the District 1B had three teams playing at the Class B state tournament as Shelby, Choteau and Fairfield all qualified. Choteau has been a volleyball power for years, but the likes of Fairfield, Shelby, Cut Bank and Conrad don’t make it easier either.

But the Stars still have a reason to be optimistic. Watson, who has been leading to the program for years, has a total of 18 girls out this season, which is a solid number to build upon. Some of those players such as Jaylynn Mitchell, Sean Henry, Sasha Coffee and others played important roles on the team a season ago and should again in 2017.

Yet new contributors will also need to

emerge for the Rocky Boy. Some of those that will be given the chance to play this season for the Stars are Arayiah Four Souls, Ashlyn Sunchild, Colista Sutherland, Jamilla Martell, Jaynah Gopher, Jeralyn Parker, Kiara Small, Kiuana Sutherland, Kirsten Lamere, Lacey Arkinson, Leiani Denny, Rochelle Pease, Summer Big Knife, Tessa Big Knife and Tyra Willeto.

While there was a lot of moving and shifting when it came to football for Rocky Boy, the volleyball team underwent no such changes. The Stars are still part of the Northern B and remain in the 1B district with all the same teams as before.

After opening the season with some nonconference tournaments, the Stars will face their always difficult 10-match sched-

ule within the 1B, culminating with the 1B district tournament at the end of October.

That will be followed by the Northern B Divisional, which features the top four teams from the 1B and the 2B. From there, three teams from the Northern B will advance to the Class B state tournament, which is held simultaneously in Bozeman at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse with the Class AA, Class A and Class C state tournaments, which are all set to take place Nov. 9-11.

The Morning Stars opened their 2017 volleyball season Aug. 25 by taking part in the Malta Tournament. They will play rival Harlem twice on the court this fall as well as their tough 1B schedule, which includes Choteau and Fairfield.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The 2017 Havre High boys and girls cross country teams pose for a photo before the start of their fall season. The Blue Ponies have a host of outstanding returning runners under third-year head coach Josh Holt. Havre will host the Havre Invitational Sept. 23 at the MSU-Northern race course.

Havre High harriers ready to run up the Class A ranks Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com

A couple years ago, Josh Holt took over as head coach of the Havre High cross country team with the idea that the both Blue Pony teams could compete with the best Class A has to offer. At this point, there is still a ways to go to reach that goal, but so far, both teams seem headed in that direction.

Neither Havre cross country team managed to finish in the top 10 at the Class A state meet a season ago but with all the varsity runners returning for the boys

squad and a majority also back for the girls, each team will be looking to take a big step forward.

“Ultimately, I would hope that we could end up in the Top 5 at state,” Holt said.

“That would be coming off years of finishing in 12th or 13th place. I think we have two teams that can do amazing things this year, I think we will be able to sneak in there and surprise some people.”

Last season, both the boys and the girls teams finished in similar fashion at the state meet, as both teams ended up 11th.

However, the girls team had the top overall performer in freshman Kadia Miller, who finished 19th at state, falling just short of earning All-State honors.

“I think that Kadia is going to get All State this season,” Holt said. “After her freshman year, I think she has improved.

She has worked really hard and she knows the courses. She ran really well on the course state will be on this year, so I expect

her to have a really great season.”

While Miller was 19th, the next best finisher for the Havre girls was Kaylee Nystrom, who was 39th. She will also be back on the team along with Amelia Miller, Melanie Jones and Lily Tally.

“What Kaylee was able to do last season was really kind of unheard of,” Holt said. “She grew in leaps and bounds over the course of the season and she ended up being our second best runner at state. She definitely has the talent and the growth that she had over the season was really incredible.”

Holt said he expects both Amelia Miller and Kaylee Nystrom to improve even more this season and said all they should have strong individual seasons along with Kadia Miller. Yet, Holt will still have two openings on his varsity roster that will need to be filled by a crop of candidates that includes Grace Loftus, Ireland Coyne, Madi Shennum, Natalie Verploegen, Ryen Olson,

Rhoda Peterson and Tamera O’Leary.

The Havre boys, on the other hand, have all their varsity runners back from a season ago, including Austin Jones, who was the top finisher at state (27th). Jakob Keller, Trevor Williams, Quinn Reno, Barrett Kilgore, Cameron Pleninger and Noah Azure are the returners for HHS. The rest of the boys roster includes Alex Azure, Andrew VandenBos, Austin Delarosa, Dylan Young, Garrett Parsons, Kendall Pleninger, Riley Kilgore and Torek Swenson.

“Right now we have a pretty good idea of who our varsity runners are,” Holt said.

“But we will use that time trial in Cut Bank for the basis of that too and we will also adjust things down the road if we need to for things like consistency.”

Havre opened its season at the Cut Bank Time Trials. The Blue Ponies host the Havre Invitational Sept. 23 on the Montana State University-Northern campus race course.

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Athletic Blue Ponies make the move to the Eastern A Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The 2016 season was a frustrating one for the Havre High football team, but now that 2017 is here, it is time for HHS to make amends.

The Blue Ponies did lose some key players from last season’s team, which started 3-0 and 5-1, but failed to make the playoffs. Yet, with starting quarterback Trey Murphy back under center and head coach Ryan Gatch in his second season at the helm, Havre is ready to get back in the playoff hunt.

“I think the guys are hungry,” Gatch said.

“They have been working really hard and they put in a lot of time this summer. It’s a process, but so far things have been going really well.”

Every team suffers losses to graduation, but the Ponies suffered key departures on both sides of the ball. Jase Stokes, an All-State performer was Havre’s top running back and its best defender. Isaac Warp, another AllStater is also gone, as is Nate Korb, a two-way starter at wide receiver and safety. While the Ponies will need to replace Stokes’ 861 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, the offense will have the advantage of Murphy being back under center. The senior missed a start late in the season due to injury, but before that, he tossed 11 touchdown passes compared to eight interceptions. He also completed better than 54 percent of his throws and threw for more than 1,100 yards.

“Working with Trey has been fantastic,” Gatch said. “It’s great to have him coming back. He is doing a great job of leading the offense for us, and he does a good job of getting the ball out to our skill guys.”

In Warp and Korb, Murphy lost two of his top three receivers, but with Ivar Aageson, who was second on the team with 312 receiving yards, back for his senior season, along

with junior Ethan Roberts, the Ponies have no shortage of athletes on the perimeter. Seniors Jacob Irvin and Brady Ophus will both be in the mix, along with sophomore Tanner Parsons, who moved over from quarterback to playing wide receiver full time.

“Ivar has been doing good, he has been improving healthwise, he is about 100 percent,” Gatch said. “Ethan Roberts is a guy that has been a pleasant surprise for us. He’s a mover and a shaker. Jacob Irvin also had a really good camp. He had a really great school year and also had a great summer. Brady Ophus has also been doing good and having Tanner Parsons out at receiver is also helping. He’s a good football player.”

With five athletes at receiver and a veteran quarterback, the passing game should be formidable for the Ponies in 2017, but it will also feature something new, a tight end, as junior Tyson Sangrey leads a group of players at the position ready to make a bigger impact.

Throwing the football will be a big part of

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BLUE PONY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Sept. 8 Sept. 15 Sept. 22 Sept. 29 Oct. 6 Oct. 13 Oct. 20 Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18

vs. Laurel at Belgrade at Glendive vs. Sidney at Billings Central vs. Park at Miles City 1st Round Playoffs - TBA Qtr. Finals - TBA Semi-Finals - TBA Finals - TBA

the Havre offense, but the ground game will still be a big focus, even with the graduation of Stokes and Dane Flammond. One key will be the continued development of sophomore Mason Dionne, who rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman. He will be joined in the backfield by senior Jazz Schroeder. The offensive line, another key component will be led by Tony Antley and Brock Smith, who are the only returning starters. Taylor Gopher, Austin Ratliff, David Duke, Quinn Springer and Daniel Ogden are others in the mix for playing time.

On the defensive side of the ball, Havre lost a number of key starters such as Stokes, Warp, Korb, Chris Gabrielsen, Flammond and Sienkowski. But on the plus side, the secondary, like the receiving group, is deep and talented.

Ophus is back at corner after notching one of the team’s eight interceptions. Irvin will start at the other corner spot, while Aageson and Roberts will be the starting safeties. The linebackers also look solid, with Dionne, one of

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

Above: The 2017 Havre High football team poses for a team photo at Blue Pony Stadium prior to the start of the new season. The Ponies are under the guidance of second-year head coach Ryan Gatch and are determined to reach the Class A playoffs after just missing out a year ago. Right: Havre High's Brady Ophus is one of many key seniors returning to the HHS lineup this season. The Blue Ponies are playing a brand new schedule this fall, as part of the new 10-team Eastern A Division.

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the team’s leading tacklers back at his spot.

He will start alongside Schroeder and Dawson Kinsella. Hughes is another who should get on the field. Up front, the defensive line offers plenty of experience with Smith, Ratliff and Gopher all back after playing significant snaps in 2016. Sangrey is another starter at defensive end. Duke and Springer should also make contributions.

In terms of overall talent, Havre has enough to contend for the Class A playoffs, but after shifting into the 10-team Eastern A, making the playoffs will be anything but easy. The top six teams in the conference will qualify, but with Billings Central, Laurel, Belgrade, Miles City, Sidney, Lewistown, Havre, Livingston, Glendive and Hardin all in the same conference, nothing is a given.

“We feel good about our guys and we think we have a good team,” Gatch said. “Of course, you never really know until you start playing some other people, so we are looking forward to that challenge.”

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Stars changing football levels again After playing its first 11-man season in 2016, Rocky Boy is now a member of the 8-man Northern C Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com During its time in the ranks of Class B, it was always the goal of the Rocky Boy football program to compete at the varsity level. And after doing it successfully in 2016, the Stars will be playing varsity football again, only this time, it will be in 8-Man. Last season, Rocky Boy finally had enough players out to play 11-Man football at the varsity level and did so within the 1B. Yet, after an overhaul to football classifications were done by the MHSA, the Stars are now playing 8-Man football and have joined the 12-team Northern C. This development is promising for the Stars on a couple of fronts. For one, it will make it easier for the program to play and compete at the varsity level. Secondly, it will also allow the Stars to play traditional rivals such as Chinook, Box Elder, Chester-JoplinInverness, and Hays-Lodge Pole. Rocky Boy and Box Elder, who meet every year on the basketball court to open the season, ushered in the 2017 season by meeting up in Box Elder Aug. 26.

Last season, Rocky Boy achieved something on the football field just by playing

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Rocky Boy Stars pose for a team photo last month in Rocky Boy. A year ago, the Stars played their first Class B varsity season since the school moved up from Class C now just over a decade ago. However, MHSA realigned football this past year, which allowed Rocky Boy to move down to Class C 8-man football this season, while remaining a Class B school for all other sports. The move should help Rocky Boy continue to jump-start its struggling football program. varsity football, but this season, with some key players returning, the Stars might have a chance to find the win column. And with a schedule that no longer features Class B powers such as Malta, Glasgow, Fairfield and others, the Stars should have a better chance of getting over the hump.

One thing that will help the Stars in 2017, will be the return of Kordell Small, a dynamic athlete who has played both running back and quarterback for Rocky Boy in the past.

Up front, the Stars can count on big man Kendall Windy Boy to open holes for the running game, while also wreaking havoc from the defensive line. The rest of the Rocky Boy roster includes Blake Cantrell, Cavy Johnson, Cedric Belcourt, Dahntae St. Pierre,

David Rusette, Devin Johnson, Frankie Bacon, Kade Galbavy, Lane Turn Toes, Michael Harris, Olin Arkinson, Remmington Parker, Rylie Willeto and Wilbur Nagel.

Rocky Boy may be new to the Northern C, but it’s far from the only addition. Box Elder also joined the conference after moving up from Six-Man football, while Choteau joined Rocky Boy in moving down from Class B. The three additions would have pushed the Northern C to 13 teams after Hays-Lodge Pole joined last season, but Power-Dutton-Brady dropped down to the Six-Man North.

In terms of deciding playoff spots in the 12-team conference, the league was split into two sub-divisions, the A sub-division and the B sub-division. Rocky Boy is in the

B sub-division along with Cascade, Chinook, Centerville, Simms and Fort Benton. The A sub-division will include Belt, Choteau, Great Falls Central, HLP, Chester-Joplin-Inverness and Box Elder.

The top team in the final standings of each sub-division will meet in the final week of the season to determine the top seed for the playoffs from the Northern C. There will be a championship game of sorts, with the winner going into the postseason as the No. 1 and the loser as the No. 2. The second and third-place teams from each sub-division, will also play the corresponding team from the other subdivision for the final two playoff spots.

Rocky Boy opened its season Aug. 26 at Box Elder.

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Harlem spikers looking to make a big jump this fall

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Pioneers have their eye on the playoffs Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The Big Sandy football team was one win away from the making the Six-Man playoffs in 2016, but with a deep group of returning players and a little luck, the Pioneers could find their way back into the postseason.

One thing that works in favor of the Pioneers is the continuity of their coaching staff, as head coach Ronnie Simpson returns to the helm. He will lead a Big Sandy roster that features a total of 16 players, including 2016 All-State performer Weston Allderdice, who was an outstanding two-way player.

Allderdice, who shared the backfield with his brother Laurence Allderdice last season, will now be the primary ball carrier for the

Pioneers, who are looking to build on a 4-4 campaign. Behind the dominant ground attack of the Allderdice brothers, Big Sandy started the season strong, winning its first three games after beating Noxon 33-22, Box Elder 70-38 and Heart Butte 70-21.

Yet, a setback to Sunburst by the score of 47-0 dropped the Pioneers to 3-1 before a critical game against North Star. The two teams met in Rudyard and the Knights won 45-28.

The loss would eventually cost the Pioneers the final playoff berth in the Six-Man North Division. North Star was 4-3 in the conference, compared to 3-4 Big Sandy, which would have been the fourth playoff team with a victory over North Star.

Allderdice is going to be the top player on both sides of the ball for the Pioneers this season, but he is far from their only contributor. The rest of the roster includes Brant

Jones, Cameron Schwarzbach, Clint Darlington, Tanner Allderdice, Duke Darlington, Dylan Darlington, Elijah Wagoner, Everett Sipler, Hunter Jappe, Brady Pleninger, Jordan Schwarzbach, Parker Proulz, Ryan Roth and Kade Strutz.

The reality is that the Pioneers have a core of returners on both sides of the ball, but in the difficult North division, their path to the playoffs won’t be easy. Valier, which won the league with a 7-0 record last season, should be a contender again, along with perennial power Geraldine-Highwood and Sunburst, which has been a playoff contender since dropping down to Six-Man a few years ago.

North Star, the other playoff team, should also be formidable again. On the other hand, the division will have a new look to it with the departure of Box Elder to 8-Man football.

However, there will still be eight teams fol-

lowing the addition of Power-Dutton-Brady, a team that dropped down from the Northern C in 8-Man football.

Following the season-opener against Noxon, Big Sandy will play at Roy-Winifred and Power-Dutton Brady in its first conference game. Big Sandy will then play at Heart Butte, before a crucial closing stretch that includes games against Sunburst, North Star, Valier, Geraldine/Highwood and then the season-finale against Augusta.

Big Sandy scored wins in the North division over Augusta, Box Elder and Heart Butte a season ago, so it will need to find a couple wins against North Star, Geraldine/ Highwood, Valier, Sunburst or PDB to find its way back into the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Big Sandy opened the season Aug. 25 against Noxon.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The Harlem Wildcat volleyball team poses for a photo in Harlem before the start of the 2017 season. The Wildcats have had trouble finding success in the District 2B, but their numbers are high and they will aim to competitive this season.

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com Success in volleyball has always been hard to come by for the Harlem Wildcats.

Especially playing every year in the District 2B. But with each new season comes new excitement in Harlem, and 2017 is no different.

Head coach Kim Faulkinberry is excited about the team she will put on the floor this fall, and even though Harlem will be young, the Wildcats will play hard and compete

hard with all of the teams in the 2B. “I like to think that even though we are young with only three seniors we are going to surprise some teams,” Faulkinberry said. “We want to be the type of team that is relentless ... a team that just doesn’t quit … a team that tries to convert anything that comes our way.”

Harlem will be led this season by its returning setters in Taylor Stiffarm and Taeshon Schaeffer. The Wildcats also return starting middle Eleesha Bell, as well as outside hitters Skylee Dirden and Haylee Johnson. Senior Emily Ramone will also

be looked upon as a leader, while a host of juniors and sophomores will give the Wildcats depth.

Of course, Harlem will still have an uphill battle on its hands in the 2B. Glasgow is a perennial power, and Malta is always strong.

“I could envision us finishing in the top three or four in the district,” Faulkinberry said. “Glasgow and Wolf Point are always strong contenders and Malta is never to be counted out. Poplar lost many seniors to graduation. I guess we will have to see how the season pans out as we go.”

And while the district is tough, Harlem has always played with a great attitude and competitive fire, which makes the Wildcats a tough opponent for all of their district rivals. And the Wildcats approach every season with the same goal, and this season the goal hasn’t changed.

“Right now we have great competition in practice. They are all pushing each other to develop into a better players and teammate,” Faulkinberry said. “One of the many goals of the Lady Wildcats is to make it to the divisional tournament.”

Harlem opened its season at the Malta Invitational.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Big Sandy football team poses for a photo prior to the start of the season last month in Big Sandy. After just missing the Six-Man playoffs a year ago, Big Sandy has high hopes for the 2017 fall, including making a run at the North Division title.

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Big Sandy volleyball looking to make noise

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Wildcats look for more progress

Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The Harlem football team has been in the process of rebuilding itself and with two wins last season, the Wildcats took a big step in the right direction.

However with some key losses, third-year head coach Kelly Mills and his team will have their work cut out for them if they want to match the two wins they captured in 2016.

“We are going to be a really young team,” Mills said. “We have four seniors and I think we will end up having 24 or 25, but a lot of them are going to be freshmen and sophomores, so we are really going to have work to build up some depth.”

In Mills’ first season at the helm in 2015,

the Wildcats went 1-7, but last season, behind the stellar play of running back Damon Adams, Harlem went 2-6, knocking off both Poplar and Rocky Boy. Yet with Rocky Boy’s move down to 8-Man football and the decision by Poplar to cancel its season, a win could be even harder to come by for the Wildcats in 2017.

“The biggest thing for us right now, is we need to learn how to compete,” Mills said.

“We want to get to the point where we are competitive every single week. We have been able to win some games and I think we will have a chance again this year, but we want to kind of close that gap and be able to go out and compete with anybody. That’s our goal.”

While the Wildcats did lose their best players in Adams and Shrine Game standout Reece Hutton, Harlem does return some

experienced players such as Damion Schumaker, Curtis Humphreys, Gavin Moore, Adrian Colbet and Daniel Rasmussen.

“We have five seniors coming back,” Mills said. “We have some experience on the line and Gavin Moore will be playing some running back for us. It’s going to be hard to replace Damon and all of his production, but we will have some guys step in there.”

When it comes to quarterback, the Wildcats will turn to Taggert Devaney or Brad Cichosz. According to Mills, the two have been competing for the job, but regardless of who wins the job, both will be on the field.

“Taggert has been the one that has been getting most of the reps right now,” Mills said. “We actually have three guys that are going to be getting reps there, just so we have someone there in case of emergency, but all three guys are going to get on the

field either at wide receiver or running back.”

One thing that will be working against the Wildcats again this season is the difficulty of the Northern B conference. Harlem will open the season with Wolf Point Sept.

1, followed by games against Cut Bank and Shelby. The Wildcats were scheduled to play Poplar Sept. 29, but that will be canceled, which leaves games against Fairfield, Malta and Conrad.

“Of course our goal is to be competing for the playoffs,” Mills said. “That’s what every team wants to do and I do think that we have a chance to be very competitive this season.

But from a realistic standpoint, that’s probably not going to happen. We just have to learn how to compete and that is what we are talking about right now.”

Harlem opened the season against Wolf Point.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Big Sandy High School volleyball team poses for a team photo last month in Big Sandy. The Pioneers should have a strong team in 2017, but playing the District 6C East with the likes of Chinook and North Star and, in the loaded Northern C Division, is never easy.

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com The Big Sandy Pioneers have always been one of those teams on the fringe of really challenging for a District 6C East volleyball championship. But with the likes of Chinook and North Star always being so strong, getting to the top of the 6C East has been a tough climb for the Pioneers.

And this season, while the Pio-

neers are talented, and have an excellent coach in former Big Sandy and Montana Tech star Shersteen Cline, the Pioneers will likely again have a tough road to the top of the district.

However, that doesn’t mean Big Sandy won’t be a force itself. In fact, the Pioneers should be a very tough team night in and night out in conference play.

“My expectations for the team this year are that they will learn to overcome adversity, encour-

age each other, and continue to improve and build upon their skills,” Cline said of the upcoming season. “I want them to maintain positive attitudes as they work to achieve short and long-term season goals.”

Graduation did hit the Pioneers hard last year, but they do have talent returning, including senior outside hitters Jessica Roth and Dakota Terry. Junior outside/middle Jaylyn Cline also returns and she will be a true impact player

this season. Stacey Allderdice, Lainey Gregory and Georgia Wortman also return for the Pioneers, giving them a host of players who have experience at the varsity level.

As for where Big Sandy might finish in the 6C East this season, Cline says the top is still about Chinook and North Star. But she’s also optimistic about her Pioneers, and one thing is for sure, Big Sandy will be a tough opponent for everybody else in the district this

fall.

“I think that we have some strong teams in our district this year,” Cline said. “North Star and Chinook have always had some pretty strong programs, and Box Elder was good last year, they have the numbers.”

Big Sandy opened its season with matches at Centerville and the Belt Preseason Tournament last weekend. The 6C East tournament will be held in Chester at the end of October.

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The 2017 Harlem High School football team poses for a team photo last month in Harlem. The Wildcats have had limited success in football in recent seasons, and they graduated two All-State players from last year's team. So life in the District 2B will once again be an uphill climb for the Wildcats this fall.

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Box Elder becoming a true threat on the volleyball court

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Box Elder volleyball team poses for a team photo last month in Box Elder. The Bears are known as one of the top girls basketball programs in Class C, but they are also rising in volleyball. Box Elder has a record number of girls out for volleyball this fall, including a host of returning starters, and after a much-improved 2016 season, there's no doubt, volleyball may become yet another sport in which Box Elder dominates.

Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The Box Elder volleyball program has been building over the past few seasons, both in talent and in numbers and in 2017, the Bears might finally be ready to break out in the District 6C East.

Last season, the Bears were still in the middle of the pack in the 6C East, but they managed to go 8-7 in the regular season and finished fourth in the district standings, yet came up short of advancing to the Northern C Divisional Tournament. However, one big change the Bears will undertake this season is new head coach Desiree Sutherland, who takes over a roster that will feature more than 30 players in 2017.

“I have been around volleyball for a long time, it’s something that kind of runs in my family. It’s what we do for fun,” Sutherland said. “But I think we have a good group of girls. We have some really good athletes and I think they just need that little extra push to get to that next level.”

While Chinook and North Star should both

be strong again in the district this season, Box Elder does return one of the eight AllConference players back this season in Lilly Gopher. Gopher, a junior who also stars on the basketball court for the Bears, has the potential to be as good as any individual in the 6C. Yet, Gopher is far from the only talented returning player for Box Elder. Maddie Wolf Chief will be another key player for the Bears, along with Eve The Boy, Joelnell Momberg, Maia Henderson and Sarah Parisian. The other players for Box Elder will be Tallen Oats, Teyler Swan, Trystan Abeita, Zayna Henderson and Alexcia Eagleman.

“I think that we have a really solid foundation,” Sutherland said. “Now we are just working with the girls on the fine details is what we are really trying to do. We want to stop losing time I guess, we want to pick up the tempo.”

Box Elder may have some returning talent, but the Bears are still likely looking up to Chinook and North Star in the standings, at least considering where things stand now.

However, Box Elder does have a lot of room for improvement and with all their athleticism, the potential is there.

“I think that we are really going to compete this year,” Sutherland said. “I think that this is a really good group of girls. This is a really athletic group of girls and I think once we get through some of that detail work and some of fundamentals down, I think we can do some really good things out this season.”

Another good sign of things to come in Box Elder are the overall numbers in the program. According to Sutherland, the Bears have 33 girls out to play and in addition to having a junior varsity team, they are also looking for freshman games.

“We have 33 girls out and that is something that is unheard of in Box Elder,” Sutherland said. “Normally Box Elder has a hard time fielding a JV team, at least that’s how it was in the past, now we are trying to find C-squad games, so that is exciting.”

Box Elder opened its season last month and will also play in the North Star Jamboree. The season culminate with the 6C East tournament in October in Chester.

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Beeters working hard to reload their proud football program Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com Just two years ago, the Chinook Sugarbeeters were the dominant team in 8-Man football, but now, the Beeters are just trying to find their way back to the playoffs, after missing out a season ago.

Yet, getting back will be no easy task.

Over the years, Chinook has lost some of its best players and now, the Beeters will also need to replace Scott Friede, who led the Beeters to consecutive state title games and an 8-Man championship in 2015.

Friede was replaced by his former defensive coordinator Christian Lehnert, who was actually the interim coach at the end of last season’s 2-7 campaign.

“Right now, we have a lot of young guys,” Lehnert said. “Obviously, we want to try and work our way into the top 2-3 teams, but there are a couple of teams that are well above the pack. I think that it’s going to be tough, but we are hoping to work our way into the mix.”

One thing that will make it more challenging for the Beeters is the lack of an experienced quarterback. With Ian McIntosh and Kade Friede, Chinook had experienced signal callers the past few seasons, but this year, there will be some new blood as Steven Mulonet and Trajan Hannum will be competing for the job.

“We sort of need to figure out how to get them both on the field,” Lehnert said. “So they might be a running back or a wide receiver they might be both get some snaps at quarterback.”

However, replacing All-State running back Tate Niederegger will also be a challenge.

Joining either Hannum or Mulonet in the backfield will be the likes of James Christensen and J.J. Colby, who will play fullback. Others who could compete for carries are Chase Moxley and Sam Dumas. At tight end, the Beeters will go with Carson Powell and Brendan Edwards. Lenhert also said the team will be looking for some players to step up on the offensive line, too.

“We are lacking a little size on the O-line,” Lenhert said. “I think we are looking at juniors and sophomores up front. It’s a full-on battle to see who is going to play there. It’s going to come down to who wants to play

the most. We did have to lose a senior who couldn’t play anymore because of injury, so that was a tough day.”

Of course, the Northern C has always been tough, but after the addition of Choteau and Rocky Boy from Class B, as well as Box Elder from Six-Man, should be even more challenging. The league did also lose Power-Dutton-Brady, which dropped down to Six-Man. Yet, it still leaves 12 teams overall and just four playoff spots. To determine those spots, the Northern C opted to split teams in two sub-divisions. Sub-division A features Belt, Box Elder, Chester-Joplin-In-

verness, Choteau, Great Falls Central and Hays-Lodge Pole. Chinook’s sub-division, sub-division B, has Cascade, Centerville, Fort Benton, Rocky Boy and Simms.

Each team in the Northern C will play a total of eight games, two cross division games to start the season that are nonconference, as well as five games within each respective sub-division. Then, the final week of the season, teams will play someone from the other sub-division. The second and third place teams in each subdivision will take part in a play-in game for the 8-Man playoffs, while the top team

in each sub-division will meet for the top overall seed. The teams finishing lower will face the same seeded team in the opposite conference.

“It will be nice for us to have that bye week,” Lenhert said, “and I like what the conference did. I am a competitor, so I don’t have any problem playing that other game. I think it will be good for those teams to earn their way into the playoffs.”

Chinook opened its season against Choteau amd arch rival Chester-Joplin-Inverness. The Beeters host Cascade at Hoon Field this weekend.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Chinook Sugarbeeters football team poses for a team photo last month in Chinook. Just two seasons removed from their last Class C state championship, Chinook is fighting to stay among the top teams in the revamped Northern C. This fall, Chinook also has a new head coach in former assistant Christian Lenhert.

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Chinook has what it takes to A new season, and a new stay on top in local volleyball kind of football for the Bears Box Elder makes the jump to 8-man football Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com For four straight years, no one in the District 6C East has been able to unseat the Chinook Sugarbeeters from the top of the conference. Four years is a long, long time, and to the rest of the district, it must feel like an eternity.

Yes, volleyball success has been plentiful for the Beeters, and with another loaded team, they show no signs of giving up their 6C East crown without a fight.

Veteran head coach Molli Rose returns an

outstanding and talented group of players, and she knows her team has a chance to be successful yet again — on and off the court.

“There’s great potential for this team, they’re a great group,” Rose said. “But overall, my goal for them is to not only have a successful season on the court, but off it, too.

I want them to be great volleyball players and great people.”

No doubt, Rose has plenty of both. She returns a solid core of experienced varsity players, including Sierra Swank, Carrie Hofer and Erin Pula. Swank is an All-Conference performer who will do the setting as well as play outside. Hofer is a strong libero, while Pula,

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Chinook Sugarbeeters pose for their team photo last month in Chinook.

The Beeters have won four consecutive District 6C East championships and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Chinook is also the host of the 2017 Northern C Divisional in November. who missed last season with an injury, gives the Beeters a strong presence in the middle.

But the talent and fun doesn’t end there.

Chinook also has one of the top players in all of the Northern C in Kourtney Hanson.

“She’s going to be a big presence for us at the net, on both sides,” Rose said of her returning All-State standout.

No question, the Beeters have talent, but they also have depth, and the likes of Megan Molyneaux and Rachel Gunderson will also play key roles in Chinook’s powerful system.

In fact, every varsity player will have an impact on the upcoming season.

“They’ll all have to play key roles,” Rose said. “I think we’re going to be a very strong passing team, and I believe the game really starts with that. So that’s one of our strengths and we’ll grow as a team from there. I think we have a lot of potential to do very well this season.”

So does everyone else in the 6C East. Most coaches favor Chinook to win a fifth straight 6C East title, but with a talented North Star team back, as well as CJI, Big Sandy and Box Elder looking much-improved this fall, Rose sees things a little differently.

“I think every team in our district is tough,” Rose said.

“You have to show up every night, and we’re certainly not going to take anyone lightly. Our whole district is going to be tough.”

Chinook opened the season with a non-conference match against Fort Benton and the Malta Invitational.

The Beeters will host the Chinook Invite this week.

The 2017 season leads up to the 6C East Tournament Oct. 26-27 in Chester.

Chinook is the host of this year’s Northern C Divisional Tournament the following week, while the Beeters hope to be at the Class C State Tournament is Nov. 9-11 in Bozeman.

The past few seasons must seem like a whirlwind for the Box Elder football program. Two years ago, the team made the playoffs for the first time in decades, then suddenly played for the Six-Man state championship.

But after losing the best class of football players it ever had, Box Elder struggled in 2016, before being moved up to 8-Man football before the start of 2017. But through it all, the Bears have found a home in the Northern C, which will provide both new challenges and exciting possibilities.

“I think that there are some really good parts about it,” Box Elder head coach Neal Rosette Jr. said of the move to 8-Man football. “One thing is that it opens up more positions on the field for kids. We obviously need to make sure we have numbers overall, but when we do, we will be able to get more kids out there. There are obviously some big challenges. It’s a different game and we need to build up our numbers over the years, but we also have some new rivalries that we can develop and that will be exciting, too.”

One of the most exciting things about this season is the fact that the Bears will get to play Rocky Boy. The schools, which are just a short distance from each other, play each season at the start of basketball and this year at least, they opened the season Aug. 25 in Box Elder.

“It’s kind of weird because we are not in the same division,” Rosette said. “But at least this year we will get to play them and that will be an exciting thing for both schools.”

In terms of numbers, the Bears have some work to do, but to start the season, they had 11. Yet, according to Rosette, those numbers would go up, especially after the start of school.

“I told the kids, we will play with eight if we only have eight,” Rosette said. “We have 11 right now that will be able to play, so we are going to be a little low to start the season, but after kids get all their practices in, our numbers will grow.”

Rosette Jr. said that the Bears were a young team, but that team wasn’t totally lacking in experience. Quarterback Jerrell Anderson will be back for his junior season, along with fellow junior Seth Duran, who saw time on both sides of the ball and could

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Box Elder football team poses for a photo before the start of the new season. Just two years ago, the Bears were playing for a Class C Six-Man state championship. Now however, Box Elder enters 8-man football and will play in the toughest division in Class C, the Northern C. see time at running back. Another running back will be sophomore Chris Burns, who will be expected to help carry the load.

Tanner Parisian is another that will play a key role on both offense and defense.

“We are going to have to have that next man up mentality,” Rosette said. “We are going to have seven freshmen and seven sophomores, so we are going to have to get them ready to go at full strength.”

With the Bears moved up to the 8-Man football and the Northern C, the conference now has a total of 12 teams. Box Elder is in the Northern C A sub-division along with Belt, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Hays-Lodge Pole, Great Falls Central and Choteau. The other sub-division B includes Cascade, Centerville, Chinook, Fort Benton, Rocky Boy and Simms. The top three teams in each sub-division will play for playoff spots in the final week of the season, while the firstplace team in each sub-division will get an automatic berth and a chance to play for the top playoff seed.

Box Elder opened its season at home with a renwewed rivalry against an old foe, the Rocky Boy Stars, who were also playing their first 8-Man game in a long time.

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BLUE PONY GOLF SCHEDULE Sept. 8

at Lewistown (V-JV) Pine Meadows 9:30 a.m.

Sept. 14

at Billings Central — Eagle Rock

Sept. 15

at Laurel

Sept. 23

Divisionals — Livingston

Sept. 29-30

State — Sidney

Blue Pony golf teams shining on the course

Talented Havre High girls seeking a Class A trophy on the links George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com For some time now, the Havre High boys golf team has stolen the headlines. That's because the Blue Pony boys have had a long line of very good golfers and teams.

But the 2017 season will certainly belong to the Blue Pony girls.

Havre head coach Brett Gilman returns four outstanding golfers, all with Class A state tournament experience, and, that has Gilman excited for the start of the new season.

“These girls have a lot of experience, they've been to state, played well at divisionals, and they've all put time into it,” Gilman said. “So I'm excited for their season.

This team has the talent and the experience to get a trophy at state.”

The returning group of HHS golfers, Regan Lammers, Grace Litzinger, Teagan Fee and Kinzee Peterson, were all Class A state participants a year ago. Fee also earned Class A All-State honors last season, while all four were Central A All-Conference. And that group, along with newcomers Jocelyn Staples and Makayla Lindbloom, will make a team poised to do big things this fall.

While the Pony girls return a wealth of experience, the same cannot be said for Gilman's boys team. In fact, there are no returning players from last year's squad.

Instead, losses such as two-time All-State golfer Dustin Haas, as well as standouts Kane Gabrielsen and Aden Passon, mean Gilman is now charged with rebuilding the boys program.

But the rebuilding job is already off to a good start, as a host of newcomers have come out for the boys golf team this season, including freshmen Joram Randolph, Trennis Riley, Nolan Lotton, Clint Owens, Caleb

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson

The 2017 Havre High boys and girls golf teams pose for a team photo before the Havre Invitational last month at Prairie Farms Golf Course. The Blue Ponies began their season back on Aug. 13, and have already played in five tournaments so far.

While head coach Brett Gilman has a brand new boys team this fall, his girls team is poised to make a run at a trophy at the Class A state tournament.

Chambliss, Josh Warp and Colby Tilleman.

Sophomores Tyrel Kjserem and Jacob Miller are also out for golf this fall, so Gilman has a lot of potential to work with, and he's hoping this season will be the start of a new beginning in HHS boys golf.

“Really excited about our numbers,” Gilman noted. “There's a lot of potential with those kids, so it will be fun to teach them and watch them grow over the course of this season.”

As for the season itself, the Ponies have been playing since Aug. 13, having already competed in Great Falls, East Glacier,

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Bozeman and Lewistown, as well as meets at both Prairie Farms Golf Course and Beaver Creek. Havre also travels to the Billings Central Invitational and the Laurel Invitational. The Central A Divisional Tournament will be played in Livingston. And the season concludes with the Class A State Tournament Sept. 29-30 in Sidney.

"I'm looking forward to this season," Gilman said. "It's going to be a lot of fun to see how our kids progress and see how far they can take it when it comes to divisionals and state tournament time."