As Montana’s high school football season enters its stretch run, league standings are beginning to crystallize and the true contenders are establishing themselves at the top.
And when the dust settles and the playoffs begin, Glacier, Bigfork and Polson hope to be sitting right where they are in their respective standings, if not higher.
Glacier, ranked third in last week’s Associated Press Class AA power poll, narrowly escaped an upset on Oct. 27, beating Missoula Sentinel 27-24 in overtime to move to 6-1 on the season.
The Wolfpack have three regular season games remaining before the AA playoffs begin on Nov. 4. Next up on Oct. 14 Glacier hosts Great Falls. The Bison are 3-4.
Then on Oct. 21 the Wolfpack travel to Helena Capital for a marquee matchup between two of Class AA’s top-ranked teams. Capital, 6-1, was ranked fourth in last week’s power poll, one spot behind Glacier. Glacier wraps up the regular season Oct. 29 on the road against Missoula Big Sky.
Undefeated Helena, 7-0, continues to sit atop the Class AA standings, followed by Billings West, which slipped past Billings Senior 35-31 over the weekend. Helena beat C.M. Russell 28-7.
Flathead lost to Capital 55-7 to drop to 3-4. The Braves face Bozeman on the road on Oct. 14, followed by an Oct. 21 home game against C.M. Russell and then the final game of the regular season at Missoula Hellgate on Oct. 28.
In Class A, Polson continued its run of dominance over the weekend, blowing past Frenchtown 42-6. The Pirates are now 6-0 on the season, including 3-0 in conference games. They were ranked fourth in the Class A power poll before the Frenchtown game, behind Billings Central, Laurel and top-ranked Dillon.
Billings Central will likely leapfrog Laurel in this week’s poll after defeating the Locomotives 17-14 over the weekend, opening the door for the Pirates to move up in the standings. Dillon remained undefeated after beating Corvallis 39-7.
The Pirates have outscored their opponents 256 to 45 this season, an average of 42.7 points per game to 7.5.
Polson could be tested this weekend at home against Northwestern A No. 2 Libby. The Loggers are 4-3 overall and 2-0 in the conference. The Pirates then finish the regular season on the road against Browning on Oct. 21. The Class A playoffs begin Oct. 29.
Rounding out the Northwestern A standings are Whitefish at 3-3 (1-2), Columbia Falls at 2-5 (0-2) and winless Frenchtown at 0-6 (0-2). The Bulldogs beat Columbia Falls 14-6 over the weekend.
Bigfork, the defending Class B champion, is once again piecing together an impressive season. The Vikings, ranked No. 7 in last week’s power poll, beat district opponent Thompson Falls 42-6 to improve to 5-1, with their sole loss coming in the season opener against Ronan.
The Chiefs defeated fourth-ranked and previously undefeated Missoula Loyola 32-14 on Oct. 7 to move their record up to 5-1. Before the victory, the Chiefs were ranked eighth in Class B and are likely to advance in the standings this week.
The Vikings face Missoula Loyola on Oct. 14 at home, followed by a showdown with district rival Eureka on Oct. 21. The first round of the Class B playoffs is scheduled for Oct. 29.