While new memories were being made, last weekend’s East-West Shrine Football Game brought back a lot of good memories for Grady Bennett. Bennett played in the East-West Shrine football game in 1986 when he was an all-state quarterback for Flathead. He returned in 1997 and 2007 as an assistant coach from Flathead High. Now the head football coach at Glacier, Bennett was in Great Falls this year for the 66th annual event as the head coach for the West.
“It was a dream come true,” Bennett said. “I told the kids, make sure you understand how special it is to be a part of this game and how much of a privilege and honor it is and don’t take it for granted and they didn’t. It was a really good experience.”
Every summer the best high school football players from across Montana come together to participate in the Shrine game. Playing in the de facto all-star game has become a distinctive honor over the last 66 years. It’s the longest running Shrine game in the nation and has raised over $1 million for the Shriners Hospital in Spokane, Wash., where 20 percent of the patients are from Montana.
The East regained its dominance this year, winning 23-12. The victory was the East’s first since 2008 and improved its all-time series advantage to 37-29.
The defeat was bittersweet for Bennett, who faced an old friend and former teammate one last time. Mark Sulser, who resigned as head coach of Billings Senior after 14 years to become an assistant principal at a local middle school, was head coach for the East. Sulser and Bennett were roommates at the University of Montana and played together for the Grizzlies. They both hoped to coach together some day but ended up facing off from opposing sidelines throughout their prep coaching careers. Bennett got the best of Sulser during last year’s state playoffs when Glacier beat Senior 24-10 at home. But Sulser picked up one final victory last weekend.
“I congratulated him and said I hate to lose but if I was going to lose to anybody, I’m glad it a was against him,” Bennett said.
This year’s game featured 13 seniors from Northwest Montana. Flathead’s George Sherwood caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Polson’s Vince DiGiallonardo with 5:35 remaining. Columbia Falls linebacker Josh Folsom had a unique experience and was inducted into the Shriners organization the same night he played in the game. Other local participants were: Flathead’s Nick Reilly, Glacier’s Luke Halliburton and Caleb Harris, Columbia Falls’ Austin Barth, Whitefish’s Gage Vasquez and Maxl Smith, Bigfork’s Cody Dopps and Dillon Fraley, Libby’s Sawyer Zimmerman and Polson’s Josiah Clairmont and Paul McClurg. Glacier’s Anthony Gugliuzza was selected to play but sideline by an injury.