In Class AA, the top four spots remained the same, with Missoula Sentinel (4-0), Billings West (4-1), Butte (4-1) and Kalispell Glacier (4-1) winning solidly, Sentinel giving coach Dane Oliver a school-record 60th win and Butte’s Casey Kautzman setting a school mark with a 51-yard field goal.
Joining the ranks is surprising Great Falls CMR (4-1) after a noteworthy 36-12 win over Billings Senior after rallying from a two-point halftime deficit.
Upcoming Class AA game of the week: No. 4 Kalispell Glacier (4-1) at Helena (3-2): The Wolfpack will have their hands full against a desperate Bengals team that has suffered two tough defeats after beginning the season with designs on contending for a state title.
Class A saw no movement after all five teams won convincingly against overmatched opponents. Their margins of victory: 37, 42, 54, 36 and 35 points.
No. 1 Hamilton (5-0, vs. East Helena) and No. 4 Whitefish (5-0, vs. Ronan) should keep their perfect records intact this week, but the road gets tougher for the others.
Upcoming Class A game of the week: No. 2 Laurel (4-0) at No. 3 Billings Central (3-0) in an arch-rivalry rematch of last year’s state-title game that would be just as intense if both were winless. Honorable mention: Polson (5-0) will receive its first real test when it hosts a 3-0 Columbia Falls outfit that has outscored its opposition 125-12.
The rankings:
Class AA
- Missoula Sentinel (4-0)
- Billings West (4-1)
- Butte (4-1)
- Glacier (4-1)
- CMR (4-1)
Class A
- Hamilton (5-0)
- Laurel (4-0)
- Billings Central (4-0)
- Whitefish (5-0)
- Polson (5-0)
Class B
- Florence-Carlton (4-0)
- Columbus (4-0)
- Townsend (3-1)
- Fairfield (4-0)
- Bigfork (4-0)
- Eureka (4-1)