Montana Prep Football Rankings: Sept. 28

And just like that, the rush for Class AA state football gold appears destined to run through Helena’s Vigilante Stadium — without a clear-cut home team.

At least, that’s the way it looked Friday night, when Helena and Helena Capital both flexed their muscles against ranked opposition. No. 2 Capital’s 35-27 shootout over No. 3 Kalispell Glacier went according to chalk, but chalk up unranked Helena’s 35-7 romp over top-ranked and two-time defending state champion Missoula Sentinel as the all-class stunner of the season.

The upshot: For the first time, the capital city teams hold down the top two slots in the weekly 406mtsports.com rankings. In case you’re wondering, the last time Helena and Capital (5-0) squared off for the state title was … never.

Class AA: No. 2 Helena’s shocker over No. 3 Sentinel (4-1) didn’t jostle the order much, except to vault the Bengals. Previous No. 4 Glacier (3-2) slipped a notch and Great Falls CMR was sent packing after falling to Billings Senior.   

Upcoming Class AA game of the week: Helena doesn’t have any time to rest on its newly acquired laurels, thanks to a tough trip to the Glacier Wolfpack den Friday night. 

Class A: In the land of the haves and have-nots, the haves breezed through their games — again — by margins of 31, 37, 68, and 49 points. No. 5 Columbia Falls (4-0) probably faced the toughest test inasmuch as the Wildcats spent the bye week practicing — against each other.

Upcoming Class A game of the week: The north end of Flathead Lake is the place to be Friday night, when No. 4 Polson’s (5-0) juggernaut offense goes head-to-head with Columbia Falls in a battle of unbeatens.

Class B: The shell game in the state’s wackiest class continued last week, this time shifting in the wake of Townsend’s topping of Jefferson (3-2) for the Elkhorn Trophy. Bigfork (4-0) sits firm at No. 1 after trouncing defending 8-Man champion Thompson Falls 65-6.

Upcoming Class B game of the week: Jefferson will face its fifth consecutive ranked team in No. 8 Big Timber (4-1), which took care of Three Forks 32-14 in its second week in the rankings.

The rankings for Sept. 28:

Class AA

1. Capital (5-0) 
2. Helena (4-1)
3. Missoula Sentinel (3-0)
4. Glacier (3-1)
5. Billings West (3-2)

Class A

1. Hamilton (5-0)
2. Lewistown (5-0)
3. Billings Central (5-0)
4. Polson (5-0)
5. Columbia Falls (4-0)

Class B

1. Bigfork (4-0)
2. Townsend (4-1)
3. Florence-Carlton (4-1) 
4. Jefferson (3-2)
5. Huntley Project (5-0)