Montana Prep Football Rankings: Sept. 28
Class A remains the land of unbeaten teams, including Columbia Falls and Polson, who face off this week
By 406mtsports.com
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
- Capital (5-0)
- Helena (4-1)
- Missoula Sentinel (3-0)
- Glacier (3-1)
- Billings West (3-2)
Class A
- Hamilton (5-0)
- Lewistown (5-0)
- Billings Central (5-0)
- Polson (5-0)
- Columbia Falls (4-0)
Class B
- Bigfork (4-0)
- Townsend (4-1)
- Florence-Carlton (4-1)
- Jefferson (3-2)
- Huntley Project (5-0)