Page 18 - Flathead Beacon // 11.2.16

H OT SPRINGS — On Saturday morn- ing, Steve Johnson grabbed his co ee mug, coat and cush- ioned bleacher seat and got into his car in White sh. He drove south through the Flathead Valley and traced the big lake before turning at Elmo, winding south into the high, wide prairie of Sanders County. In this open landscape, homes are as sparse as cellular service. Instead it’s mostly chaparral and sage, cattle and even a herd of bison roaming the farm- land and rolling hills that rise in the hori- zon. A few horses stand frozen in solitude. Hawks perch atop wooden power lines. A small sign along Montana Highway 28
reads, “Don’t Despair We’re Located in the Middle of Nowhere.”
After about 80 miles, Johnson arrived at the junction of Highway 77, marked by a white sign painted in bold, black letters, “We Are Proud Of Our Savage Heat.” Turning west, the two-mile road- way funnels into the isolated outpost of Hot Springs, population 547.
On this overcast Saturday in late fall, a few businesses were open, including the historic Symes Hotel and Alameda’s Hot Springs Retreat, where guests dipped into the namesake thermal pools that put this
destination on the map. But most places, like Six Shooter Pizza, were temporarily closed for the biggest event in town. Even the woman behind the counter at the liquor store had one topic on her mind.
It was game day.
Johnson joined the nearly 100 peo- ple who gathered at the football eld behind the lone school in the heart of town. The Class C six-man high school playo s were kicking o and the unde- feated Savage Heat of Hot Springs were hosting the North Star Knights, whose 12 players journeyed nearly 300 miles
from north-central Montana to take on the Heat’s roster of 15. Four years after winning the school’s rst and only state championship, the Heat are back in the title hunt, creating a buzz around town and igniting the thrill of small-town football.
“(Six-man football is) amazing. It’s so wide open. It’s big scores. There’s trick- ery and so much strategy,” said Johnson, a lifelong football fan who frequently travels to watch Class C games across the state. “They are really fun to watch.”
The unconventional action of six-man football wasn’t the only reason Johnson drove nearly an hour-and-a-half to watch Hot Springs instead of staying home to catch the Griz game or another college football matchup on television.
“THIS IS QUINTESSENTIAL HOMETOWN AMERICA.”
- WHITEFISH RESIDENT AND SIX-MAN FOOTBALL FAN STEVE JOHNSON
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NOVEMBER 2, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
COVER
SAVAGE HEAT
THE SPIRIT OF SIX-MAN
IN THE RURAL OUTPOST OF HOT SPRINGS, 6-MAN FOOTBALL REIGNS SUPREME AS A SOURCE OF SUCCESS AND PRIDE
BY DILLON TABISH • PHOTOS BY GREG LINDSTROM