Page 19 - Flathead Beacon // 11.2.16

TOP Hot Springs players sing the team’s ght song after their playo victory. BOTTOM Fans celebrate a Hot Springs touchdown.
LEFT Savage Heat players are introduced before the game.
“It’s the spirit of the school and the community spirit,” he said, looking out at the eld and the crowd, which included ranchers, retirees and local businesspeo- ple, many of whom didn’t even have kids playing or in school but still came out to hoot and holler and rattle cowbells, win or lose.
“This is quintessential hometown America. It is just really neat to get out
million people spread across 147,000
square miles, there are 105 Class C high schools representing the smallest communities in Big Sky Country.
In Class C, six-man football is the smallest classi cation, below 8-man and
11-man, the latter category featuring schools in Class AA, Class A and Class B. Montana is one of only ve states with sanctioned six-man football, along with Texas, Wyoming, Colorado and New
Mexico.
To eld a six-man team in Montana,
a school cannot have more than 65 stu- dents. In 2014, there were 36 programs; this fall, there are 30 from tiny towns in all corners of the landscape, from Eka- laka to Bainville, Fromberg, Valier and Box Elder. For communities that are even too small to eld a half-dozen play- ers, the nearby schools can partner up for co-op teams, like Stanford-Geyser-Den- ton, Grass Range-Winnett and Mon-Dak, which features players from Westby and Grenora, North Dakota.
Hot Springs and Mon-Dak in particu- lar have developed a special familiarity after colliding in the playo s in recent years, and when the two teams play it requires a trip spanning more than 780 miles.
Six-man football is slightly di erent than the other classi cations. For exam- ple, the eld is 80 yards long and 40 yards wide compared to the standard size of 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide. With six players on the eld for each team, every- one on o ense is eligible to receive a pass, including the center and other linemen. Yet the quarterback, or whoever receives the snap, cannot directly forward the ball beyond the line of scrimmage. After a touchdown, it’s one point for running or throwing an extra point, while kicks are
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nd appreciate something like this.”
NOVEMBER 2, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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