2025 Week 14 (Montana)

Week 14 was going to be a very brief week. Being in northern Montana, there were not many options for games. As it was state championship weekend.

Friday was mostly impossible. Class AA is almost destined to be played in one of the bigger cities around the state. And Class A would be mostly along the interstates through the state. Up north, the only 11-man teams that you find, were in Class B, which is the smallest 11-man teams in the state. Schools like Glasgow or Wolf Point.

But unlike AA and A, who play on Friday night, the Class B title is Saturday afternoon. The other two options, and the only feasible options, were Class C-8 in Scobey and Class C-6 in Grass Range.

Had you asked me earlier in the year if I would give up seeing Grass Range host a state championship game, I wouldn’t have believed it. But this week, I was faced with that dilemma.

And there were several factors that played into my decision to go to Scobey and not to Grass Range. One, was that Scobey is a very difficult location to get to if you’re not purposefully going out of the way to get to it. I was already in Glasgow Friday night. The drive over to Scobey was not that far. At only 97 miles, it was tough to pass up. I’m usually not in this area. My weekend in Poplar, Sidney, Bainville and Brocton was a fluke.

I had been to Grass Range twice before. Aside from Froid/Medicine Lake, it was the only remaining team east of Wolf Point and North of US2 that I hadn’t been to for a game. And no, I’m not counting MonDak as they play in North Dakota, though they’re on my long term list.

I did see Grass Range earlier on the road at Hays-Lodgepole. But at 183 miles south and west of Glasgow, I wasn’t looking forward to a 360 mile round trip for just a single game.

So, on Saturday morning, I left Glasgow and headed east to MT24 and north to Opheim. Along the way, you pass by St. Marie, a town consisting of the old Glasgow Air Force Base. It feels oddly out of place now that an AFB no longer exists there. The formulaic government housing look of a military installation is out of place without the military.

Despite its small size, at one point Opheim did have its own team. But has long since co-oped with Scobey for football. It’s an interesting little town near the Canadian border. Like Scobey, it exists mostly from agriculture. The high prairie of eastern Montana stretch endlessly through the area. Far north of the Missouri River, north of the HI-Line, it’s a unique locale that sometimes blends into the rest of the lands of this area. But distinctly unique.

Prior to their co-op with Scobey, another small school along Secondary Route 248 between Opheim and Scobey. The town of Peerless also had a high school. Peerless closed in 2009. When Opheim joined Scobey in their co-op.

Heading east, approaching town, there were a few Flint Creek fans who had made the very long drive join me on the final few miles into town. Unlike MT13 from Wolf Point, driving into Scobey from Secondary 248 is a much different feel. The prairie opens up from river valley west of town and see some ag buildings and a sports field. A large sign welcoming you to Scobey Country sits at the corner with MT13. Which continued north a dozen or so miles to Canada.

Arriving several hours early, I toured through town. Seeing the entire community decked out in the blue and yellow of the Scobey Spartan colors.

I got to the field well before the rest of the gameday crowd and much of the gameday staff. An MHSA official or two were there, but the teams and officials hadn’t yet. The field sits east of town along MT9, with a decomissioned railroad track running south and east of Plainsmen Field. Following the southeast corner as it curves to the north.

Some fans had staked out their parking spots as they will watch the game from their cars. While many more had claimed spots in the very small stands. The home team claims the north sideline of the east/west running field. And the visitors claim the south which includes the pressbox. With a persistent sun, I would eventually settle on the south sideline with the Flint Creek faithful.

I circled the field a few times. Photographing the haybale helmet with senior numbers on it. The west endzone tree line. And the concession stand/restrooms building behind the home stands. And watched as both team busses arrived at the field. Including the Granite High Prospectors’ bus for Flint Creek which took a lap around the dirt track to reach a spot behind the Flint Creek fans.

The Scobey team arrived on their regular yellow school busses. And made their entrance from the northeast corner as a group. While Flint Creek ran through a smokescreened banner run through.

#54 – Scobey/Opheim v. Drummond/Philipsburg Flint Creek

Now, Flint Creek is a co-op between Granite High located n Philipsburg and Drummond High located in Drummond. The combined team goes by the name Flint Creek Titans. Generally speaking, for a co-op with a combined name, I usually write them as “school” followed by “co-op name”. But Drummond/Philipsburg had this bad habit of being referenced almost as frequently by their town names as they did their co-op name. And rarely still were they called “Drummond/Granite” using the actual names of the two schools. I, however, decided Drummond/Philipsburg Flint Creek was the most appropriate way to reference them online to avoid any confusion on who they were or where they’re from. That is before auto-correct decided that my previous use of Phillipsburg being more appropriate than their actual town’s name of Philipsburg. And I did not catch that error for quite some time.

Flint Creek and Scobey were no strangers to state title games. The Titans were undefeated in the five state title games they had appeared in. Including a 2020 victory over the same Scobey Spartans they’d face today. Meanwhile, Scobey was 3-3 in state titles, both before and during a co-op with Opheim.

As the game started, I felt good about my decision driving to Scobey. The game was 8-6 going into the second quarter. And then Scobey added a few scores without two-point tries to go up 24-8 at the break.

It wasn’t that the game was one-sided. Flint Creek had their moments. But it began slipping from them as Scobey just made the pay. Meanwhile, I was watching from afar as updates from grass range trickled in. While Scobey/Opheim wins their 4th state championship, 48-16. Handing Flint Creek their first ever state championship game loss.

Montana Spotlight: Scobey/Opheim dominates Drummond/Philipsburg Flint Creek, 48-16 to win 8-Man Title (PHOTO GALLERY)

As the presentations and awards were handled on the field, I kept an eye on Grass Range. The game was closer, with more stoppages in 6-man, and Grass Range’s lead was tenuous.

As the visitors filtered off the field with their team. The home fans lingered. Soaking it all in. The sun setting low as the field lights remained dark. An eerie calm mixed with the jubilation. And the updates from Grass Range continued. A tie game. Going to overtime. A nail-biter if there ever was one.

And then another overtime. A score by CJI made it 46-38. And Grass Range would suffer their first loss of the 2025 season. At home in the state championship game. Grass Range and Chester-Joplin-Inverness were both going for their first ever state titles.

I know my impartiality would have been tested. As I really wanted to see Grass Range win the title. Years ago, they made a state semifinal. Where a victory would have assured them of hosting the state final. And I had committed to making the trip from Ohio if that were the case. And this time, I was in Montana just four hours or so away.

That small field in a prairie was hosting a state title game. A great title game.

But it is what it is. Instead, I stood on the field in Scobey. Just admiring what I loved most about this far-reaching sport. No matter where you are, no matter the schools, no matter the states, it’s still the same.

And I had a good day.

ECONOMICS

I don’t have my notebook to add up my totals for the trip. When I get it, I will add these. With one game, for only one day, the costs were negligible. I bought something to drink at the concession stand. And I had driven just from Glasgow Scobey.