Montana High School Football: Upsets and Surprises into Quarterfinals

Quarterfinals: Montana High School Football Playoffs

The first rounds are wrapped up, and the competition heats up as we head into the quarterfinals.

Class AA

The teams from the West have swept every matchup against the East, and it’ll all fall on West and Gallatin to hold down the fort for their Eastern rivals as they’re outnumbered 6-2.

Surprise in Bozeman as the #4 Hawks fall to #5 Missoula Sentinel on Friday 19-42, part of a dominant performance by the Western side of the state. While Bozeman’s season is over, Sentinel will continue on to play #1 Helena Capital in the second round.

#2 West will invite #3 Missoula Big Sky into Billings as Big Sky passed through #6 Senior 34-13. West is one of two teams left from the Eastern end of the state, and they’ll look to advance to the quarterfinals with a win on Friday at Daylis.

#5 CMR must’ve been copying Senior’s playbook, just changing it slightly as they scored one fewer point against Helena in their 34-12 loss. Helena will travel to Bozeman to take on the undefeated #1 Gallatin in their quarterfinal matchup
#6 Butte pulled out their upset card, taking down #3 Great Falls 17-21. They’ll travel to Kalispell to take on #2 Glacier in a Western matchup.

Class A

Class A sees chalk as the higher seeds take care of business in the first round.
#4 Whitefish narrowly escapes elimination as they beat #5 Bigfork 24-21. They’ll travel into Billings to take on the #1, undefeated Central Rams from the East.

#3 Fergus handles their business against #6 Custer County, beating the Rebels 37-7. Motivated and with momentum on their side, the Golden Eagles will face a tough matchup against #2 Beaverhead County in their quarterfinal matchup.

Get our free mobile app

#4 Havre took down #5 East Helena 42-19, and they’ll look to take down the top seed in the West, Frenchtown, on Friday. Havre has the opportunity to knock off the top dog from the West and help the East find the top step this season.

Laurel had the week off after claiming the #2 seed, and they’ll welcome in #3 Columbia Falls for their first matchup of the postseason. Columbia Falls took down #6 Corvallis 42-16 on Friday to advance into the quarterfinals.

Class B

A pair of underdogs make it into the quarterfinals in Class B, with #3 Eureka dominating Glasgow 35-14. They’ll move on to face the #1 Manhattan Tigers, who are coming off of a 40-point win over Baker. Eureka will travel to Manhattan for their match on Saturday.

Three Forks joined Eureka in the underdog club, beating #2 Huntley Project 43-6. #3 Three Forks will be heading to Malta to take down the #1 seed, who beat up #4 Thompson Falls out of the west 45-8.

#1 Red Lodge and #2 Loyola both won their first-round matchups, and they’ll meet under the Beartooth Mountains. Red Lodge handled Townsend 35-17, and Loyola took down Conrad 21-12.

#1 Florence took down #4 Fairfield 56-20, and they’ll be hosting #2 Jefferson in their quarterfinal match. Jefferson took down Joliet in their first round 55-10, ending Joliet’s season.

8-Man

The 8-Man bracket saw two #1s fall, opening the doors for lower seeds to step up and advance. #1 Fairview was not one of those, however, as they won by 50 over the #4 Sheridan. They’ll welcome in #3 Choteau who is looking to continue their underdog run after beating #2 Seeley Swan 41-28.

#1 Manhattan Christian was one of the falling behemoths, losing to #4 Scobey 26-18. Scobey will look to maintain the swing of momentum as they head into Fort Benton to take on the #2 team from the north. Fort Benton beat St. Ignatius 32-6 for their advancement to the quarterfinals.

The only #1 vs #2 matchup of the quarterfinals will be #1 Belt welcoming #2 Culbertson. Belt defeated #4 St. Regis 57-6, and they’ll look to continue their roll against Culbertson who comes off a 42-6 win over Ennis.

#1 Valley Christian joins their fallen brothers from Manhattan as Valley Christian loses 24-40 to Chinook in the first round. Chinook will be taking on #2 Drummond from the south, who took down Circle 14-28.