Signing Day 2016: Havre's Rismon becomes a Bulldog

Signing day is always a special day of the year for college football fans. Rosters become finalized and recruits at long last, have an official destination, most of them anyway.

And while most of the college football world will be focused on where the big-name, five-star recruits sign, Hi-Line sports fans will be interested in the final landing spot of a number of talented local players, who shined on the gridiron.

One such player is Havre High's Nate Rismon, who recently signed a national NAIA letter of intent to play football for the UM-Western. Rismon, who earned Central A All-Conference and Class A All-State honors this past season, chose between Western and Montana State University-Northern.

"I am really excited, it feels like a lot weight is finally lifted off," Rismon said. "When I went down there (Dillon), I really liked it and I really like the coach. So I am really looking forward to it.

Rismon was outstanding this past season for the Ponies as he hauled in 47 receptions for 1,002 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also added three rushing touchdowns and returned a kickoff for a score. The senior, who also plays basketball and runs track for the Ponies, said the academics at Western really swayed him as well as the coaching staff's belief in his abilities.

"I really like the block system that they have down there," Rismon said. "I am not sure what I want to do, so I think that will really help. I also really like the town, Dillon is kind of a small town just like Havre, so that won't be too different. It will be hard to leave home, but I really like the coaches and the way they talked about using me."

Rismon said he is hopeful that he will get a chance to play next season and said if he doesn't get on the field as a receiver, there was a possibility of his playing on special teams. He also said he was ready to make the difficult transition from Class A football to the Frontier Conference.

"I think the biggest thing I am going to have to get used to is the speed," Rismon said. "There are a lot better athletes and when I talked to coach (Mark) Samson, he said the speed of the game was one of the biggest differences."

However, Rismon isn't the only football player from the area to continuing his career in the Frontier Conference next season, in fact, there are a slew of Hi-Line players who will join the NAIA conference next season.

The most notable might be Justin May of Chester/J-I. May, who played a number of positions for the Hawks, including running back, wide receiver, kick returner, punt returner and defensive back, signed recently to play for Montana Tech.

May put together a stellar career for the Hawks, rushing for more than 3,000 yards and averaging a ridiculous 6.6 yards per carry. He also finished his four years of high school with more than 1,000 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns, as well as five kickoff return touchdowns to his credit as well.

Yet, May was not the only player from the Northern C to sign to play college football, in fact, four members of the Chinook Sugarbeeters, who won the 8-Man state title this past season, will move on to play at the collegiate level.

The Beeters, who posted a perfect 12-0 record this past season, will send All-State quarterback Ian McIntosh as well as receiver/linebacker Jake Norby to Presentation College, which is an NAIA program located in South Dakota that competes in the North Star Athletic Association.

McIntosh went 22-3 as a starting quarterback that last two seasons for Chinook and turned into a dangerous dual-threat option, while Norby was a key contributor for the Beeters on both offense and defense.

In addition to McIntosh and Norby, Kenny Pruttis, who played wide receiver/tight end for the Beeters, will also be playing at the college level for MSU-Northern. Last season, he was stellar for the Beeters, catching 30 passes for 365 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also caught three touchdowns in the state championship game.

And last but not least from Chinook, offensive/defensive lineman Kevin Young has also made a verbal commitment to play football at North Dakota State College of Science, a two-year junior college located in Wahpeton, North Dakota.

Young, who is the all-time sack lead in Chinook, said he chose to go to junior college because he wanted a couple of years to adjust to playing 11-man football after playing 8-man throughout high school.

"My goal is go there and play for a couple years," Young said, "and then hopefully move on to play for a Division One school. I think it's hard to go from playing 8-man to 11-man right away. So I want to learn the 11-man game a little bit more and see where that takes me."

Another Hi-Line product, Payton Peterson of North Star, announced Wednesday, that he will also continue his playing days at MSU-Northern. Peterson, an All-Conference two-way player for the Knights, will join former teammate Jaxon Simonson on the Lights' squad next fall.