Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
Anyone that truly loves football along the Hi-Line might want to take notice of new Harlem head football coach Ron Latray, and not just because Latray has taken over the Wildcats football program. Latray, in addition to coaching the Wildcats in the fall, hopes to create an expansion team for the Rocky Mountain Football semi-professional league in the Hi-Line area. Latray is the former head coach of the Glacier Knights, an RMFL team that he and his wife founded before the 2006 season. However, the team has struggled so far, posting back-to-back 0-8 seasons in the first two years of its existence. “My wife and I founded the Glacier Knights team and that was our baby,” Latray said. “But now I have decided to turn it over to the players. I am really excited about the chance to coach in Harlem, but (the RMFL) is something that I am still interested in and I want to see if there is even the possibility of a forming a team in this area.” Montana currently has five teams participating in the RMFL AA league. Last season the Bitterroot Blaze defeated the Missoula Phoenix to become the first-ever team from Montana to win a championship in the league. The Knights, the Helena Titans and the Great Falls Gladiators combine with the Blaze and Phoenix to make up all five on Montana’s teams. However, Latray feels that there are plenty of prospective places in Montana for the league to expand into. The league, which started in Idaho has expanded to have teams in Utah, Nevada and Wyoming as well as Montana. He thinks that Bozeman, Billings, Butte and even the Hi-Line can enter into the league that currently has 21 operating franchises across the five states. The league isn’t a big money-maker and is followed by little fanfare, but it simply provides an opportunity for people to continue playing the game of football. “I mean there are players from all ages playing in the league,” Latray explained. “I know of players from the ages of anywhere from 18 to 64 years old that participate.” The regular season begins in early April and runs until June. Then following the regular season, there is around a month of postseason play to determine the two league champions, along with an all-star game sometime in July. “We will see if it has a chance to be a reality in this area,” Latray said. “But most of the people that I speak with seem to be interested in getting involved with a team as either a player or coach, whether it is a kid just out of high school or college or a middleaged man. “It really comes down to how many people are truly interested in playing,” he added. “And also what kind of interest could be generated from local businesses to get involved as sponsors. Right now it is just an idea that I am kind of throwing around.”
