George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
The dog days of summer are just beginning, but all around Havre and along the Hi-Line, today marks the official beginning of the fall sports season. Today in Havre, the Havre High football team will practice for the first time, and across Montana Class AA and A football teams will open practices in preparation for Aug. 29 or 30th season-opening games. Today is also the day that the Montana State University-Northern football team gets back to work. The Lights open fall camp today, and will conduct their first full practice on Saturday evening. MSU-N's season-opener isn't until Sept. 6 when the Lights travel to Billings to take on Rocky Mountain College. Monday will also be a busy day for the rest of the high school fall sports. Monday is the first day that volleyball, cross country and Class AA and A golf teams are allowed to practice. Class B and Class C football also begins on Monday. The first official high school competitions of the season are allowed to begin on Aug. 23, and the Havre High golf teams will be in action immediately, as the Blue Ponies travel to the prestigious two-day 36-hole Great Falls Invitational. The Ponies are under the direction of first-year head coach Jeff Jensen, who takes over the program form longtime head coach Karla Bolken. Jensen is the only new head coach at HHS for the 2008-90 school year. Meanwhile, the regular season for B and C football doesn't begin until Sept. 4, and of interest on the Hi-Line this year, the Big Sandy Pioneers will drop from Class C eight-man football to sixman, and the Box Elder Bears will field a junior varsity program but as of press time, will not play a varsity schedule. Box Elder did not complete its full schedule in 2007. As for Havre High, the HHS football team opens its season on the road with Whitefish on Aug. 30 and the HHS volleyball and cross country teams also open on the road that weekend. There are also upcoming Blue/White Scrimmages before the regular season begins.
