From the Fringe: A jam-packed what we saw, what we'll see

What we saw? This past weekend in Havre, we saw almost too much to wrap our heads around. But, on one of those ultra-special weekends in our area, we sure tried to take it all in.

I would be remised to not start out by mentioning how great the football was all week long on the Hi-Line. It started with Chinook storming back to beat Power-Dutton-Brady late Wednesday night at Hoon Field. And that's after the game was postponed for nearly an hour because of a vicious thunderstorm, and after the Sugarbeeters fell behind 21-0. From there, however, Chinook kept its hopes of winning the Northern C title alive, as the Beeters defense shut the Titans down the rest of the way, and sent the Chinook senior class out of their home stadium with a win.

Then, of course, there was the weekend in Blue Pony Stadium. It's breast cancer awareness month, and both Havre High and MSU-Northern football player, coaches and cheerleaders showed their support in both games, as did so many fans. Pink athletic tape, wristbands, mouth guards, hair ribbons, pom poms and much more were part of both Friday night and Saturday afternoon's football games.

And the games themselves were special. Both the Ponies and Lights badly needed to win this weekend, and they both did just that. Havre was dominant from start to finish, and it was exciting to see the Ponies cherish such a decisive victory. Meanwhile, the Lights were locked in a dogfight with Montana Tech, all the way to the end. But in the end, Northern triumphed, and got a much-needed, and first Frontier Conference win of 2014.

And here's something that might not have made it into Monday's sports pages regarding the Lights 37-34 win. It turns out, on a day that was extremely rough on the kickers, that Northern senior Jordan Rueschhoff's 25-yard field goal in the second quarter turned out to be three critical points. On the other hand, Montana Tech kicker Matt Berg had a horrific day, missing two extra points, and two field goals, including what would have been a game-tying kick with just seconds left in Saturday's game. However, had Rueschhoff not booted his through earlier, Berg would have been kicking to win the game at the end, and who knows how that might have unfolded.

Speaking of pink, few sports programs in Montana do it better than the MSU-Northern volleyball team when it comes to raising cancer awareness. Saturday night, the Skylights wore their pink uniforms in their Frontier Conference match against Montana Tech. I know the weekend didn't go as planned for Northern on the court, but their "Dig Pink" night has become a great tradition, and one that I know everyone appreciates greatly.

I also have to mention all of the supporters and fans of Havre sports. This was a huge weekend in Havre, and the fans showed up. Thursday night college basketball games this early in the season might not be high on fans' priority lists, but Northern fans are different, and they turned out well to see the Lights and Skylights play Thursday night, as well as the Lights play on a rare Friday afternoon, and the Skylights on a rare Sunday night. Of course, the football and volleyball games were very well attended as well, and all of Havre's great fans certainly made a fun and busy sports weekend even more memorable.

And the action isn't over either.

This weekend, we'll see the MSU-Northern wrestling team in action for the first time Thursday night, while the Pony football team celebrates senior night against Browning Friday. Watching the Havre High senior football players walk the field after their last home is a special thing, and I encourage everyone to stick around for that.

There's also big Havre High volleyball matches Saturday, and big high school football games all weekend. There's a huge showdown between Chinook and Chester/J-I Saturday night in Chester, as well as a big rivalry game between North Star and Big Sandy Saturday in Rudyard. It's the last weekend of the regular season in Class B and C volleyball too.

So while we saw so much this past weekend, and it was so much fun, starting Thursday night, we're going to turn around and do it all over again.