Friday Night Lights: Playoffs are on the Way

It might seem hard to believe, but this week is the final week of regular season play for high school football in Montana. Most teams will be wrapping up their seasons this weekend, but many more did so Wednesday, before school was let out for teacher conventions.

The Big Sandy Pioneers were one of the teams that got their game out of the way early, as they played host to the Augusta Elks, with a playoff berth and potentially a home playoff game on the line.

In the end, seventh-ranked Big Sandy overwhelmed the Elks, easily winning the game 43-6 and giving the school its first playoff berth since 2012.

"It's amazing," Big Sandy head coach Ronnie Simpson said. "These kids have worked so hard. They started from day one and they really wanted this. They have been here in the program the past few years and they have worked on the field and in the classroom. And as their coach, I am just really excited for them and for our community."

Big Sandy (7-2, 5-2) hasn't hosted a playoff game since the 2012 Six-Man state championship game. Yet, the Pioneers could also end that drought with a little help from unbeaten Valier. The Panthers, who are the second-ranked team in 6-Man football, will host Power-Dutton-Brady Saturday. Coming into the final week of the season, Big Sandy, Geraldine/Highwood and PDB were all tied for second place in the Six-Man North Division with records of 4-2.

If PBD upsets Valier and Geraldine/Highwood beats North Star, there would be a three-way tie again at 5-2. Big Sandy beat Geraldine/Highwood, Geraldine/Highwood beat PDB and PDB beat Big Sandy. So the tiebreaker would come down to point differential, which would give the edge to PDB.

However, if No. 2 Valier holds serve, the Pioneers would get the second spot by virtue of their win over Geraldine/Highwood. If that's the case, Big Sandy will host Richey-Lambert, the No. 3 seed from the Six-Man East. Yet, if the Pioneers fall to third, it would mean a trip to Wibaux, to face the fifth-ranked Longhorns. At this point, Big Sandy will finish no worse than third in the final North Division standings.

As far as the rest of the local teams are concerned, none have a chance to make the postseason. The Fort Benton Longhorns, who finished the year 5-3, were in a play-in game within the Northern C of 8-Man football, to make the postseason, but fell at home to Choteau 64-20. Belt wound up as the top seed from the Northern C after beating Centerville in the de facto Northern C title game last weekend. Centerville will go in as the second seed from the Northern C, followed by Great Falls Central and Choteau.

In terms of 11-Man football, Havre, which sits at 0-8 is not a contender for the postseason and neither is 0-6 Harlem of Class B. In the Eastern A, all six playoff spots are locked up as Billings Central, Laurel, Sidney, Miles City, Glendive and Lewistown will represent the league in the Class A state playoffs. The only question is who will be the fifth and sixth seeds. The winner of Glendive and Lewistown, who play Friday night, will determine that. The winner will finish fifth in the final Eastern A standings, while the loser will wind up sixth.

The top two teams in the Eastern A will receive a bye. The third seeded team will play the sixth in the first round of the playoffs, while the fourth and fifth seeded teams will also meet.

The other side of the bracket will also be interesting. For starters, it will feature the Browning Indians for the first time in recent memory. The Indians, who are 4-4 have already clinched a playoff spot and will play one of the two wildcard teams from the Western side of the state (Northwest A and Southwest A). That means the Indians will likely host Butte Central in the opening round of the Class A playoffs. The other matchup should feature Hamilton against Frenchtown, with Dillon and Columbia Falls getting first-round byes along the top two teams from the Eastern A.

The Montana high school football playoffs will start Oct. 28. All the state championship games will be held Nov. 17.