Plenty of local flavor at Shrine Game

With a weekend weather forecast much more like fall, it’s only befitting that it’s time to play some football. No, it’s not football season just yet, but Montana’s best high school seniors from the Class of 2015 will be on the gridiron Saturday night.

Playing at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls, the 69th annual Montana East-West Shrine Game will take place, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.

And once again, one of the longest running high school football all-star games will have a strong local presence. Havre High’s Jace Billy and Chinook’s Lane Seymour will both be playing for the East squad in Saturday night’s game.

Billy, who will play defensive end, is a two-time First-Team All Central A selection, and a 2015 Class A All-State winner, will be playing his final game in a Blue Pony helmet. But it won’t be his last game on the football field. Billy, who was one of HHS’s top tacklers this past season, while leading the Central A in sacks, will continue his football career this fall at Montana State University-Northern. Also a two-time Class A state champion wrestler, Billy originally signed to wrestle for the Lights, but late in the spring, shifted gears and headed back to football.

Saturday night will be a good test for Billy as he and the East will face a potent offensive attack, led by West quarterback Brady McChesney, who will play for Montana State this fall. The West is also loaded with talent at the wide receiver position, including prized University of Montana recruit Dalton Daum. The Butte High speedster is one of the fastest players to ever come out of Montana.

But while Billy and his East defensive teammates are trying to slow down the West attack, Seymour will be part of an equally potent East offense. Seymour was a three-time Class C 8-Man All-State selection for the Chinook Sugarbeeters, while playing both ways. He also helped lead the Beeters all the way to the Class C title game last fall.

Playing tight end for the East, Seymour will be part of an offense which includes quarterback Casey Klaboe of Billings West and perhaps the top recruit from Montana in the Class of 2015, Billings West’s Holden Ryan. Ryan will play running back in Saturday night’s game, but like Daum, he signed to play wide receiver for the Grizzlies.

But Saturday night’s game won’t just be a special night for the likes of Billy and Seymour, it will also be a big night for several coaches with local ties. Havre’s Ryan Joy, who played in the Shrine Game himself, is helping coach this weekend, as is former Chester star Jeff Graham, who is the head coach at Belt High. Both are assistants to CMR head coach Gary Lowry on the East team.

Butte Central’s Don Peoples is the head coach of the West squad, and he too has an assistant with local ties. T. Artis, who played wide receiver for the MSU-Northern Lights once upon a time, is an assistant coach for the West. Artis is currently an assistant coach for Grady Bennett at defending Class AA Glacier High in Kalispell.

But the Hi-Line flavor to Saturday night’s game, which is the third-oldest running all-star high school football game in the United States, doesn’t stop with players and coaches. Harlem’s Lyle Faulkinberry will be part of the officiating crew for the game, while Chinook’s Shelbie Warburton and Vinessa Lundstrom are part of the East-West Cheer Team for the contest.

And of course, the game is all about charity. The proceeds from the contest go to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Spokane. Every year since 1947, Montana high schools’ finest players are selected to compete in a game to raise money and to help make the public aware of the expert orthopedic and burn care available at the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Spokane, Washington. In recent years, the Montana game has become one of the top Shrine Games in the nation for hospital donations. The Montana Shrine Game has raised over $200,000 the past two years.

Saturday night’s Montana East-West Shrine Game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls. The game will be televised statewide.