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A publication of The Livingston Enterprise and The Big Timber Pioneer FALL SPORTS PREVIEW 2015

2015 Fall Sports

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Page 1: 2015 Fall Sports

A publication of The Livingston Enterprise and The Big Timber Pioneer

P a r k & S w e e t G r a s s c o u n t i e s

FALL SPORTS PREVIEW 2015

Page 2: 2015 Fall Sports

2 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

Livingston1203 Park st.

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www.bankoftherockies.com

This page proudly sponsored by

AUG. 29 Harlowton - VSept. 4 Ennis - JH/VSept. 11 Twin Bridges - JH/VSept. 18 Broadview/Lavina Homecoming - VOct. 2 Park City - JH/VOct. 9 Gardiner - JH/VOct. 16 Absarokee - JH/VOct. 13 Gardiner - JVOct. 23 White Sulphur Springs (Senior

Night) - JH/VOct. 31 State Playoffs Opening Round - VNov. 7 State Playoffs Quarterfinals - VNov. 14 State Playoff Semifinals - VNov. 21 State Playoff Championship - V

FOOTBALL

Aug. 29 Drummond/Granite Tournament - VSept 3 Harrison - JV/VSept 4 West Yellowstone - JV/VSept. 5 Sheridan - JV/VSept. 11 Manhattan Christian - JV/VSept. 12 Sheridan Tournament - VSept. 15 Lone Peak - JV/VSept. 18 Harrison - Homecoming - JV/VSept. 22 Big Timber - JVSept. 24 White Sulphur Springs - JH/JV/VSept. 26 Shields Valley Tournament - JHSept. 26 Belgrade Tournament - JVOct. 1 Ennis - JV/VOct. 3 Manhattan Tournament - JVOct. 3 Manhattan Christian Tournament - VOct. 9 Gardiner - JV/VOct. 10 Lima - VOct. 14 Twin Bridges - JV/VOct. 16 Manhattan Christian - JV/VOct. 23 White Sulphur Springs - JV/VOct. 24 Gardiner - JH/JV/VOct. 20-31 District Volleyball - VNov. 5-7 Divisional Volleyball - VNov. 12-13 State Volleyball - V

VOLLEYBALL

Shields ValleyREBELS

Aug. 29 AbsarokeeSept. 5 WSSSept. 11 HarlowtonSept. 19 EnnisSept. 25 Twin BridgesOct. 3 Broadview/LavinaOct. 9 Shields ValleyOct. 17 Park CityOct. 24 Power

FOOTBALL Aug. 29 Phillipsburg (T)Sept. 4 Manhattan (C,JV,V)Sept. 5 Windy City Belg. (T)Sept. 11 West YellowstoneSept. 12 White SulphurSept. 18 Ennis (C,JV,V)Sept. 19 M. Christian (C,JV, V)Sept. 25 SheridanSept. 26 Lone PeakOct. 1 Twin BridgesOct. 2 BelgradeOct. 3 Laurel (Park City T)Oct. 3 Manhattan (JV T)Oct. 9 Shields ValleyOct. 10 Red Lodge (C, JV, V)Oct. 12 Lima (V)Oct. 14 Manhattan (C,JV,V)Oct. 23 HarrisonOct. 24 Shields Valley (C,JV,V)Oct. 28-Nov. 1 District - M. ChristianNov. 4-7 Divisional - ButteNov. 12-14 State - MSU

VOLLEYBALL

Sept. 5 Harrison/PonySept. 12 Big BearSept. 26 ManhattanOct. 3 ButteOct. 10 JolietOct. 17 TownsendOct. 24 Great Falls State

CROSS COUNTRY

GardinerBRUINS

*Home games listed in bold face

FaLL SPOrTSSCHEduLE

Park HighRANGERS

Aug. 28 StevensvilleSept. 4 LaurelSept. 11 GlendiveSept. 18 HardinSept. 25 Lewistown (Homecoming)Oct. 2 HavreOct. 9 BrowningOct. 16 CorvallisOct. 23 Belgrade (Senior Night)

FOOTBALLaug. 28 Corvallisaug. 29 LoyolaSept. 4 Columbia FallsSept. 5 PolsonSept. 11 WhitefishSept. 12 BigforkSept. 19 BelgradeSept. 22 Billings CentralSept. 26 LaurelOct. 3 BelgradeOct. 6 Billings CentralOct. 10 Laurel

BOYS AND GIRLS SOCCER

aug. 28 PHS InviteSept. 1 Butte CentralSept. 5 HarrisonSept. 12 BozemanSept. 19 MissoulaSept. 25 C.M. RussellOct. 3 Big TimberOct. 8 HelenaOct. 10 JolietOct. 17 Divisionals - BrowningSept. 24 State - Eagle Falls Golf Course

CROSS COUNTRYSept. 4 Havre 4:00, Browning 6:00Sept. 5 Belgrade (Windy City Tourny)Sept. 12 Anaconda Tournament (All Levels)Sept. 17 Butte CentralSept. 24 Belgrade Sept. 26 DillonSept. 29 LewistownOct. 3 LaurelOct. 8 Belgrade (Senior Night)Oct. 10 HardinOct. 15 Billings CentralOct. 17 Butte Central TournamentOct. 20 LewistownOct. 23 HavreOct. 24 BrowningOct. 27 LaurelNov. 5-7 Belgrade - Divisionals

VOLLEYBALL

aug. 29 WhitehallSept. 4 Three ForksSept. 11 Manhattan

(Homecoming)Sept. 19 GlasgowSept. 25 TownsendOct. 2 JolietOct. 9 RoundupOct. 16 ColumbusOct. 23 red Lodge (Senior Night)

FOOTBALL

Aug. 28 LivingstonSept. 5 BelgradeSept. 12 HarrisonSept. 22 Red LodgeSept. 26 ManhattanSept. 29 Huntley ProjectOct. 3 Big TimberOct. 8 HelenaOct. 10 JolietOct. 17 TownsendOct. 24 State Meet (Great Falls)

CROSS COUNTRY

Big TimberHERDERS

VOLLEYBALLAug. 29 Columbus TournamentSept. 4 Red LodgeSept. 5 ColumbusSept. 10 Three ForksSept. 12 JeffersonSept. 15 JolietSept. 17 ManhattanSept. 22 Shields ValleySept. 24 TownsendSept. 26 WhitehallSept. 29 ManhattanOct. 1 red LodgeOct. 3 Manhattan TournamentOct. 6 ColumbusOct. 8 Three ForksOct. 10 JeffersonOct. 13 WhitehallOct. 22 JolietOct. 24 TownsendOct. 30-31 District Tournament (Belgrade)Nov. 5-7 Divisional Tournament (Huntley)Nov. 12-14 State Tournament (Bozeman)

Sept. 4 DillonSept. 8 FergusSept. 11 FergusSept. 15 JV@ DillonSept. 18 Butte CentralSept. 26 Fergus - DivisionalsOct. 2 Sidney - StateOct. 3 Sidney - State

GOLF

2015

Page 3: 2015 Fall Sports

3 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

While the 2015 Park High Rang-er volleyball team returns

only two starters from last year’s squad, the Rangers have plenty of experience with a senior-loaded team.

“Even though we only have two returning starters, we have five seniors,” said head coach Joey Lane. “So they’ve been playing for a long time, and they really dedicated them-selves in the offseason. We had one of the best open gym years that I can remember, then we went to a tourna-ment in Northern Colorado in late July where we played 14 matches in three days. That is almost a whole season’s worth of matches. That was so helpful in getting us that on-court experience together where they are learning how to work together and who is going to take what, which is so important.

“They came out of that so motivated and wanting to work hard. They kept working in open gyms all the way up until the first day of the season. This

group of girls has put in more time over the summer than any team in the nine years I’ve been coaching here.”

Sierra Higgs and Holly Davis return as starters from last year’s team, and along with all the new starters will come some much needed height.

“We’re going to have more height than we’ve had in many years,” said Lane. “We’ve got Lauren Emter who is like 6-1 or 6-2. Addie Kapsner played varsity and JV last year and she is 6-2. Sierra is 5-10 or 5-11, and Holly is 5-11. Our setter Kinsey Whiting is also pret-ty tall.”

Another of Park’s strengths this year should be their versatility.

“They can all play different posi-tions, and we will be utilizing that this year,” said Lane.

The Rangers also have the advantage of hosting the Division Tournament, which will work as a super-division tournament compared to years past. The Central and East Divisions will combine for a 10-team tournament in which the top four teams advance to state. That tournament will be Nov. 5-7.

The volleyball season begins Friday, Sept. 4 for the Rangers when they wel-come both Browning and Havre for matches beginning at 4 p.m.

Veteran Rangers enter 2015 with high hopes

Ranger Volleyball 2015 Schedule9/4 vs. Browning vs. Havre

9/5 at Windy City Invitational (Belgrade)

9/12 at Anaconda Tournament

9/17 at Butte Central

9/24 vs. Belgrade

9/26 at Dillon

9/29 at Fergus

10/3 vs. Laurel

10/8 at Belgrade

10/10 at Hardin

10/15 at Billings Central

10/17 at Butte Central Tournament

10/20 vs. Fergus (Senior Night)

10/23 at Havre

10/24 at Browning

10/37 at Laurel

11/5-7 Central A Divisionals at Park

11/12-14 State A at Bozeman

• Home matches in bold

Enterprise file photo by Hunter D'Antuono

Park High Ranger Holly Davis competes against the Butte Central Maroons last season.

Page 4: 2015 Fall Sports

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Page 5: 2015 Fall Sports

5 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

Aug. 28 at Stevensville

Sept. 4 vs. Laurel

Sept. 11 at Dawson County

Sept. 18 vs. Hardin

Sept. 25 vs. Fergus (Homecoming)

Oct. 2 at Havre

Oct. 9 vs. Browning

Oct. 16 Corvallis (Senior night)

Oct. 23 at Belgrade

Oct. 31 Class A playoffs begin

Ranger Football2015 Schedule

• Home matches in bold

Enterprise photo by Hunter D’Antuono

Park High Ranger Cade McOmber evades a tackler during a run against the Havre Blue Ponies in a game last season.

By Thomas Watson Enterprise Staff Writer

The 2015 Park High Rangers are under new leadership as Bruce Knerr takes the helm of the Ranger football program after three sea-sons with head coach Bryan Beitel, who led the Rangers to the playoffs once in his three years.

Knerr comes to Park from Wolf Point High School, where he was the head coach for three seasons.

“I am excited for Bruce to start working with the football players and building his pro-gram,” said Park Activities Director Regina Wood. “Coach Knerr brings enthusiasm, pas-sion and excitement about football and being leaders in the school. His energy and work

ethic, along with his high expectations for all involved, will be a great combination for Ranger football.”

Knerr’s enthusiasm is evident early.“I’m a 365 day a year coach,” he said in an

interview with the Enterprise back in March after he was first hired. “I don’t take sum-mers off. I push my program every day. I’m going to make them stronger and faster all year long.”

Despite this being his first year with the team, Knerr thought the transition went smoothly.

“The good thing is that most of the kids were in our summer program,” Knerr said. “They weren’t totally lost when we started practice. That was a positive thing. There were a few kids that we had to reteach

because they hadn’t been part of the summer program, but overall it was alright. The big-gest adjustment was the new (offensive) line scheme.”

The most important thing that Knerr wants to instill with his team before the start of the season is mental toughness.

“We coach that every day,” said Knerr. “Our first four days of football we call boot camp. I physically wear them down to where they want to shutdown because we pushed them so hard. Then everything we do is a vocal command, so when they get tired they have to learn to listen as the game goes on because we are a no-huddle team. We try to coach mental toughness every day.”

The Rangers open their season on the road against Stevensville on Aug. 28.

Park welcomes new head coach for 2015

Page 6: 2015 Fall Sports

6 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

Proudly supporting Park High activities!

PARK HIGH RANGER

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Don’t miss our Kick-Off BBQ on Sat., Sept. 4th at 5:00 p.m.

Game time at 7:00 p.m.FREE dinner and admission to game

with paid Booster Membership!

Proudly supporting Park High activities!

PARK HIGH RANGER

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Don’t miss our Kick-Off BBQ on Sat., Sept. 5th at 5:00 p.m.

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We hope you accomplish all your goalsduring the season.

THEATRESFrom all of us at

Page 7: 2015 Fall Sports

7 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

Ranger Girls Soccer2015 Schedule

8-28 vs. Corvallis

8-29 vs. Loyola

9-4 at Columbia Falls

9-5 at Polson

9-11 at Whitefish

9-12 at Bigfork

9-19 vs. Belgrade

9-22 at Billings Central

9-26 vs. Laurel

10-3 vs. Belgrade (Senior Night)

10-6 vs. Billings Central

10-11 at Laurel

10-17 State A playoffs

10-24 State A semifinals

10-31 State A championship

• Home matches in bold

Enterprise photo by Hunter D’Antuono

Madison Patrick of the Park High Rangers, left, fights for the ball during a home game match last season.

By Thomas Watson Enterprise Staff Writer

Last year, the Park High Ranger girls soccer team lost to Laurel 2-1 in their final match of

the year. That loss kept the Rangers out of the playoffs, and while the goal for Park this year is to return to the postseason, last year is not a motivator.

“Right now we’re just training hard as a team,” said head coach Matt Dettori. “We’re not focusing on who we played last year or what happened last year. This year is a new year. What we’re focused on is that we train hard together, we train right and if there are some shortcomings, then we’re going to get on top of those and correct them as soon as we can.”

The Rangers are replacing six starters that graduated from last year’s team, including keeper Olga Mogen and Jordan Devoto, but Park has the pieces in place to make the transition.

“The majority of the starters from last year are gone,” said Dettori. “We are not having to fill gaps, though. We are replac-ing those strong individuals like Jordan, Olga, Ari (Brown) and Chelsea (Woods) with a different team dynamic. Instead of replacing one position (with one player), we are filling it with a tight-knit group that has been playing together for years.”

“I’m seeing a whole different group this year, and it is kind of cool watching them come together and see how strong they are as a unit.”

“This year we’re doing a lot of things with conditioning,” Dettori said. “We’ve been running a lot. I think the second day of practice they ran a little over four miles on a team run. We have team runs twice a week. We have early morning practices, making it two practices a day, twice a week throughout the entire sea-son. They are working hard.”

“We have a good strike force this year, said Dettori. “It’ll be interesting to see, and that is where (conditioning) comes in, too. We’ll be able to spend more time up and be able to still get back when we need to; we can attack the goal, then play defense immediately.”

Rangers reloadedfor 2015

Page 8: 2015 Fall Sports

8 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

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Page 9: 2015 Fall Sports

9 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

Rebels volleyball

2015 Schedule8-29 at Drummond Tournament

9-3 at Harrison

9-4 vs. West Yellowstone

9-5 at Sheridan

9-11 vs. Manhattan Christian

9-12 at Sheridan Tournament

9-15 vs. Lone Peak

9-18 vs. Harrison

(Homecoming)

9-22 at Big Timber

9-24 at White Sulphur Springs

9-26 Shields Valley Tourney

10-2 at Ennis

10-3 at Manhattan Christian

10-9 vs. Gardiner

10-10 at Lima

10-14 at Twin Bridges

10-16 at Manhattan Christian

10-23 White Sulphur Springs

(Senior night)

10-25 at Gardiner

Home games in bold

Enterprise photo by Thomas Watson

Kylie Kerkaert spikes the ball during Shields Valley’s Pink Night last sea-son.

By Thomas Watson Enterprise Staff Writer

The Shields Valley Rebels have a new coach for the 2015 season, but it will be a familiar face greeting the Rebel players as four-year assistant Laura Homan, who worked with previous head coach Callee Peebles, is now taking over the Shields Valley program.

Homan is taking the reigns of her own alma mater after playing for the Rebels from 2004-07, but that wasn’t always the plan.

“I went to cosmetology school, and then I ended up getting a job in Clyde Park,” Homan said. “It happened to work out that the next year a coaching position opened up. I had gone to school with Callee, and she got in contact with me (about an assistant coaching job) I said yes, and I’m glad I did. I love the game, and it has been a joy to coach. It is a great field to be in.”

The familiarity between Homan and the players has helped with the transition that normally happens when a new coach comes in, and has allowed the Rebels to focus more on volleyball.

“It definitely makes it a lot easier,” said Homan. “You’re not spending the first two to three weeks trying to feel each other out and figure out what works and what doesn’t. I have that heads up going into it knowing how hard I can push the girls instead of trying to figure out names and who is who.”

There will be some changes on the court for the Rebels this year due to such a large turnover after six girls graduated from last year’s team.

Shields Valley has a strong senior presence again this year, but only one junior, seven sophomores and two freshmen.

“A lot of the girls are going to be in different positions,” Homan said. “We possibly could run more of a 6-2 where we are used to running a 5-1. We’re still in the transition mode of seeing what will work. They have the challenge of trying something new and different.”

The Rebels will travel to the Drummond Tournament this Friday, Aug. 29, and their first home match will be Friday, Sept. 4 against West Yellow-stone.

Homan takes over for Rebels in 2015

Page 10: 2015 Fall Sports

10 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

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Page 11: 2015 Fall Sports

11 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

Rebels football 2015 Schedule8- 29 at Harlowton

9-4 vs. Ennis

9-11 at Twin Bridges

9-18 vs. Broadview (Homecoming)

10-2 at Park City

10-9 vs. Gardiner

10-16 at Absarokee

10-23 vs. White Sulphur Springs (Senior Night)

10-31 Class C first round

11-7 Class C quarterfinals

11-14 Class C semifinals

11-21 Class C championship• Home matches in bold

Brock Peterson of the Shields Valley Rebels runs the ball during a game against the Gardiner Bru-ins, last season.

Enterprise photo by Hunter D'Antuono

Rebels looking to be playoff teamBy Thomas Watson

Enterprise Staff Writer

The 2014 Shields Valley Rebel football team finished one win away from qualifying for the Class C 8-man playoffs, and despite losing the majority of their starters from last year, mak-ing the playoffs is this team’s goal.

“We think we can be a playoff team, vying for a spot at the end of the year,” said head coach Jon Croston. “We’re kind of on the cusp. We could go one way or the other. We could have a successful year and be in the playoff hunt. But with the sheer numbers that we have, if we have a few kids (miss games) it could be a rough year. We have the talent that we think we can be in the playoffs, but if a couple of things don’t work out, it might be a long year for us.”

The Rebels lost three important players from last year’s team in Cole Fairchild, who signed to play football at the University of Montana West-ern, quarterback Thad Ferguson and wide receiver Ryley Waddell.

It will be Brock Peterson who takes over for Ferguson at quarterback after playing running back last season.

“We got some really good production out of Brock last season,” said Croston. “I’d like to see his numbers continue to climb. Daniel Rivera is a returning starter. He plays linebacker for us, and he’ll play a big role. Gabe Shelton was a two-way starter as a freshman last year, so we are expecting big things out of him this year, too.”

With the deep threat of Waddell gone, and the ability of Peterson to run the ball from the

quarterback position, there will be some chang-es to the Shields Valley offense this season.

“We’re not going to have the same passing threat that we had last year with Thad and Ryley,” Croston said. “So we’re going to have more opportunity at quarterback to do some more running attacks and sprint-out type stuff.”

One worry for the Rebels this season is a lack of numbers. While their is plenty of talent on the team, Shields Valley will be even less pre-pared for injuries than most Class C schools, which already struggle because of size.

“The numbers seem to be down,“ said Croston. “It was surprising to me. We have probably 30-plus boys in the high school, and really about a third or less came out for football this year. It’s been a struggle from a numbers perspec-tive.”

Page 12: 2015 Fall Sports

12 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

Page 13: 2015 Fall Sports

13 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

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Page 14: 2015 Fall Sports

14 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

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Page 15: 2015 Fall Sports

15 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

Aug. 29 at Philipsburg TournamentSept. 4 at Manhattan

Sept. 5 at Windy City Classic (Belgrade)

Sept. 11 at West Yellowstone

Sept. 12 vs. White Sulphur Springs

Sept. 18 at Ennis

Sept. 19 vs. Manhattan Christian

Sept. 25 vs. Sheridan

Sept. 26 at Lone Peak

Oct. 1 vs. Twin Bridges

Oct. 2 vs. Belgrade

Oct. 3 at Park City Tournament

Oct. 9 at Shields Valley

Oct. 10 at Red Lodge

Oct. 12 vs. Lima

Oct. 14 vs. Manhattan Christian

Oct. 23 at Harrison

Oct. 24 vs. Shields Valley

Oct. 28-Nov. 1 District Tournament at Manhattan Ch.

Nov. 6-8 Western C Division Tournament at Butte

Nov. 12-14 Class C State Tournament at Bozeman

• Home matches in bold

Bruin Volleyball2015 Schedule

Enterprise photo by Hunter D’Antuono

Kelsey McDonald of the Gardiner Bruins competes in the Class C volleyball state championship in Bozeman last season.

By Thomas Watson Enterprise Staff Writer

Coming off of their third consecutive Class C State crown, the Gar-

diner Bruin volleyball team has dominated the landscape of Montana high school volleyball — regardless of classifica-tion — for some time now and they are not ready to loosen their grip yet.

The Bruins lost only two starters from last year’s squad, giving them five returning starters from 2014’s championship-winning team.

Graduated are Hannah Dean and Tess Thomas, members of all three of Gardiner’s state title teams, but head coach Carmen Harbach believes her team has the pieces to replace that lost production.

“I look at it that we have seven starters, and Tess and Hannah were two of those starters and were a big part of everything that happened last year,” Harbach said. “But we still have five starters coming back that didn’t graduate. We’ll definite-ly have a different look. We’ll have a different outlook on our game plan, but I don’t think we’re com-promised at all. I’m hoping that we can just rearrange our pieces a lit-tle bit and keep moving forward.”

The Bruins have six seniors on this year’s team, and that experi-ence is going to be one of the team’s strengths this season.

“They’ve been around four years, and they’ve always had a little lead-ership role, but obviously now they are being relied on more,” said Har-bach. “I told the girls on the first day that we need leadership. Our success is going to depend on our leadership, and it doesn’t have to be a senior that provides that. I’m hop-ing some of the younger girls will pick it up and let their light shine through, too.”

Harbach sees the Bruins as being well rounded this year, and that versatility is going to be critical for Gardiner’s success.

“Hopefully our skills and our ball handling will help pull us through a lot of matches,” Harbach said. “We don’t have that terminator that we had last year in Hannah, but now we have six really good hitters. We’re going to have a different look, but different isn’t bad.”

While the Bruins are the back-to-back-to-back defending state cham-pions in Class C, they aren’t allowing themselves to think about the end.

“It’s one day at a time,” said Har-bach. “Last year we never talked about winning state. Definitely it is a goal, and it is always a goal in the back of your mind, but you’ve got to get through the season first, and you’ve got to enjoy the season. Then you have to get through districts, then divisionals, and then hopefully you can do something at state. So it’s just one match at a time, and enjoying the journey as we go so we don’t wish it away.”

Bruins seek yet another title

Page 16: 2015 Fall Sports

FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 201516

Bruins football 2015 Schedule8-29 at Absarokee

9-5 vs. White Sulphur Springs

9-11 at Harlowton

9-19 vs. Ennis

9-25 at Twin Bridges

10-3 vs. Broadview

10-9 at Shields Valley

10-17 vs. Park City

10-24 vs. Power

• Home matches in bold

Duncan McIntosh, of the Gardiner Bruins, tries to fend off a tackle during a game against the Shields Valley Rebels last season.

Enterprise file photo by Hunter D’Antuono

Bruins look for return to playoffsBy Thomas Watson

Enterprise Staff Writer

After qualifying for the playoffs last season as a No. 4 seed and having to play against the top seed

in Class C 8-man in the first round of the playoffs, the Gardiner Bru-ins are hoping not only to get back to the playoffs, but improve their seeding, as well.

“We’d be very disappointed not to make the playoffs this year,” said head coach Mike Baer. “We were the fourth seed from the south divi-sion, and we want to be the No. 3 seed, at worst. When you are a No. 3 seed, you go play a No. 2

from somewhere else, and that is a pretty good matchup.

“Our goal is we would like to host a playoff game. To do that you have to be a No. 1 or No. 2, and that is a little bit loftier of a goal, but it is something that I think can happen.”

The Bruins lost a lot of production with the graduation of running backs Carson Knight and Nick Sabo, as well as All-State offensive lineman Seth Tyson, but Gardiner returns Eddie Rodarte, and Justin Kingma are expected to step up alongside Rodarte.

“Justin played end for us last year and started out the season as a quarterback,” said Baer. “He’s fast, and he’s become a harder runner. Last year’s success as a team has built his confidence, and he is going to be a good running back for us.”

In all, the Bruins have just three starters returning on both sides of the ball, but the new players will be plugged in, and Gardiner plans to run the ball just as well as they have in the past behind new offensive lineman Paul Helfrich.

“We lost a lot of starters, but we (gained some too),” Baer said. “We had a student, Paul Hel-frich, who was in an exchange program last fall. He’s back, and he’ll be our center. He’s the stron-gest kid on the team. He’s about 205 pounds and loves football. He takes a leadership role in a lot of situations, and he is going to be big for us.”

Overall, the offensive and defensive lines are going to be a strength for Gardiner.

“Our offensive line is going to be big,” said Baer. “Jared Hurst was All-State on the offense and defensive line. He’s back, and then you add Paul into the mix. We’re looking at a couple of guys at guard. Jacob Oppelt played for us at the beginning of last season, but he had some knee issues. We think we have that figured out, but we are going to limit him to just playing offense to help try to prolong his season. Then we have Kyle Webster. This is his first year playing foot-ball, and he’s come a long way.”

The Bruins will open the season on the road against Absarokee on Aug. 29 at 7 p.m.

Page 17: 2015 Fall Sports

FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 201517

Enterprise file photo by Hunter D’Antuono

Park cross country boys start a race at home last season.

By Thomas Watson Enterprise Staff Writer

The Big Timber cross country team has an interesting mix of veteran and inexperienced runners as the Herders gear up for the 2015 season.

Six girls and four boys make up the 10-member cross country team. The Big Timber boys feature two returning sophomore runners in Brandon Schwers and Clayton Gano.

The boys will also have some new blood this season as they welcome fresh-men John Baxter and Jacob Husman.

The Big Timber girls also have two returning junior runners. Tanna Camp-bell and Jordan Chulyak will lead the Herders this season, with fellow junior Kate Indreland back on the team after not running her sophomore season.

The Herders have three new girls on the team, as well, but all are upper classmen. Emily Hughes and Brielle Stosich are two new juniors, and Megan Garrard is new to the team as a senior.

Head coach Christina Bowden sees her team as poised to make big gains throughout this season.

“A big goal is to increase our weekly mileage from last year, when everyone was new on the team,” Bowden said. “But the main goal is always to see where they stand at their first race and improve immensely throughout the season. I’m looking forward to seeing sophomores Brandon Schwers and Clayton Gano meeting and even besting our lettering requirements this year. Also, having enough girls to earn a team score is a revived motivator for the Herd-er girls and a great focus for them at meets.”

The Herders put in plenty of work during the offseason, going on twice weekly conditioning runs, and now they are ready to put that training to the test in their first meet of the season this Friday in Livingston.

The meet begins at 10 a.m., and Bowden is excited to see what her team can do.

“The SGHS XC team is full of standouts as far as motivated, coachable ath-letes,” she said. “They are eager to get out there, work hard and improve their times and fitness. It is a dream team.”

Herders ready for ‘15By Thomas Watson

Enterprise Staff Writer

The Park High Ranger cross country team will start the season in familiar territory as they host the Ranger Invite on Friday, Aug. 28 to start the season.

Park has 12 runners total between the boys and girls teams this season, led by veterans Dan Miller and Devin Nelson on the boys side, and Larissa Saarel for the girls.

The Ranger cross country team has been preparing all summer for this sea-son.

“I did my best to get them to run over the summer; we did our usual sum-mer running club,” said head coach Kirk Lentz. “They log their miles, and if they run over 100 miles over the summer, they get recognition for that. In addition to that, we tried to have one weekly event, usually on a Saturday or Sunday, and we would meet someplace and go for a run.”

“Those that ran 100 miles are going to reap the benefits as the season pro-gresses,” Lentz added.

Miller and Nelson ended last season with the top times on the team, and both are ready for another year.

While the individual results of runners are important, there is a team aspect of cross country that is often times overlooked.

“Cross country is definitely a team sport,” said Lentz. “Cross country is probably one of the most misunderstood sports. As much as it can be and is an individual sport in the sense of focusing on improving your own personal times, there are a ton of team aspects to cross country. Because without five runners that finish that race, you’re nothing as a school — you’ve just got a couple of individuals out there running, hoping to do their best. So there are a lot of team aspects … like running together and pulling each other along dur-ing a race.”

After the Rangers host the first meet of the season, they will have eight more meets the rest of the season, including a trip to Bozeman on Sept. 12 and to Big Timber on Oct. 3.

Rangers start at home

Page 18: 2015 Fall Sports

FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 201518

Herders volleyball 2015 Schedule8-29 at Columbus tournament

9-4 at Red Lodge

9-5 vs. Columbus

9-10 vs. Three Forks

9-12 at Jefferson

9-15 at Joliet

9-17 vs. Manhattan

9-22 at Shields Valley

9-24 at Townsend

9-26 at Whitehall

9-29 at Manhattan

10-1 vs. Red Lodge

10-3 at Manhattan/MCHS tournament

10-6 at Columbus

10-8 at Three Forks

10-10 vs. Jefferson

10-13 at Whitehall

10-22 vs. Joliet

10-24 vs. Townsend (Senior Night)

10/30-10/31 District Tournament at Belgrade

11/5-11/7 Divisional Tournament at Red

Lodge

11-13 /11-16 State Tournament at Bozeman

• Home matches in bold

Enterprise file photo by Hunter D'Antuono

Jocelin Holman, of the Big Timber Herders, dives to make contact during a home game last season.

Head coach Liz Day and the 2015 Big Timber volleyball team are ready to

take the next step, and they are talking about it in practice.

The Herders went into last sea-son’s district volleyball tournament as the No. 2 seed but finished fourth in the tournament and failed to advance to the division tournament, a goal this year’s team hopes to accomplish.

“We are adamant to get to divi-sionals this year,” Day said. “That’s pretty much every day we’ll talk about that. I think they are pretty dedicated to making it to division-als.”

With four starters back from last year’s team and six seniors on this year’s squad, Big Timber has the experience, and as the season draws near the Herders have been work-ing on their serving.

“We have a really strong serving team,” said Day. “We have two or three really well rounded players.

Leichelle Woods and TediJo Todd play all around. Leichelle and Holly Emter were All-Conference last year.”

In addition to the returning play-ers, Big Timber welcomes two new transfers from Billings, one junior and one senior.

Mikala Doff is a junior and will play libero for the Herders, and Aly Rosteck is a senior and will be on outside hitter.

The Herders are hoping their vet-eran players will mesh well for an up-tempo style of play.

“We are working to increase the speed of the game,” said Day. “I think they’re doing really well with that on offense. Then our back row with having the all-around players that we do, we have quite a bit of coverage back there. I’m also really excited about our defense.”

In addition to working on increas-ing the speed of their offense, Big Timber is also working on their serve-receive during the preseason.

“It’s hard because we’ve been working on our serves, so it’s hard to tell if your serves are so good or if your serve-receive needs work,” said Day. “Picking up those serves is something I want us to get better at throughout the season.”

Herders determined to make Division Tournament

Page 19: 2015 Fall Sports

FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 201519

Herder football

2015 Schedule

8-29 vs. Whitehall

9-4 at Three Forks

9-11 vs. Manhattan (homecoming)

9-19 at Glasgow

9-25 at Townsend

10-2 vs. Joliet

10-9 at Roundup

10-16 at Columbus

10-23 vs. Red Lodge (Senior Night)

Home games in bold

By Thomas Watson Enterprise Staff Writer

Following a 4-4 campaign that saw the Big Timber Sheepherd-er football team fall one win short of a playoff berth, head

coach Bruce Bell believes his team is ready to take the next step as they prepare to embark on their 2015 sea-son.

The Herders had a shot at the playoffs last sea-son, but a loss in their final game of the year dashed their hopes. Big Timber returns six start-

ers on offense, as well as six starters on defense as they try to build on last year.

“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Bell said when asked if the team goal was to reach the playoffs. “Like all Class B teams, because of our numbers, we’re in a situation where injuries could hurt us significantly.”

Big Timber returns experienced players at a lot of important positions.

“We have great leadership from our seniors,” he said. “And our skill players are one of our strengths.”

The Herders will have quarterback Ryan Mor-gan back after being named All-Conference last season. Morgan also returns his top two receiving targets from last season in Luke Rech and Brent Finn.

Rech and Finn were both All-Conference last

season, as well.One problem that Big Timber could encounter

this season is size, or lack thereof.“We’re not very big,” Bell said. “We’re having to

do some things to try to overcome that size differ-ence like teach our technique well.”

One way the Herders hope to overcome the size difference is by knowing their assignments as well as possible.

“We haven’t changed that much offensively or defensively from last year, we are just trying to do it better,” said Bell.

Big Timber’s first game of the season is this Fri-day at home at 7 p.m. against Whitehall. The Herders’ homecoming game will be Sept. 11 ver-sus Manhattan, and the team’s final home game will serve as Senior Night on Oct. 23 against Red Lodge.

Herders looking for playoffs

Big Timber's Walker LaVoy jumps over Columbus' Kiefer McKay to hang onto the ball during the first quarter of the homecoming game on Sept. 26.

Yellowstone Newspapers photo by Mackenzie Reiss

Page 20: 2015 Fall Sports

FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 201520

Ranger boys soccer2015 Schedule

• Home matches in bold

8-28 vs. Corvallis

8-29 vs. Loyola

9-4 at Columbia Falls

9-5 at Polson

9-11 at Whitefish

9-12 at Bigfork

9-19 vs. Belgrade

9-22 at Billings Central

9-26 vs. Laurel

10-3 vs. Belgrade (Senior Night)

10-6 vs. Billings Central

10-11 at Laurel

10-17 State A playoffs

10-24 State A semifinals

10-31 State A championship

By Thomas Watson Enterprise Staff Writer

After losing in the quarterfinals fol-lowing their state championship win in

2013, the Park High Ranger boys soccer team is hoping for more postseason success in 2015.

The Rangers have focused on defense during preseason practice.

“We started our two-a-days with defensive work,” said head coach Jeff Dickerson. “We want to be able to defend everywhere on the pitch, and win the ball back from our opponents where we want to win it back and take advantage of that.”

Dickerson said his team is looking to be able to win the ball in their attack-ing third and middle third of the field.

“If we can win the ball back in those places, we have the ability to counter attack in a very efficient and powerful manner,” said Dickerson. “That’s the one-two punch that we’ve been work-ing on, because we have a really strong team this year in my opinion.”

This year’s Ranger squad features six players from the state champion-ship team of two year’s ago, and Dick-

erson thinks that experience will pay off.

“They’ve experienced the highs and lows of tournament play,” he said. “The result of that is those six are very strong leaders this year. They are very focused players, and I think we have a very high ceiling.”

In order to reach that ceiling, the Rangers have been focused on some of the intangibles.

“We’ve been working on our mental game,” Dickerson said. “We aren’t ready to set goals because we need to get ourselves focused, giving five per-cent more each training session. We need to get ourselves working at 100 percent effort, 100 percent of the time. Once we get into that, we’ll set some goals.

“We certainly have the capabilities to do well in our conference and have a shot to return to the state tournament with a (good seed).”

In addition to the experienced seniors, the Rangers have a good mix of young players that will take time to develop.

“We’ve got a great group of sopho-mores and three or four freshmen that will contribute,” said Dickerson. “It’s going to take us a few weeks (to get ready), but we have six games before we start the conference. We’ll break it down to pre-season games, conference games and tournament play. Those are our three seasons, so we have to work on one at a time.”

Ranger boyssoccer aims for postseason glory

Enterprise file photo by Hunter D’Antuono

Park Rangers Connor Amsk, left, and Kelton Madden, right, go up against a Belgrade player to try to head the ball during a home game last season.

Page 21: 2015 Fall Sports

FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 201521

By Thomas Watson Enterprise Staff Writer

The Park High Ranger golf team has already started its season — attending two tourna-ments before the school year even started — and the team is primed for a big year.

Of the Rangers’ eight varsity golfers — five boys and three girls — seven of the eight competed on the varsity level last season, and the eighth competed in a single varsity tournament last season.

“Going into this season, the golfers knew that competition was going to be tight,” said head coach Jim Halberg of the intra-team battles each week at practice. “Nobody can sit back and relax and assume that they are going to be the No. 1 player or that they are going to be on varsity all year. There is a lot of competition there, and the boys have taken that to heart. They are working hard to compete individually, but they also know that as a team, we have some pretty lofty goals this year. They know the individual compe-tition is going to make the team stronger as the year goes on.”

After practicing all offseason on mechanics to improve their game, the Rangers’ preparation during the season is more mental than anything else.

“It really comes down to motivation, setting goals and doing what we can mentally to prepare ourselves for tournaments,” Halberg said. “We have talked about if you have a bad hole, you can’t let that affect the next hole. Even more specifically, if you have a bad shot, you can’t let that carry over. Golf is a game where you have to have a very short memory.”

Halberg is hoping that focusing on the mental side of the game will help in improving the team’s finish at the state tournament.

“Last year the boys went to state,” said Halberg. “We strongly feel like we can repeat going to state, and we want to improve on our performance at state. We didn’t have any all-state individuals last year. I think all five of our varsity golfers have the potential to receive all-state honors. The hard part about golf is that no matter how long you’ve played, you never know what is going to show up that day. But if we end up playing solid golf at state, there is no rea-son why we shouldn’t finish in the top three (as a team), and of course the potential is there that we could win state. That is some-thing we have talked about. It is a lofty goal, but I feel like it is a reachable goal.”

Rangers hope experience pays off at State

Ranger Golf 2015 Schedule8/17 at Butte Central

8/21 Ranger Invite

8/24 at Belgrade

9/4 at Beaverhead County

9/8 at Harlowton

9/11 at Lewistown

9/18 at Butte Central

9/26 Divisionals

10/2 at State

• Home matches in bold

Enterprise file photo by Hunter D’Antuono

Kaycee Keegan putts at the Class A Divisional golf tournament in Bozeman last season.

Page 22: 2015 Fall Sports

FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 201522

Grizzly Football2015

8/29 vs. NDSU (1:30 p.m.)

9/5 vs. Cal Poly (7 p.m.)

9/19 at Liberty

9/26 vs. Northern Arizona (2 p.m.)

10/3 at UC Davis

10/10 vs. Weber State

10/24 vs. North Dakota (1:30 p.m.)

10/31 at Portland State

11/7 at Idaho State

11/14 vs. E. Washington (1:30 p.m.)

11/21 at Montana State

• Home matches in bold

Bobcat Football2015

9/3 vs. Fort Lewis College (7:05 p.m.)

9/19 at Eastern Washington (1:05 p.m.)

9/26 vs. Cal Poly (1:35 p.m.)

10/3 at Northern Arizona (4:05 p.m.)

10/10 vs. Sacramento State (5:05 p.m.)

10/17 at Portland State (12:35 p.m.)

10/24 vs. East Tenn. State (2:35 p.m.)

10/31 at North Dakota (12:00 p.m.)

11/7 vs. Southern Utah (1:40 p.m.)

11/14 at Idaho State (1:35 p.m.)

11/21 vs. Montana (12:05 p.m.)

• Home matches in bold

By Bill Lamberty MSU Sports Information Department

Montana State’s offense came out firing and stayed hot for most of Sat-urday’s 80-play scrimmage, the final live session of fall camp.

“I thought the offense looked exceptionally sharp, running and passing,” ninth-year Bobcat coach Rob Ash said after his team scored five offensive touchdowns in its final scrimmage of fall camp. “Dakota (Prukop, senior quarterback) was sharp, the line was really good, it was a good dress rehearsal for the offense.”

Prukop and the team’s top offen-sive unit marched 75 yards in eight plays to open the scrimmage, with Chad Newell punching it in from two yards out. Newell carried four times for 15 yards on the drive, while fellow junior running back Gunnar Brekke carried once for four yards. Both missed last week’s scrimmage with minor injuries.

That drive completed Newell’s work for the day, while Brekke fin-ished with four carries for 18 yards and two pass receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown. Ash was pleased with the work of both. “Newell ran well today,” Ash said. “Brekke is 100 percent, he looked really good. He is

such a versatile performer because he is an outstanding receiver and he can also run between the tackles and he’s got some good speed, which he showed.”

A big factor in the team’s offensive play was the return of tackle Alex Eekhoff and guard Kyle Godecke, who have each continued to rehabili-tate from injuries through fall camp. “I think it showed when those two guys were in there,” Ash said. “I think their experience showed. We were right on target with every play that we ran as far as getting hats on a hat, and that allowed our skill guys to have some room to operate, and they’re pretty good.”

Senior quarterback Jake Bleskin performed extremely well, complet-ing 10 of his 12 pass attempts for 196 yards and two touchdowns. He oper-ated both the ones and the twos. “We wanted to get (Bleskin) some turns with the ones, we wanted to get Jor-dan Hoy some turns with the twos, and we just wanted to get (Brady) McChesney and (Ben) Folsom some turns,” Ash said. “That was the plan from the beginning. Dakota knew he was going to play one series.”

Ash lauded Bleskin’s play. “We didn’t miss a beat with Jake in the game, and that’s what we wanted to find out today, if we needed to put

Jake in a game how would it look? I was really happy with that.”

Bleskin engineered one of the day’s impressive drives, which covered 51 yards in only two plays. He found sophomore receiver Jayshawn Gates for a 42-yard gain on first down, then hit him again for a nine-yard touch-down play on the next snap. “I came out today with the expectation of making big plays,” Gates said. “That’s a big thing for me, my mindset.”

In his first extended workload of the fall, redshirt freshman running back Noah James proved to be a workhorse. He carried 14 times for 69 yards, scoring one touchdown. He also caught a 13-yard pass. Classmate Johnny D’Agostino, who Ash identi-fied as one of the young players mak-ing a push into the depth chart, caught a scrimmage-high six passes.

Veterans Tanner Roderick (two catches, 46 yards) and Mitchell Her-bert (two for 47) performed well on Saturday. Ash liked what he saw from his receivers. “I thought generally our receivers did a very good job of running with the ball,” he said. “They caught it well, but ran with the ball well after the catch, too, made some guys miss. Of course I’ve got to look at the defensive side of that as the head coach and say, we’ve got to make better open field tackles.”

Bobcat offense impressive in final fall scrum

By University of Montana Sports Information Department

On a hot, smoky afternoon in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the Montana football squad held its final scrimmage of fall camp in a closed-door session, looking to add polish to an improving product.

The Griz ran through roughly 75 plays in a little over an hour as head coach Bob Sitt pushed the tempo of his hurry-up offense.

“I thought the offense moved the ball pretty well, got the momentum going several times,” lauded Coach Stitt after the scrimmage. “Defense came up with a turnover and a score. It’s disappointing we can’t kick a field goal. We’ve got to clean that up. We get it down in the red zone and if we don’t score, we’ve got to get points out of it.”

Senior Kicker Chris Lider went 4/4 on PATs, but missed two shots at field goals, one from roughly 20 yards and one from 33.

Quarterback Brady Gustafson led the Griz for half of the 12 offen-sive series, tallying two touchdown passes, accounting for 14 of the Grizzlies 21 offensive points.

Sophomore Makena Simis led the Griz through four of the next six drives, but did not put points on the board. Chad Chalich led the remain-ing two drives, one of which result-ed in a touchdown pass to #26 Carl Johnson in the 10th series.

The offense under Gustafson came out blazing to start the scrim-mage, with the 6’7” QB going 4/4 passing on the first drive, capped off by a 50-yard touchdown bomb to Jamaal Jones.

The defensive points came at the beginning of the fourth drive of the scrimmage, when defensive end Zach Peevey blocked a pass from Simis, hung on to the ball, and returned it 30 yards untouched for the score.

The third offensive score of the afternoon came on the 11th series, when Gustafson again unleashed the long ball and found Ellis Henderson streaking down the sideline for a 70-yard strike.

“I think he (Gustafson) threw the long ball better,” said Coach Stitt. “He got a little air underneath it and dropped it in over the top. It’s what we lacked in the last scrimmage where we had a couple of deep ones

we could have got, that were a little flat and we overthrew them. So it was nice to get a couple deep ones.”

Points of improvement from last scrimmage included better protec-tion on the QBs from the offensive line, and increased production from the running backs.

“It’s a combination of the quar-terbacks moving in the pocket and the O-line getting it done up front,” said Stitt. “If we can eliminate sacks, and keep ourselves in a decent third down and fourth down situation, its’ always going to be effective.

The running backs made some plays. We got the ball in their hands, as far as throwing it, and also in the running game, and when we get that the play count is going to go way up, our drives are going to get in the double digit area, and then it gets a lot easier.”

Montana will review film from the scrimmage on Friday as the team enters game week.

“I think we competed really well and played hard. It’s hot out here, it’s smoky, and we’re just ready to get after a game plan and prepare for somebody else,” said Stitt.

Grizzlies prep for game week in last scrimmage

Page 23: 2015 Fall Sports

23 FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

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Page 24: 2015 Fall Sports

FALL SPORTS PReview • THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 201524

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