Let’s clean up some loose ends and get ready for playoffs, shall we?

Yup, just like outside Christmas lights, it’s already time for sports playoffs.

Don’t look now, but leaves are falling and the smoke in the sky is from wood stoves and neighborhood gardens, not nearby forests.

Where did the year go? It’s already time to crown champions in football, volleyball and cross country.

And once again, our little corner of the world, the place where if God does not live here He has at least has one dandy of a condo, has a good shot at bringing home some shiny bacon.

Make sure the custodian knows where the key to the trophy case is, those glimmering statuettes may soon have some company.

Will the region be as fortunate as last year, when the Blue Hawks from Thompson Falls swooped down on the 8-player football world and snatched the whole enchilada, a much-sought-after State Championship?

Will traditional powerhouse volleyball teams such as Seeley and Charlo need a new shelf in their trophy cases or will some of the up-and-coming young teams like Superior, St. Regis, Hot Springs and Noxon find a way to upset their way home with some trophy case bling?

And how about the cross country dudes and dudettes? Hopefully folks have been paying attention to the T Falls boys and gals, who both have legitimate shots at individual champion tiaras. During the past week (see story) the Thompson Falls girls cross country team won the Western B-C district title and advanced a full contingent to this Saturday’s Cross County State Championship meet in Missoula.

In so doing, the girls placed first, second and fourth individually, led by two-sport star Ellie Baxter, who is also a key member of the Lady Hawks volleyball team and will be a contender to advance from the District volleyball meet that will be hosted by Thompson Falls the weekend of October 29.

This weekend, Superior and Mission (St. Ignatius) clash in a battle of 8-player football unbeatens, hoping to follow in the playoff footsteps laid by last year’s T Falls team, which won it all without a loss.

The Blue Hawks have moved on and up this year into the world of 11-player football, a really weird reward for the season they had in 2021 when you think about it.

But the Bobcats from Superior and the Bulldogs from Mission seem to have the moxie to keep the hardware west of the Mission Mountains.

And as always, that will depend on what kind of corn-fed monsters from the flatlands lie in wait along the playoff trail.

And as sure as snow will blanket small town lawns in the not-too-distant future, the area’s two 6-player football teams will have a say in who rides the fire truck through town at the conclusion of the 6-player championships.

Noxon, under the guidance of new head coach Lucas MacArthur, has a solid young team which pushed traditional 6-player juggernaut Hot Springs and coach Jim Lawson for the regular season Western 6-player crown. Either one of those teams could light it up at the right time, put together a good run and start planning the “I’d like to thank all the little people who made this possible” speeches.

And local volleyball has a plethora of solid, young teams to go with the traditional powers to make for a very interesting and entertaining round of playoffs from Highway 93 to the Idaho line. The incoming freshmen and sophomore classes have been unusually kind to a number of local schools in volleyball terms.

This past week in fact saw the Lady Red Devils from Noxon ruin traditional volleyball power Charlo’s bid for an unbeaten season when they upset the Lady Vikings in five sets in a match this past Saturday in Charlo.

Heck, just across the Idaho state line along I-90, another Montana football team, St. Regis, is once again in contention to play for it all as part of the St. Regis-Mullan,Idaho co-op team that plays its games in Idaho and has been involved in the championship round the past several years.

Last, but certainly not least, the region also has a good crop of cross country runners who could challenge for some individual honors next weekend at the state meet in Missoula.

The Baxter sisters, senior Ellie and eighth grader Aubrey, are reason enough to have the trophy case guy standing by. Cael Thilmony could harvest some booty as well.

For fans of these sports, basketball and wrestling will be here soon enough. It’s time to cinch up the saddle and let ‘er buck.