Noxon High head football coach Lucas MacArthur would be forgiven if he’s thinking “we shall return.”

In this case, it would be about the success his Red Devils team had last year in Montana six-player football when they went 6-2, the same as rival Hot Springs, which won the conference via the Savage Heat’s regular season win over Noxon. It was MacArthur’s first season as head coach.

So with most of the Red Devils returning for another season – they lost just two seniors – there’s good reason for MacArthur to envision a return.

The two players who graduated, Gage Hendrick and Johnny Knerr, were big pieces of the 2022 puzzle, but the Red Devils return a solid group who will now have another year of experience and familiarity with MacArthur’s system as they move forward.

They will have a whole season to get ready for their traditional late-season game with Hot Springs, which will be hosted by Noxon October 20 at 7 p.m.

But first things first, the Red Devils, who played their annual pre-season scrimmage game last week, must prepare for league newcomer Alberton on the Panthers home turf this Friday evening.

The Panthers are an unknown and that makes them potentially dangerous.

“We don’t have any film or anything on them,” said one Noxon coach.

What the Devils do know is that they have a fast team with good size up front. They also have an outstanding athlete in junior Ricky Williams, a 6-1 wide receiver with exceptional speed afoot.

Two Red Devils appear to be in the running for the quarterback position, Shamus Wheeldon and Brian Risch, both of whom are good throwers with good running ability.

When asked who are the top returnees from last year, MacArthur replied, “I am excited about all of our returning players, and the new players that we have on the roster this year.”

One potentially under-rated player is Risch, who in addition to vying for quarterback duties, is a solid place kicker, a rarity in six-player football.

MacArthur is excited about the returnees having a year of varsity football experience as they prepare for the season opener.

“I think one of our biggest strengths is having most of the team coming back with another year of varsity experience under their belts and a lot of drive to finish the season better than we did last year”.

Noxon lost its first-round playoff game.

“There are lots of things that we are working to improve on,” he said. “I am still a relatively new coach, this is my second year as the head coach, so what I am focusing on is how I coach the program. The guys that I have are great and I love coaching them. I just need to make sure that I am the best coach I can be so they have the chance they deserve to have”.