Working hard and being dedicated to your craft almost always comes with rewards.

Such is the case for a group of local high school football seniors who have secured spots on Montana State postseason football games rosters for the best in their class.

Heading the list of Sanders and Mineral counties honorees is Thompson Falls senior Hayden Hanks, the massive two-way line who was earlier named to the B-11 player All-State team and has now been named as a defensive lineman for the West team in the annual East-West Shrine game slated for June 15 at Daylis Stadium in Billings.

Hanks, who has signed to play football this fall for Boise State University, has been described as a “once in a lifetime coaching opportunity” by Blue Hawks head football coach Jared Koskela.

“Fortunately, I have had a few of these diamonds in my pocket during my coaching tenure,” Koskela said. “They don’t come around too often, but when they do you have an interesting predicament on your hands,” he said. “For me, it’s hard to hide a player like Hayden. You want to structure your game plan around him, but you will also have your opponent scout you with emphasis on him. But we had fun together. Hayden is playing at the highest level of college for any player I have ever coached”.

Hanks is a 6-4, 270-weight room fanatic who wreaked havoc on opposing linemen during his time at T Falls.

Joining Hanks as postseason all-star game selections were teammates Max Hannum and Braxton Dorscher, who were not named to the Shrine team, but were selected to play in the Class B-11 all-star game in Butte the week before the Shrine game. The Blue Hawks also placed Nick Tessier, a standout running back/linebacker, as an alternate for the West team.

Hannum was named to the Class B game as a tight end/inside linebacker, while Tessier was chosen as a wide receiver/defensive back.

Hannum will be joining 2022 graduate Eli Ratliff at Montana Tech in Red Lodge this June 8th. where both were awarded football scholarships.

Koskela had high praise for Hannum, who is a defending state Class B wrestling champ at 182 pounds.

“Max is a leader and general of our team,” Koskela said. “everyone looked up to him”. Dorscher, Koskela said, was a “silent leader on the field where he let his actions on the field speak louder than words. He meant more to the team than stats could show”.

All four Blue Hawks were part of the 2021 State 8-Player championship team at T Falls and have been instrumental in the team’s adaptation to 11-player football, the level the Blue Hawks are now at.

Plains High School landed two players named to the Class B alternate list: Brandt Snead, a center and defensive lineman; and Aden West, a wide receiver and linebacker.

Plains coach Mike Tatum said the two were important reasons why the Horsemen broke into the win column this past year after two years without a victory.

“Both players will leave big holes to fill with their contributions on the field as players and leaders of the Horsemen football team,” Tatum said. “Brandt was definitely the leader of our offensive and defensive lines, and Aden was hands down our best wide receiver”.

Superior, which played football last season at the Class C level (8-player) had two players make the Class C all-star game, which will be played June 1 in Butte.

Quarterback Jaxson Green and running back Lucas Kovalsky, both of whom played key roles on both sides of the ball for the Bobcats, were named to the main rosters, while three of coach Jeff Schultz’s Cats, Micah Acker, Jason Merril and Chase Woodson were selected as alternates. Schultz was selected as a coach for the North/West team.

“Those guys were hard playing guys,” Schultz said. “They played a big role in bringing our young team to the playoffs this season after a rough start and the loss of so many seniors from last year”.