Tuesday, May 19, 2026
52.0°F

High school sports begin in a big way

JOHN HAMILTON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 months, 3 weeks AGO
by JOHN HAMILTON
| August 27, 2025 12:00 AM

High school sports wait for no one. 

It’s the end of August in Montana and that means the beginning of the prep football, volleyball, soccer and cross-country season this weekend. 

Local cross-country runners get going first, with the Plains XC teams hosting their annual Plains Time Trials at 8 a.m. Friday, and the Thompson Falls boys and girls cross country teams are also scheduled to participate in Plains. 

Football also kicks off Friday in a big way locally, with the St. Regis Tigers hosting the Mineral County rival Superior Tigers in an important early-season 8-Man game. 

All four Sanders County football teams are hosting games Friday. The Plains Horsemen are scheduled to host the Darby Tigers in 8-Man action, the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks will entertain the Cut Bank Wolves in a Western B 11-Man game, and Hot Springs (against Chester-Joplin-Iverness) and Noxon (versus Sunburst) will host 6-Man games. 

Alberton is scheduled to entertain Great Falls Central in a 6-Man football game Friday. 

Volleyball swings into play Saturday with the Mission Tournament for Plains and Thompson Falls and the Drummond Tip-Off tournament for Superior, St. Regis and Alberton. 

Net action heats up Tuesday in the area as the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks will entertain the Loyola Sacred Heart Breakers, the Trotters will host the Florence Falcons, and the Hot Springs Savage Heat will play Noxon in the Spa City.

ARTICLES BY JOHN HAMILTON

May 13, 2026 midnight

Hawks compete at fast and furious Archie Roe meet

Serious fast and furious; that’s the way the action rolls at the prestigious Archie Roe Meet in Kalispell.

Hawks await playoff fate
May 13, 2026 midnight

Hawks await playoff fate

The playoff fate of the Blue Hawks is in the hands of others as Northern conference teams head into the final week of regular season play, but you won’t find coach Jared Koskela and his scrappy young squad fretting about it. They just want to play another day, whichever way they have to do that.

Local excel in Gary Thompson Invitational
May 13, 2026 midnight

Local excel in Gary Thompson Invitational

It wasn’t originally scheduled to go down this way, but the 2026 Gary Thompson Invitational was held at River’s Bend outside of Thompson Falls May 5, and local players dotted the leader board at tourney’s end.