Suddenly it is time for the Flag Football Tournament, and though it’s year four for the sport local squads Glacier and Flathead face unknowns in a newly-formatted event.

For the first time State is divided into three classifications at one venue — Hamilton High School — beginning Wednesday. Eight teams will vie for the AA crown, along with five for Class A and eight for B/C.  

That means Huntley Project, a Class B school that advanced to last year’s title game before losing to three-time champion Glacier, will pick on someone its own size. 

Meanwhile neither the Glacier Wolfpack nor the Flathead Bravettes have seen their first-round opponent. Glacier takes on Butte at 8 a.m. Wednesday and Flathead battles Billings West at 3:30 p.m. 

The semifinals are Thursday morning and the championship is set for 3:15 p.m. 

The Pack (9-1) and Bravettes are, like they were at this past Saturday’s Western AA seeding tournament, on the same side of the bracket. Glacier beat Flathead 20-13 that day. 

Karley Allen was 15 of 20 passing for 170 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 47 yards and another score. Rylee Galle had seven catches for 61 yards, while Remi Osler caught five for 73. Each had a TD. 

Missoula Hellgate, which beat Flathead 7-6 in overtime two days previous, waited in the final. The Wolfpack overcame a rushing touchdown by Athena Starin, prevailing 13-6. 

Allen again threw for two TDs, one to Galle and one to Addison Kauffman, while completing 15 of 22 passes for 168 yards.  

Galle caught six passes for 61 yards; Kauffman had two catches for 43 — her TD covered 35 yards. Olivia Banzett had four catches for 32 yards as well. 

Flathead bounced back to beat Missoula Sentinel 6-0 — avenging a regular-season loss — and claim the West’s No. 3 seed. 

It was interesting Saturday in that 6-foot-1 receiver Lexi Herion didn’t catch a pass in two games — unless you count the interceptions she had against Sentinel and in a 26-0 win over Missoula Big Sky. 

“Our success at the beginning of the season is different from our success at the end,” said Hensley, whose offense is led by mobile QB Julia Kay. “I think we’ve adjusted accordingly. I’m excited to get there and gosh, these girls have worked so hard for this.” 

Glacier and Flathead met for the first two state titles, in 2022-23. The 6-4 Bravettes changed coaches at the 11th hour before the season but have had a solid season, including one win over Glacier in three matchups.  

Quarterback Julia Kay is a consistent and dangerous performer: she ran 21 times for 178 yards and three TDs in three games Saturday; she also completed 36 of 63 passes for 448 yards and three scores. 

Running back Lily Rittenhouse stepped up with nine catches for 108 yards in the win over Sentinel; Herion had a 20-yard TD run against Big Sky. 

“I think when we’re locked in and we execute our game plan, we’re a hard team to beat,” Jess Hensley, first-year coach of the Bravettes, said. “The biggest thing is we need to be resilient. It takes a little bit to settle into our game. We can’t let mistakes, and we make mistakes, determine the flow of our game. When we do that, we’re a really, really good football team.” 

State Flag Football 

Wednesday and Thursday 

Hamilton High School 

Wednesday 

Class AA

Glacier vs. Butte, 8 a.m. 

Billings West vs. Flathead, 3:30 p.m. 

Missoula Sentinel vs. Billings Senior, 11:45 a.m. 

Billings Skyview vs. Missoula Hellgate, 7:15 p.m. 

Thursday

Glacier-Butte winner vs. Flathead-West winner, 9 a.m., semifinal 

Skyview-Hellgate winner vs. Sentinel-Senior winner, 11:30 a.m., semifinal 

Championship, 3:15 p.m. 

Class A

East Helena vs. Hardin, 10:30 a.m. 

Glendive vs. East Helena-Hardin winner, 2;15 pm., sf 

Hamilton vs. Lockwood, 7:15 p.m., sf 

Thursday

Championship, 2 p.m. 

Class B/C 

Wednesday

Wolf Point vs. Hays-Lodgepole, 9:15 p.m. 

Three Forks vs. Huntley Project, 4:45 p.m. 

Poplar vs. Hobson, 1 p.m. 

Boulder vs. Shepherd, 8:30 p.m. 

Thursday

Semifinals, 10:15 p.m. and 12:45 p.m. 

Championship, 4:30 p.m.