There will be no high school football in Hot Springs this fall.

Due to a last-second apparent shortage of players, Hot Springs High School officials have decided to enter a cooperative football program at Polson High School. The Polson school board approved the agreement, reportedly only hours before practice began for the season.

Hot Springs athletic director Jim Lawson, who was set to coach the Savage Heat 6-Man football team until only a few weeks ago, said that Hot Springs seniors Chase DePoe and Ben Aldridge were able to make it to Polson’s first football practice Friday and will compete as Class A Polson Pirates this fall.

Lawson said his son Kane Lawson, who works for a restoration company in the Polson area, was hired as an assistant football coach as part of the agreement between the schools. Kane was originally set to return as Hot Springs assistant before the last minute changes. Jim says he may also consult with the Polson coaching staff at times this coming season, as Pirate coach Carson Oakland has welcomed Hot Springs into the fold.

Jim Lawson said he is going to miss the excitement of Friday night football in Hot Springs.

“It’s one of the things that people in small towns like Hot Springs look forward to,” he said. "It’s not just a school thing, it’s the community coming together under the lights and cheering on their boys. It’s a horrible thing to lose, it affects everyone, the school and the fans, everyone connected to it.”

Jim Lawson has guided the Savage Heat to the heights of 6-Man football during his storied career in Hot Springs, to State titles in 2012 and 2016 and deep into the playoffs many other times, most recently into the semifinals of the 2025 playoffs.

Although Hot Springs is losing football for this season at least, Polson is gaining two outstanding athletes in DePoe and Aldridge, who both played key roles in leading the Heat track team last spring, to the Western C divisional championship and to third place in the State C meet.

Also, in spite of missing most of the second half of the 6-Man campaign last fall, Aldridge still managed to earn All-State football honors for Hot Springs following the season.

Since Hot Springs had previously declared a cooperative with Plains for the coming school year in boys and girls basketball, the only sports remaining with stand-alone programs in Hot Springs for the 2026-2027 school year are volleyball this fall and track and field next spring.