Anaconda’s Galle called to game; Dye named alternate
The 2026 Montana East-West Shrine Game will be played June 20 in Butte.
The game will also include a trio of players from the Mining City. Butte High seniors Hudson Luedtke and Mitch Verlanic were named to the West roster along with Butte Central senior Ryan Peoples.
The rosters were sent to the media Tuesday night for the release on Christmas morning.
Butte’s players will be joined by Anaconda receiver Brody Galle and possibly Copperhead Travis Dye. Galle will be the first Anaconda player to participate in the game since Sean Gallagher in 2016, and Dye was named as an alternative.
Luedtke, a two-way starter and four-year All-State player, will play receiver for the West Side. That comes after he hauled in 73 passes for 763 yards and six touchdowns this past season.
Verlanic will play safety for the West. He registered a team-leading 104 total tackles in 2025. That includes 77 solo take downs.
Peoples will play quarterback. He passed for 1,705 yards and 19 touchdowns while leading the Maroons to the playoffs for the first time this decade.
Galle caught 43 passes for 840 yards and five touchdowns for the Copperheads, who advanced to the Class B playoffs. He also ran for two TDs.
The alternate players are not listed by position, but Dye could help the West side on both sides of the ball if he is elevated to the roster. He passed for 2,170 yards and 17 touchdowns for the Copperheads. He also registered five sacks and three interceptions on defense.
The West roster will also include at least two more players with deep ties to the Mining City. Missoula Hellgate quarterback Vince Paffhausen was named to the team as an “athlete.” He is the son of former Butte High quarterback Todd Paffhausen.
Helena High’s Riley Schulte was named to the West roster as a cornerback. He is related to the Butte Schulte family, which just might be the “First Family” of the Shrine game.
Kalispell Glacier coach Grady Bennett will serve as head coach of the West Side. The 2026 season will be Coach Bennett’s 23rd year as a head coach and 20th year at Glacier High School, where he’s led the Wolfpack to six state championship games in the past 13 seasons, winning the Class AA State Championship in 2014 and 2025. The Wolfpack have made 16 playoff appearances in 19 seasons.
Bennett played in the Montana East-West Shrine Game in 1986, was an assistant coach for the West in 1997 and 2007, and was the head coach of the 2012 West Team. He is honored to have a role in the Shrine Game for five decades.
The East Team will be coached by Hunter Chandler. He is entering his sixth season as head coach at Gallatin High School in Bozeman. Under his leadership, the Raptors have reached the state semifinals in each of the past four seasons.
Before taking over at Gallatin, Chandler served five years as the defensive coordinator and assistant coach at Bozeman High School. He began his coaching career at Havre High School under longtime coach Mark Samson.
The Montana Shrine Game is the premier all-star game in Montana and has a long history of distinguished players and coaches. It is also one of the oldest high school all-star football games in America. Since 1947, Montana high schools’ finest players are selected to compete in a game to raise money and to help make the public aware of the expert orthopedic care available at the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Spokane, Washington. Expert care is provided regardless of the family’s ability to pay. In recent years, the Montana game has become the top Shrine Game in the nation for hospital donations.
In the last ten years this game has raised more than $1,000,000. Forty of Montana’s finest are selected to compete on each team and two players from Canada will join them, one for the East and one for the West.
These players were nominated by their schools and coaches across the state and finally selected as the “best of the best” to participate in the 79th Montana Shrine Game. They join an elite fraternity of players, many of whom have gone on to distinguished collegiate and professional careers.
Click the link below to see the full rosters for both teams.
Pictured above are, from left, Hudson Luedtke, Mitch Verlanic and Ryan Peoples. Photos of Luedke and Verlanic provided by Alycia Holland Photography. Photo of Peoples courtesy Josie Trudgeon Photography.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 