Bulldogs welcome Falcons to Naranche

Friday night lights will return to Naranche Stadium this week as Butte High plays host to Billings Skyview in the final non-conference football game before the Bulldogs open Western AA play.

That game is just part of a very busy sports slate for the Mining City this week. We will also see flag football, cross country, volleyball, golf and soccer teams in action.

We will take a look at all that action in this week’s lap around the week in Butte sports.

Butte High looks for rebound

A pair of teams looking to get up off the mat will meet Friday at Naranche Stadium as Billings Skyview comes to town to face the Butte High Bulldogs.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. for the non-conference game on Litte Guy Football Night.

Skyview is looking to bounce back from last Friday’s 41-13 home loss to Helena High. Butte High, meanwhile, dropped a 39-10 decision to Gallatin in Bozeman (stats).

The Falcons will come to town with a new head coach. John Simpson, who led the Falcons in 2024 and 2025, resigned on Sunday, according to media reports in Billings. An interim coach will be named.

Skyview used a pair of senior quarterbacks in the loss. Jaxon Zagata completed 10 of 12 passes for 123 yards and a score. Jackson Carter completed 2 of 8 passes for 30 yards. He also ran for 39 yards and a touchdown.

Senior Miner Lee punched in a 3-yard run for Butte High’s lone touchdown at Gallatin.

Senior quarterback Raeder Grey passed for 74 yards and scrambled for 27 more. Senior Jaeger Hansen and juniors Matt Marsenich and Zavier Jory also got carriers behind an offensive line made up of starters Max Pearston, Konnor Hanni, Sawyer Casey, Will Olds and Mayson Swanson.

Pearston and Swanson are seniors. Hanni and Casey are juniors, and Olds is a sophomore.

Seniors Kodye Kjersten, Evan McEwen and Lee also caught passes, as did sophomore Ryan Bache. Lee had a big day in the return game.

On the other side of the ball, Grey led the Bulldogs with 11 total tackles. Hansen got in on five, while Pearston, McEwen and junior Colt Stenson all registered four. Senior Finn Wortham joined Kjersten and sophomore Cooper Carter with three.

Senior defensive back Bradey Doyle picked up a pair of tackles for a loss, and senior Reece Cunneen was credited with a quarterback hurry.

Boyle booted a 31-yard field goal, and junior Tegan Duffy, who handled punting and kickoff duties, kicked Butte’s extra point.

The Bulldogs hit the road next Friday to take on defending Class AA State champion Kalispell Glacier. Butte High’s next home game is Sept. 18 against Missoula Big Sky.

Butte High will celebrate Silver B’s Night and homecoming when the Bulldogs take on the Eagles.

Lightning, Lions strike Maroons

If you had a 2-2 pull tab on Butte Central’s season opener against Lockwood (and having such a tab was legal), you were a highly unlikely winner.

The score after the first quarter on Montana Tech’s Bob Green Field was a rare 2-all tie after the first 12 minutes of action.

The final tally, though, was not so lucky for the Maroons, who fell 26-8 to the Lions. (Boxscore)

Lockwood took a 2-0 lead when the Maroons snapped the ball through their own end zone just 2 minutes, 8 seconds into the game. About 5 and a half minutes later, Maroon sophomore Henly Mansanti blocked a punt out of the back of Lockwood’s end zone to tie the score.

In the second quarter, however, the Lions took over. Macclain Thompson broke the tie with a 54-yard punt return for a touchdown with 6 minutes, 6 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Lions added eight quick points in the final 40 seconds of the half. Just 16 seconds after another BC snap sailed through the end zone for the third safety of the game, Isaiah Greer hauled in a 40-yard pass from Raider Kalfell.

Even after a long lightning delay, the Maroon offense could not get going after that. The lone BC touchdown came on a 2-yard run by GG Fantini in the third quarter. Kalfell countered with a 3-yard run in the fourth.

Senior Danny McCarthy lead the BC rushing attack with 46 yards, while quarterback sophomore Noah Sutton ran for 31, and Mansanti carried the rock for 29.

Sutton completed passes to junior Treigh Hollow, senior Joshua Sutton, Fantini and Mansanti.

Junior Palmer Kellicut and seniors Gunnar O’Brien, Bobby McCarthy, Burkley Lakkala and Jack Nylund stood out in BC’s tough defensive effort. For more on that game, read Bruce Sayler’s story on ButteSports.com.

The Maroons will be on the road for Week 2 of the 2026 season. They will take on Hardin at 7 p.m. Friday night.

Hardin roll to a 44-0 win at Stevensville last Friday. Details on that game, however, are hard to come by. The Maroons beat Hardin in a 17-16 thriller in Week 2 of last season at Montana Tech.

Flag football team back at home

Butte High’s flag football team will be back at Naranche Stadium Thursday to take on Missoula Sentinel.

Varsity action begins at 5 p.m., with the junior varsity playing at about 7. The Bulldogs will play Glacier and Flathead Saturday in Kalispell.

Butte High is coming off last Thursday’s 18-0 home loss to Missoula Sentinel.

Second-year Bulldog coach John Stenson said that key turnovers undid the Bulldogs in a game that was closer than the score might indicate. Butte trailed 6-0 at the half.

“Every time we would get close to scoring, we had an interception,” Stenson said. “The defense actually played pretty good.”

The coach pointed to the play of Brooke Johnson, who registered six sacks. Junior Addisyn Lambrecht also stood out rushing the passer.

Junior Charliee Richter pulled in four receptions to lead the Bulldog offense. Junior Kenzie Rowe and senior Mackenzie Read also caught passes for the Bulldogs.

This Thursday’s action will not be easy for the Bulldogs. Hellgate played in last year’s championship game, falling to Glacier.

Soccer teams head to Kalispell

Butte High’s soccer teams head northwest to take on Kalispell Glacier and Flathead this weekend.

Butte will battle Glacier on Friday. The boys play at 2 p.m., and the girls play at 4. Boys open action with a 10 a.m. matchup with Flathead on Saturday. The girls are set to play at noon.

The action comes after Butte High fell to Missoula Big Sky and Missoula Sentinel in home action last week.

On the boys’ side, Butte High fell 5-0 to Big Sky and 8-0 to Kalispell. Still, Bulldog coach Adam Colvin said he saw some good things from his boys.

“We had the early season jitters vs. Big Sky, and we learned a lot on the field that day,” Colvin said. “Unfortunately, we had something like a 90-minute lighting delay at halftime that was really tough to recover from. It was only 0-2 at half. I think we could have definitely came back from it, but the huge delay mentally and physically drained us. I would have loved to see what we could have done with some fresh legs that second half.”

While the score might not indicate it, Butte High was better on Saturday. The weather, however, was not.

“We switched a few things and I think it looked a lot better,” Colvin said. “We have a bit of a learning curve to overcome still, but the lightning got us again. We did our warmups and had to immediately go into about an hour delay. Sentinel is one heck of a team though and their depth was a hard to compete with.”

Colvin pointed to the play of junior Daniel Schaible and senior Kato Kuusisto.

“Learning how to play with new teammates, these two were invaluable on defense for us,” the coach said. “Daniel is a center back for us and single handedly saved us three or four goals over the weekend, including a sliding save on a wide-open net vs. Big Sky. Kato is our varsity keeper. He has been a rock in goal which includes a PK save vs Sentinel — a huge momentum swing for us at the time.”

On the girls’ side, the Bulldogs lost 10-0 in both games. That, though, does not damper the enthusiasm coach Geno Liva has for his Bulldogs.

“We are looking forward to a great season,” the coach said. “We have 34 girls out for soccer this year, and for the first time in three years have a JV team. Our season has started tough, but we are looking forward to traveling to Kalispell this weekend and taking on both area schools.”

Liva said his team is full of hard-working girls, many whom are new faces to the team and the sport. He pointed to the play of sophomore Elsa Thieszen, who is back from a year off playing soccer.

“She has played the center-mid positions as well as on defense this year and is a bright spot,” Liva said. “Her work ethic is second to none, her attitude is great, and she makes people around her better.”

Junior Berkli Salusso is new to the team. The coach said she is adapting quickly to the sport, playing center defensive back. Liva also pointed to the play of sophomore Liz Wood and senior Alaina Grochowski.

“Liz is playing defense and goalie, and Adalie playing center defensive back,” Liva said. “(Senior) Rory Trafford and (freshman) Maizie Tomsheck have been seeing time on both JV and varsity and have played well.”

Dogs spike Broncs in five

Butte High’s volleyball team only won one of their three non-conference matches last week. But what a win that one was.

Butte High closed Saturday’s trip to senior with a five-set win over Billings Senior. After winning the opener 25-23, the Bulldogs fell 25-19 in the second and third sets. Butte High won 27-25 in a marathon Game 4 before closing out the win with a 15-12 win. (Statistics)

Seniors Allie Becker and Avery Barsness paced the Bulldog attack in the win. Becker spiked 13 kills, while Barness followed with 19. Junior Stella Callaghan followed with nine kills, and senior Brittyn Klima and junior Gia Field each followed with seven.

Junior Kalee Wright served five aces.

Sophomore Elli Graham set 37 assists, and senior Ellie Yates (23), Becker (22), Graham (16), Callaghan (14) and senior Cadence Graham (12) registered double figures in digs. Cadence Graham added three aces.

Earlier Saturday, the Bulldogs fell 3-0 to Billings West. The Golden Bears won 25-19, 25-15, 25-23 (Stats)

Butte High opened the season Thursday with a 3-0 loss to Belgrade. The Panthers took the match 25-18, 25-15, 25-20. Stats for that match are not available.

The Bulldogs don’t play a varsity match this week. Their next action is their Sept. 11-12 trip to Kalispell to take on Glacier and Flathead in Western AA matches.

Butte Central’s volleyball team opened the season at the Western A tipoff tournament in Dillon. Results from BC’s action was not submitted in time for this report.

The Maroons will play at the Southwest/Southeast A Tipoff tournament this Friday and Saturday in East Helena.

Central will play its first Southwestern A match against Stevensville Sept. 10 at the Maroon Activities Center.

Runners kick off season

Butte Central’s cross country team opened the season Friday at the Seamus Camp Invitational in Livingston. (Results)

The race saw 16 boys and 15 girls compete. That included three Maroons — senior Joe Bradshaw and freshman Roman Terry on the boys’ side and sophomore Ashley White for the girls.

Anaconda’s Gage Novak won the boys’ race, finishing the 5-kilometer race in 18 minutes, 33 seconds. Livingston’s Langley Hamilton took second at 19:33, and Remi Jorgensen of Twin Bridges placed third at 19:19.

Bradshaw placed eighth at 22:45, and Terry ran to 11^th at 24:00