Butte High soccer, volleyball at home, football teams on road
While Butte High’s flag football season came to an end with Monday’s home battle with Missoula Big Sky, the rest of the fall sports are heading into crunch time.
That includes the golf teams from Butte High and Butte Central. Nine golfers in total will head to their respective State tournaments this week.
The football teams from Butte High and Butte Central will be on the road again this week. So will BC’s volleyball team. The Bulldogs, though, will see some home action in volleyball and soccer this week.
The Copper Sprockets cycling team also showcased their talents behind Big Butte in the Copper Kings Clash. Those riders have a week off before they close the season in Lolo.
We will look at all of that as we take a trip around the Mining City high school sports scene.
State golf opens Thursday
The Class AA State golf tournament begins Thursday at the Meadow Lark Country Club in Great Falls.
Play begins at 10 a.m. Thursday and Friday.
Butte High’s boys’ team has the makings of contenders as they travel to Great Falls — this year and beyond. The Bulldogs do not have a single senior on the team that placed third at last week’s Western AA Divisional tournament at the Butte Country Club.
Making the trip for Butte High’s boys are freshman Lane Lisac, sophomores Braden Donnelly and Miles Choquette, and juniors Josh Muhlstein and Teagan Yelenich.
Lisac tied for second place at the divisional tournament. Muhlstein took 10th, and Yelenich and Donnelly tied for 18th.
Lisac, Muhlstein and Yelenich took turns leading the Bulldogs this season. That includes Yelenich’s first-place showing at Butte High’s season-opening one-day tournament at Fairmont Hot Springs.
Donnelly and Choquette have come on as of late, and look to be playing their best at the right time.
Lisac is the only Bulldog who played at State last year, when he was an eighth grader at East Middle School. Muhlstein and Yelenich represented the Bulldogs at State as freshmen.
Senior Kate DeShaw and junior Sage Leber are veterans of State tournament play. They will both represent the Bulldogs at Meadow Lark.
DeShaw placed 18th at last year’s State tournament, missing All-State honors by just two shots. All-State distinction goes to the top 15 individuals.
Siblings Beau and Mya McGree will represent Butte Central at the Class A State golf tournament, which is Friday and Saturday at the Marias Valley Golf & Country Club in Shelby.
Beau McGree tied for second at last week’s Western A Divisional tournament in Polson. That was just one of many top finishes for the junior who is looking for All-State honors for the second straight season.
He tied with his brother Will, who now plays for Montana Tech, for 13th place at last year’s State A tournament in Sidney.
McGree’s season includes defending his title at the Butte Central Invitational and winning tournaments in Livingston and Dillon. He also tied with Yelenich for the top spot at Butte High’s one-day tournament. Yelenich was awarded medalist honors after a scorecard playoff.
Mya McGree, a freshman, will represent the Maroons on the final tournament for the second year. She played at the State A last year as an eighth grader.
She has also spent much of the season near the top of the leaderboard. Her freshman campaign includes a victory at the Bigfork Invitational.
Live results from both tournaments will be available on the Golf Genius app. The GGID is AA State26 for the Class AA and StateA26 for the Class A.
Bulldogs travel to Helena High
Another tough Western AA road test is in store for the Butte High football team Friday.
The Bulldogs will travel to Helena High for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Bengals at Vigilante Stadium.
The Bengals, who are coming off last week’s 34-27 home loss to Helena Capital, enter the contest at 3-2 overall and 2-1 in Western AA play. Helena High beat Missoula Sentinel 35-26 Sept. 11 in Helena before traveling to Kalispell tea edge Flathead in a 31-30 thriller Sept. 18.
In non-conference play, the Bengals routed Skyview 41-14 in Billings and fell 41-20 at home to Gallatin.
Once again, the Bulldogs (1-4, 0-3) will be facing a dual-threat quarterback. This time it is Helena senior Reece Silvonen.
Silvonen has completed 68 percent of his passes on the season. He’s tossed 11 touchdowns compared to four interceptions. He is also averaging 4.9 yards per carry, and scored two touchdowns on the ground.
Senior Gracen Silvonen is the top target. He has hauled in 30 passes for 299 yards and three scores. Junior Tyse Todorovich has 18 grabs for 267 yards and four scores.
Junior Brayden Garza leads the Helena rushing attack. He’s racked up 262 yards on six scores while averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
After a review of the film by Bulldog coaches, senior linebacker Finn Wortham was credited with 18 total tackles in last week’s 14-6 loss to Missoula Sentinel at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Ten of those tackles were solo.
Junior backer Hudson Steel added 10 tackles, eight of which were solo, while seniors Evan McEwen and Bradey Doyle followed with nine and eight.
Wortham leads the Bulldogs with 45 takedowns on the season. Senior Jaeger Hansen is second with 38, and classmate Raeder Grey is third at 29. McEwen and Doyle follow at 26 and 23.
Seniors Reece Cunneen, Miner Lee and Maxximus Pearston are also in double digits in tackles, along with Steele and juniors Colt Stenson and Kodye Kjersten.
Kjersten and sophomore Ryan Bache each have a pair of picks on the season. Pearston and Dyle lead the team with two sacks apiece.
Grey is completing 58 percent of his passes. He’s tossed five touchdowns and four picks. Three of those TDs went to Bache, who leads the team with 14 receptions for 258 yards.
Senior Brady Walsh, who has two receiving TDs, Lee, Kjersten and senior Koda Schleeman are also favorite targets.
Lee has put together a strong season at running back. He is averaging 4.8 yards per carry. He has 306 yards and four touchdowns running behind Pearston and his fellow linemen in junior Konner Hanni, junior Sawyer Casey, junior Karter Hall, senior Mason Swanson and sophomore Colton Nasheim.
The Bulldogs return home next Friday for a Senior Night game against Flathead. Butte High will host Missoula Hellgate on Thursday, Oct. 15 before closing the regular season at Helena Capital on Oct. 23.
BC eyes win at Stevi
The Maroons look to even their Southwestern A record Friday when they take on Stevensville in a 7 p.m. football game in the Bitterroot Valley.
BC is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in conference after last Friday’s 25-20 loss at Corvallis.
The Maroons showed good fight in the loss. Sophomore quarterback Noah Sutton had another big night passing. The lefty completed 29 of 41 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns. He hit senior GG Fantini and sophomore Jaxon Hiatt on scoring strikes.
Hiatt and senior Joshua Sutton each caught nine passes for the Maroons. Sutton racked up 94 yards, while Hiatt accounted for 65. Fantini grabbed six passes for 43 yards, and sophomore Henly Mansanti hauled in five passes for 34 yards.
Mansanti also ran for 30 yards on seven carries.
BC coach Don Peoples Jr. singled out the play of tight ends Burkley Lakkala and Palmer Kellicut. Lakkala, a senior, and Kellicut, a junior, filled in at offensive tackle in the game.
Peoples said they “did a great job.”
The Yellowjackets are 2-2 overall and 0-1 after last week’s 46-0 loss at Hamilton. Stevensville beat Livingston 50-13 in Livingston a week after beating Libby 14-6 at home. The Yellowjackets also have a 44-0 home loss to Hardin, a team the Maroons went on the road and took to double overtime.
Sophomore quarterback Luca Schmidt is completing 61 percent of his passes. He’s tossed five TDs and thrown six interceptions. He and senior Jake Nyholm each have two touchdowns on the ground.
Senior receiver Kaden Wyant is having a big season for the Yellowjackets. He has hauled in 51 passes for 516 yards and four touchdowns.
The Maroons will play their first home game since Sept. 11 a week from Friday against Frenchtown. Hamilton will come to town for Senior Night Oct. 16, and BC will close out the regular season Oct. 23 at Dillon.
Bulldog volleyball hosts CMR
Butte High is in the middle of a busy stretch on the volleyball court.
The Bulldogs will play host to Great Falls Russell at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Ross J. Richardson Gymnasium.
Butte High opened a set of three matches this week Tuesday night at home, falling 3-1 to Missoula Hellgate.
That came after the Bulldogs beat Helena Capital 3-0 at home last Thursday and then fell 3-2 at Helena High on Saturday.
The Bulldogs cruised past Capital 25-10, 25-12, 25-20. At Helena, they dropped a 25-21, 14-25, 25-23, 27-29, 15-8 thriller to the Bengals. (Stats)
Seniors Cadence Graham and Allie Becker combined for 37 kills to lead the Bulldogs in that match. Graham spiked 19, while Becker killed 18.
Sophomore Elli Graham and junior Stella Callaghan led a Bulldog team that served 11 aces. Each served up three while Becker and junior Kalee Wright each served two.
Senior Ellie Yates collected a team-best 30 digs in the match. Elli Graham added 17, while Cadence Graham added 16, and Becker dug 15.
On Tuesday, the Bulldogs fell 25-22, 22-25, 25-19, 25-10 to Hellgate. Stats from the Capital and Hellgate matches have not been posted.
Butte High travel to take on Great Falls Russell on Saturday. The Bulldogs will host Flathead and Glacier on Oct. 9 and 10.
Maroon spikers hit the road
Butte Central’s volleyball team will be on the road for a pair of matches this week.
First up is a trip to Dillon for a Southwestern A showdown with the Beavers at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Maroons will then travel to Missoula to take on Loyola in a 1 p.m. non-conference match on Saturday.
Central is looking to bounce back from Saturday’s 25-16, 25-10, 25-19 loss at Hamilton. Stats from that match have not been submitted.
BC will host the 15th Annual Blocktober Classic Oct. 9-10 at the Maroon Activities Center and Butte Civic Center. The tournament will see 26 teams compete.
Click here for the schedules, brackets, rosters and, eventually, results.
Dogs look to boot Kalispell schools
Butte High’s soccer teams will be back at home for the first time in two weeks.
The Bulldogs will play host to Glacier on Friday before hosting Flathead on Saturday. The girls will kick off action at 2 p.m. Friday at Bulldog Memorial Stadium. The boys will follow at 4:30.
On Saturday, the girls will play at noon, and the boys will play at 2:30 p.m.
Both Bulldog teams are coming off 10-0 losses to undefeated Missoula Sentinel teams last Thursday.
Butte High boys’ coach Adam Colvin said the Bulldogs played better than the score.
“We did much better today than we did vs Big sky on Tuesday,” he said. “The score would indicate the opposite since we lost 0-10, but in my opinion, Sentinel is not only the best team in the West this year, I think they may be the best I’ve seen between the five years I’ve been at Butte soccer.”
The injury-plagued Bulldogs were down a pair of starters on a hot day.
“We had lots of people playing in positions they don’t normally play, and we held our own for a respectable amount of time vs a real tough opponent in a tough set of conditions,” Colvin said. “Regardless the boys were disappointed. We had a mistake here and there, most other teams in the state we would recover quickly enough to limit the damage, but Sentinel is too good to give them any advantage.”
After Saturday, the Bulldogs will be down to three matches left. The Butte teams will head to Helena High Oct. 8 and play host to Helena Capital on Oct. 10. Butte High’s final regular-season game is set for Oct. 13 at Missoula Hellgate.
Cross Country teams back in action
Bulldog and Maroon runners posted nice showings last Thursday at the Butte High Cross Country Carnival at Stodden Park.
Both teams will be back in action this week.
Butte High will run Friday at the Headwaters Invitational in Three Forks. That meet will see 17 teams compete. The Bulldogs are the only Class AA squad in the lineup.
On Thursday, the Maroons will run at the Hamilton Invitational at Daly Mansion. The Maroons will run with 15 other teams. The lineup includes Dillon, Corvallis, Frenchtown, Hamilton, Stevensville and Missoula Sentinel.
Butte High and Butte Central will run in the Capital City 7 of 7 meet Oct. 8 in Helena.
Flag season ends
Butte High’s flag football season came to an end Monday with a 30-8 loss to Gallatin at Naranche Stadium.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs fell 19-18 to Bozeman and 30-8 to Gallatin. Butte High did not qualify for the State tournament, which is Oct. 7-8 in Billings.
That means the careers of seniors Kolbie Erickson, Jayda Gustafson, Brooke Johnson, Alexis King, and Mackenzie Read came to an end.
Bulldog second-year coach John Stenson said it was a tough season when it came to wins and losses. But the coach said his girls had fun and improved.
“It’s a great group of girls to work with,” he said.
Sprockets fare well in Clash
The Copper Kings Clash mountain bike race took over the Big Butte Open Space Park Saturday. (Results)
The event was fourth race of the season on the Montana NICA series, and the host Copper Sprockets saw eight riders finish in the top five of their division.
Renzy LeProwse rode to second place in the JV1 boys’ race. Grace Ricahrdson took second in the fifth-grade girls division.
Paisley Jaksha (JV3 girls), Luke Renouard (JV2 boys), Elsie Walsh (eighth-grade girls) and Torsten Thieszen (sixth-grade boys) finished fourth in their divisions. Charlotte Stevens (sixth-grade girls) and Parker Sullivan (fifth-grade girls) raced to fifth place.
Next up is the season-ending Lolo Final Landing. That race will be held Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Rossignol Ranch in Lolo. Sunday, Oct. 11 will be reserved for a makeup in case of postponement because of weather.
