The season comes down to one night for Butte High’s football team and Butte Central’s volleyball team.

The Bulldogs will head to Bozeman for a playoff football game on Thursday. The Maroons will play host to Stevensville in a play-in game Thursday at the Maroon Activities Center.

Meanwhile, Butte High’s surging volleyball team will hit the road to close the regular season, and Butte Central’s football team saw its campaign come to an end with a loss Friday in Dillon.

We will look at all that as we take a lap around the week in Mining City Sports.

Bulldogs meet Hawks in Bozeman

The Bulldogs will battle one of their oldest rivalries as the Class AA football playoffs begin Thursday. (Bracket)

Butte High will travel to the new Van Winkle Stadium in Bozeman to take on the Bozeman Hawks in a 7 p.m. showdown. The game will mark the 78th meeting between the Bulldogs and Hawks in a rivalry that dates back to 1904.

The contest will be the sixth in the playoffs between the Bulldogs and Hawks. That includes the Class AA State championship games of 2012 and 2019. Butte holds a 43-31-3 all-time series lead with the Bulldogs. That includes a 3-2 advantage in the postseason.

The Hawks, though, ride a five-game winning streak over the Bulldogs. Butte High has not gotten the better of Bozeman on the gridiron since a 31-7 home victory that came Sept. 15, 2017 at Naranche Stadium.

The last time these teams met came in a 42-14 Butte High loss to the Hawks in the 2024 season.

Like always, beating the Hawks will be no easy task for the Bulldogs in 2026.

Butte High enters the game at 4-5 after seeing a three-game winning streak snapped with a 20-0 loss last Friday at Helena Capital. The Bulldogs closed the regular season with a 2-4 record in Western AA play.

Bozeman finished the regular season at 5-4 overall and 4-3 in the Eastern AA after last week’s 28-21 home win over Billings Skyview.

Last week, the Hawks did most of their damage on the ground on the snowy field.  Senior Beau Wheeler ran for 185 yards and three touchdowns, while senior quarterback Van Shckley rushed for 133 yards and a score. Bozeman had just 5 passing yards in the win.

On the season, Shockley has completed 52 percent of his passes for 1,044 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has also averaged 632 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

Wheeler could go over the 1,000-yard mark rushing with a big game in the playoff opener.  He’s averaged 6.0 yards per carry while chalking up 907 yards and 12 scores.

Defensively, the Hawks get after the quarterback. They have 18 sacks on the season, with sophomore Julian Taylor leading the way with five and a half. Junior Tucker Scott has four sacks, and senior Lucas Garson has three.

The Bulldogs are looking to bounce back from a rough night in the snow in Helena. Butte High only mustered 33 yards passing with senior Raeder Grey and junior Troy Samson splitting up the passes on the sloppy field.

Grey, who primarily played receiver until midway through his junior season, has completed 57 percent of his passes for 767 yards, six touchdowns and five picks. He has 463 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Senior Miner Lee leads the Bulldog rushing attack behind a starting offensive line of seniors Maxximus Pearston and Mason Swanson, junior Sawyer Casey and sophomores Colton Nasheim and Cooper Carter. Lee is averaging 5.4 yards per carry. He has 678 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.

Seniors Jaeger Hansen, Brady Walsh and Reece Cunneen have also picked up touchdowns on the ground for the Bulldogs.

Walsh and sophomore Ryan Bache lead the Bulldogs with 19 receptions apiece. Bache has 293 yards, while Walsh has 284. Both scored three touchdowns.

Lee and Seniors Koda Schleeman and Kasen Snyder and junior Hudson Steele also caught touchdown passes. Lee has racked up 124 receiving yards on 11 receptions.

Senior linebacker Finn Wortham has had a monster season to lead the Bulldog defense. He has racked up 78 total tackles. That total includes 20 solo takedowns.

Hansen is second with 59, while Grey has 55 and senior Bradey Doyle has 42. Senior Evan McEwen, Steele, Cunneen, junior Colt Stenson, Pearston, junior Kodye Kjersten, Casey, Bache, Lee, and Schleeman all have reached double figures in tackles.

The Bulldogs have been solid taking the ball away. They have 10 total interceptions, with Grey’s three leading the way. Kjersten, Bache and Schleeman each have two, while Hansen registered one. Grey, Doyle, Casey and Carter each have a fumble recovery.

Doyle, who is listed at 5-foot-7, 165 pounds, leads the team with three sacks. Pearson has two, while Steele, Casey, Hansen, Cunneen, junior Matt Marsenich and sophomore Sam Cunneen each have one sack.

Doyle generally handles the place-kicking duties, while junior Tegan Duffy is a weapon in kickoffs and punts.

The winner of the Butte-Bozeman game will travel to Kalispell next Friday to take on Glacier, the No. 1 seed from the Western AA.

BC season ends in Dillon

Butte Central’s late-season push for a playoff spot fell short with a 51-12 loss to Dillon at Vigilante Field.

Dillon qualified for the Class A playoffs with the win. The Beavers will play at Whitefish Friday night. The Maroons close the season at 2-6 overall and 1-4 overall.

BC needed to win by 10 points or more and have Hamilton beat Corvallis to qualify for the postseason. Hamilton rolled the Blue Devils 46-8, but the Beavers pulled away from the Maroons in the second half.

The game was a 14-12 affair until Dillon scored late in the second quarter.

Sophomore quarterback Noah Sutton passed for 90 yards and a touchdown, while classmate Henly Mansanti tossed a 66-yard touchdown pass to senior GG Fantini.

Mansanti ran for 81 yards in the loss. Sutton, Danny McCarthy and senior Joshua Sutton also ran the ball for BC.

Fantini caught five passes for 73 yards, while junior Jaxon Hiatt hauled in six passes for 64 yards. Joshua Sutton caught two passes for 20 yards.

Senior Teghan Sparks had a nice night punting.

The loss closes the book on the high school football careers for seniors Grady Button, Fantini, Cade Kelly, Sparks, Danny McCarthy, Burkley Lakkala, Bobby McCarthy, Gunnar “Goo” O’Brien and Jack Nylund.

Maroons host Yellowjackets

It is win-or-go-home time for the Butte Central volleyball team.

The Maroons will battle Stevensville at 6 p.m. Thursday in a Southwestern A play-in match at the Maroon Activities Center. The winner advances to play Corvallis at noon Saturday for the right to play in the Western A Divisional tournament, which is next week in Hamilton.

The Maroons enter the game playing their best, despite closing the season with three-set home losses to Hamilton and Dillon Thursday and Tuesday. BC stats from those matches have not yet been posted.

Central’s heater includes wins over both their prospective play-in opponents. BC picked up its first Southwestern A win in four years with a five-set win at Corvallis on Oct. 17. Five days later, they did the same at Stevensville.

The Maroons went on the road last Thursday to knock off the Yellowjackets in a 1925, 25-22, 25-18, 14-25, 15-12 thriller. (Stats)

Junior Cambri Campbell spiked eight kills to lead a balanced BC attack in the win. Freshman Blake Smith spiked seven, while sophomore Evyn Tippett killed six, and senior Rylee Forbes spiked five. BC also got three kills apiece from juniors Ayanna Weang and Olivia Scott.

Freshman Jordyn Samson and sophomore Sofia Doto each served four aces in the win. Campbell served three, and junior Kodee Badovinac and senior Presli Smith each served two.

Forbes, Tippett and Campbell led the BC blocking game at the net, Badovinac led the way with 18 digs in the backcourt. Presli Smith added seven digs.

Presli Smith and Samson combined for 30 assists.

The Maroons only have the two conference wins, but they have clearly come a long way from the start of the season. They fell in three sets to Stevensville when the teams met Sept. 10 at the MAC.

Bulldog spikers head to Hellgate

Butte High’s volleyball team will play its final regular-season game Thursday at Missoula Hellgate.

Varsity action is expected to begin at 7 p.m., and Butte High can wrap up the No. 5 seed in the Western AA with a win. That would sent the Bulldogs to Glacier for a play0in match next week.

After celebrating Senior Night with a 3-0 win over Missoula Big Sky last Tuesday, the Bulldogs the Bulldogs fell in three sets at top-seeded Missoula Sentinel last Tuesday.

Butte High played tough, but fell 25-22, 25-18, 25-13. The loss snapped Butte’s three-match winning streak. (Stats)

Seniors Cadence Graham and Allie Becker each spiked 11 kills to lead the Bulldogs in that loss. Classmate Avery Barsness added five kills, while junior Stella Callagahan and sophomore Elli Graham each killed three.

Elli Graham also served four aces. Cadence Graham added three, and junior Kalee Wrighth served two.

Callaghan’s 14 digs led the Bulldog back court, which was balanced. Senior Ellie Yates joined her in double figures with 10, while Becker followed with nine. The Graham sisters each dug eight, and Elli Graham dished up 26 assists.

Butte High enters the regular-season finale at 8-10 overall and 6-7 in conference. The Bulldogs are 5-2 over their last seven matches, all of which were conference matches.