by Scott Sacry, Sports Editor
The 2025 Montana high school football regular season ended last week. The season is over for the Corvallis, Stevensville, and Victor teams, while Darby, Florence, and Hamilton all qualified for the state playoffs, which start this week. Below are previews for each team.
Darby
The Darby football team finished the season with a 7-2 regular season record and took 3rd in the West conference. Their losses came against Seeley (16-40) and Superior (32-34).
There are four conferences in 8-Player Montana football, the West, East, North, and South. The top four teams from each conference make the playoffs, so for the mathematically challenged, that makes for a 16-team playoff.
Darby’s Gavin Anderson (#1) in a recent game against Victor. Darby plays Ennis in the first round of the 8-Player State Playoffs in Ennis on Saturday, November 1 at 1 p.m. Scott Sacry photo.
“We are feeling super excited getting into the playoffs. It’s been over 20 years since Darby made the playoffs legitimately without a forfeit,” said Darby head coach John Steiner. “We will play Ennis who is a solid football team but is very beatable. I do not feel the South division is as strong as our division. Flint Creek (Drummond) is a very strong program but it drops off quite a bit after them. However, Ennis is by far the next best team. But we are feeling very confident, especially after this last dominant victory over Mission.”
Darby plays Ennis in the first round of the 8-Player State Playoffs in Ennis on Saturday, November 1 at 1 p.m. The winner of this game will face the winner of the Fort Benton/Ekalaka game.
Ennis is the #2 seed from the South and had a 7-1 regular season record. Ennis’s lone loss of the season was a 6-44 loss against undefeated Drummond.
Florence
The Florence football team finished the season with a 5-3 record and won Class B’s West conference. There are four conferences in Class B, the West, East, North, and South. The top four teams from each conference make the playoffs, so there is a field of 16 teams.
It was a tale of two seasons for the Falcons. They lost their first three games to Three Forks (the #2 seed from the South), Manhattan (the #1 seed from the south), and Class A Frenchtown (who is a #1 seed in the Class A playoffs). Then Florence went on a winning streak, winning their next five games by a total combined score of 228-18.
Florence’s Levi Winter in an earlier game against Eureka. Top-seeded Florence hosts the #4 seed from the North, Conrad, in the first round of the Class B State Playoffs, on Friday, October 31 at 7 p.m. Photo by Stephanie K Geiser Photography.
In the first round of the Class B State Playoffs, Florence hosts the #4 seed from the North, Conrad, on Friday, October 31 at 7 p.m. Conrad has a 5-4 record with losses to Boulder, Malta, Glasgow, and Fairfield. Florence and Conrad’s only common opponent was winless Deer Lodge, who Florence beat 61-6 and Conrad beat 49-0. Conrad comes into the game with Florence on a two-game losing streak.
The winner of this game will play the winner of the Three Forks/Baker game. So a Florence win and a Three Forks win would result in a rematch of Florence’s season opening loss.
Hamilton
The Hamilton football team finished the season with a 7-1 record and took 2nd in the Southwest conference. Hamilton has a stout defense and a balanced offense, and their lone loss came against Frenchtown on October 3 where they lost 14-21. Frenchtown took first in the Southwest conference.
There are four conferences in Class A football, the East, Central, Southwest, and Northwest. The Class A state playoffs is comprised of 12 teams; the #1 seed from each conference gets a first round bye.
Hamilton’s Jackson Lubke (#19). Hamilton, the #2 seed from the Southwest, will play Bigfork, the #3 seed from the Northwest, in the first round of the Class A State playoffs at Hamilton on Friday, October 31 at 7 p.m. Scott Sacry photo.
Hamilton plays Bigfork, the #3 seed from the Northwest, in the first round of the Class A State playoffs at Hamilton on Friday, October 31 at 7 p.m. The winner of that game plays the #1 team in the state, Billings Central, the following week at Billings.
Bigfork was 5-3 in the regular season. They lost to Frenchtown 7-28, Columbia Falls 13-27, and last week they lost to Whitefish 21-22.