Montana

The Blitz: Montana high school football highlights (Sept. 13)

Published

1 year ago

September 14, 2024

Press Room

The Blitz: Montana high school football highlights (Sept. 13)

Editor’s note: The Blitz is updated as we receive game results.

Class AA

• No. 2 Kalispell Glacier 49, Butte 14: Kobe Dorcheus rushed for three touchdowns, Jackson Presley hit Ethan Anderson on a 49-yard touchdown pass and ran for another score, and the Wolfpack scored on six of their seven first-half possessions to dominate the winless Bulldogs. The Pack went up 28-0 in the first quarter and led 42-0 at halftime. Colton Shea threw touchdown passes to Tocher Lee and Hudson Luedtke for Butte.

• No. 5 Helena Capital 41, Missoula Sentinel 6: Merek Mihelish put on a show, throwing five touchdown passes and going 10-for-16 for 268 yards — his two longest TD strikes went for 78 and 55 yards to Daniel Larson, and Drew Almquist had a 40-yard catch and run. Cole Graham got the party started in the first quarter with a one-yard TD plunge. The Spartans’ lone score came on a Jace Kashotka touchdown pass.

• No. 1 Bozeman 42, Billings Skyview 13: Hawks (3-0) quarterback Kash Embry had a busy game against the Falcons (0-3), taking in two touchdowns himself and throwing for one each to Evan Hughen and Luke Zundel. Brady Casagranda also subbed in and tossed a 2-yard TD to Logan Humphrey, while Ben Wheeler found paydirt from the goal line. Skyview’s Paxton Fitch threw both of his touchdowns in the first half, first from a 4-yard dot to Camble Bjornstad then via an 80-yard house call to Zakai Owens.

• Great Falls 38, Belgrade 7: Riley Collette threw touchdown strikes to Steele Harris and Dane Gundlach and ran for another score, and Braedon Rankin and Mason Kralj hit paydirt as the Bison improved to 2-1.

• Helena 45, Missoula Hellgate 6: The Bengals (1-2) got their first win of the year off of the back of a three-TD night from Trygve Braun on the ground; he also kicked a 29-yard field goal as a bonus. Mac Lundstrom also had a 14-yard strike to Jaxan Lieberg, and Kyle Davis took a fumble back for a score. Hellgate dropped to 0-3, getting on the board in the third quarter when Vince Paffhausen threw a 3-yard score to Evan Pyron.

• No. 4 Billings West 38, Great Falls CMR 7: CJ Johnson threw for two scores and ran for another as the Golden Bears (3-0) rolled. Matt Ludwig and Elias Bonner were the recipients of those touchdown throws, while recent Montana State commit Malachi Claunch and Payton Cicero added rushing touchdowns. Kaelan Fleury also booted through a 25-yard field goal. CMR (1-2) got a late 1-yard TD from Keegan Fuller to prevent the shutout.

• Missoula Big Sky 29, Kalispell Flathead 0: The Eagles improved to 3-0, with junior quarterback Avery Omlid passing for 201 yards and three touchdowns. The Braves (0-3) committed eight turnovers — four fumbles and four interceptions. Big Sky jumped to a 20-0 halftime lead and added nine points in the third frame. Two of Omlid’s TD passes went to Cormack Batt and one to Mason Fulford.

Class A

• Whitefish 21, Corvallis 20: Carson Gulock put the Bulldogs on his back, passing for 159 yards and a TD, and rushing for 137 yards and a pair of scores, as Whitefish (2-1) rallied from a 20-7 halftime deficit with a pair of second-half touchdowns. CJ Thew snagged four catches for 70 yards and a score, and Calvin Eisenbarth had three receptions for 51 yards.

• Frenchtown 14, Lakeland, ID 7: Brody Hardy was involved in both touchdowns for the third-ranked Broncs (3-0) in a low-scoring classic, neither of which were more important than his 1-yard keeper with nine seconds remaining to slay the state-ranked team from Idaho. A 36-yard passing score from Hardy to Jordan Warner in the first quarter was Frenchtown’s other time finding the endzone.

• Browning 40, Stevensville 0: The Indians picked up their first win of the season behind a pair of big plays from Tahj Wells, who opened the scoring by taking a punt to the house, and had a 41-yard touchdown run to start the fourth quarter. Ashton Granados rushed for a five-yard TD, and the Indians scored on a pick-six.

• No. 1 Dillon 21, Columbia Falls 7: In a rematch of last year’s dramatic Class A state championship game, the Beavers (2-0) got the same result as they didn’t allow the Wildcats (1-2) to find the endzone until the fourth quarter. Hank Hagenbarth had the only score of the first half from a 3-yard rush in the first frame, though he found paydirt again early in the fourth from two yards out. Jrney Mataafa then had a 20-yard scamper and score for Dillon to make it 21-0 before CFalls’ Banyan Johnston threw a 10-yard dot to Easton Brooks to get the Wildcats on the board late.

8-Man

• St. Regis-Mullan (ID) 30, Arlee 28: A scoreless first quarter eventually led to a barn-burner, as the Tigers (2-1) came back from a four-point deficit to start the fourth to win it. Barrett Bessette had a pivotal fumble recovery for a touchdown in the fourth for St. Regis-Mullan, while Conner Lulis and Ayden Rael also scored. Arlee (1-2) had a 57-yard rushing touchdown from Eli O’Neill and a 4-yard score from Bridger Smith in the second quarter.

• Deer Lodge 56, Lodge Grass 22: The Wardens (1-2) finally broke a losing streak dating back to 2019, finishing off the win in style as they led 34-8 after three and scored 22 more points in the final frame. Lodge Grass (0-3) was within reach after two quarters, being down 22-8 at the break, but Deer Lodge outscored the visitors 34-14 the rest of the way.

• Fairview 47, Culbertson 18: Tyler Loan had a monster night for the top-ranked Warriors (3-0), scoring six touchdowns as Fairview held off a stiff challenge from the Cowboys (2-1), who were only down 27-18 at half. Loan ran it in himself three times and threw for three more, connecting twice with Deacon Gackle and once with Wyatt McPherson. Reese Moon scored twice for Culbertson through a pick-six and 17-yard run, while Bridger Salvevold had the Cowboys’ other TD with a short-range score.

6-Man

• Westby-Grenora 57, Brockton 13: Dilan Wade and Cade Else both had big nights for the Thunder (2-1), who rolled to a 49-0 lead at the half and romped past the Warriors (0-3). Wade finished with five TDs, two of which were thrown to Else and the other three coming from a run, pick-six and fumble recovery. Else had an interception return TD of his own, as well, as did teammate Draygen Buechler. Thomas Arnson had an 11-yard TD run for Brockton.

• Highwood 48, Hobson-Moore 22: The Mountaineers (2-1) made it two straight wins with Chase Tinklenberg and Ryder Zanto being the main men with a combined five touchdowns. Hobson-Moore (0-3) scored first as Kade Lee got a long touchdown pass from Isaac Muaws, but Highwood then ripped the game open with 40 unanswered points. Braxton Crowder took a kickoff 79 yards to the house during that surge while Zanto and Tinklenberg each had two scores before half, with the latter throwing for one of them to Wyatt Mortensen. Mortensen caught another later from Treyton Tinsen while the Titans got late scores from Hunter Wichman and Mason Thom in the fourth.

Editor’s Note: To have games included here, submit scores and scoring details to 406mtsports.myteamscoop.com.

Scoreboard: High school football boxscores (Sept. 12-14)

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

11 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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Montana

Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

Published

23 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.

The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.

MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.

MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74

MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.

Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.

Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.

But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.

As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.

Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Montana Western 65, Carroll 56

After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.

Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.

Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.

Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.

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Women who made agriculture work in Montana

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Women who made agriculture work in Montana

Lisa Schmidt
| Columnist

Recently, I was asked to talk about what it is like to be a female rancher.

I was flattered to be asked, but I don’t know the answer.

I do know what it is like to be a human rancher and I know that I admire many women who also are ranchers.

In fact, 36 percent of the farmers and ranchers in the U.S. are women and they manage almost half of America’s ag land.

Globally, we produce more than half of all food.

In Montana, we all benefit from amazing female leaders in agriculture.

If you want to know about improving soil health or the rewards of raising sheep, talk to Linda Poole in Malta.

If you want to learn how to organize a grassroots rancher’s organization and effect meaningful change, talk to Maggie Nutter in Sunburst.

Trina Bradley of Dupuyer will look you in the eye and tell you everything you need to know about the impacts of grizzlies on her ranch life.

Colleen Gustafson, on the Two Med, graciously hosts and educates non-ranchers for months at a time without strangling them, all while maintaining every fence, buying every bull and killing every weed on her ranch.

Adele Stenson of Wibaux and Holly Stoltz of Livingston find innovative solutions to ranching challenges and then — even harder — find ways to share these innovations with hard-headed, independent cusses who want to do it our own way.

In fact, I’ve noticed that often women seek novel innovations to deal with a ranching challenge.

If a man happens to be around, she might even run it past him.

It’s rubber band ranching – stretch with an idea, contract to assess it, then stretch again to implement it.

Long ago, my friend Michelle and I promoted the One Good Cow program at the Montana Stockgrowers Association meeting.

We asked cattle producers to donate one cow to ranchers who had lost so many in blizzards and floods that year.

As we stood on stage in a room full of dour, silent men, I remember finding the one person I knew and asking what he thought.

Just as he would bid at a livestock auction, he barely nodded his approval.

We ended up gathering more than 900 cows from across the nation and giving them to 67 producers.

One Good Cow was a good idea.

Now I don’t seek approval for my ideas so sometimes my rubber band doesn’t contract to assess one before I stretch into action.

That’s how I got myself into producing shelf-stable, ready-to-eat meals made with my beef and lamb.

This is a good idea, too.

I hope.

I wonder if it is easier to ranch as a woman in some ways.

Society pressures men to know all of the answers all of the time, but If I mess up, I try to learn from my mistake and move forward.

When Imposter Syndrome hits or we can’t find a solution to an unsolvable problem – the effects of climate change, commodity markets or competing demands from family – secretly faking it until we make it gets lonely.

The downward spiral of loneliness and the pressure to be perfect can lead to suicide.

Male ranchers kill themselves 3.5 times more often than the general public.

Female ranchers kill themselves, too, just a little less often.

I’m fortunate to have good friends who love me even when I’m far from perfect.

We laugh together, they remind me that I have a few good attributes even when I forget, they tolerate my weirdness and celebrate little successes.

They stave off loneliness.

They know all ranchers try our best, we appreciate a little grace, and a warm fire feels good to our cold fingers.

Lisa Schmidt raises grass-fed beef and lamb at the Graham Ranch near Conrad. Lisa can be reached at L.Schmidt@a-land-of-grass-ranch.com.

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