2 weeks Ago By CHRIS PETERSON 406 MT Sports
The picture is becoming clearer in Montana high school football. As we move into conference play, teams have started to separate themselves. That was especially true in Class AA this past week.
Four of the five ranked teams squared off, but Bozeman Gallatin and Helena Capital won in lopsided fashion over Great Falls High and Kalispell Glacier, with both games decided by at least three touchdowns. In Class A, Billings Central asserted its dominance with a rout over Lewistown, while 8-Man No. 1 Fairview passed its first ranked test of the season by surviving a 29-24 road tilt with Circle.
While it was mostly a good week for ranked teams, that wasn't the case in 6-Man football as four teams lost to an unranked team or a team ranked lower. With Week 7 of Montana high school football on the horizon, the playoff push has arrived and here are the updated rankings for each classification after Week 6. Previous No.
1 Glacier scored the the first 14 points against Helena Capital, but the Wolfpack wouldn't score again. The Bruins scored 35 unanswered points and ground out nearly 200 rushing yards in a win that moved them up to No. 2.
The top spot is reserved for Gallatin, which takes over No. 1 in our Class AA rankings for the first time in its history. The Raptors crushed previous No.
3 Great Falls High last Friday (51-10) and now have wins over the Bison, Capital, and Bozeman. Capital's only loss this season is to Gallatin, and that and the strength of their win over Glacier has them ranked ahead of No. 3 Billings West.
However, the Golden Bears announced themselves as a team to reckon with thanks to a 3617 thrashing of Bozeman. Matt Ludwig, a four-star recruit in the 2026 class, also had a coming out of party of sorts with five receptions for 192 yards and two touchdowns as the Golden Bears cruised past the defending state champs. Upcoming Class AA Game of the Week: No.
2 Capital can take another step toward locking up the top seed in the Western AA with a win over Missoula Big Sky (5-1, 3-1) which still controls its own destiny, too. The Eagles have one loss, but still face Glacier and Capital. C There wasn't much movement in the Class A rankings after last week.
Second-ranked Billings Central smacked fifthranked Lewistown 39-0, which prompted a change in the No. 5 spot. The Havre Blue Ponies moved into the top five for the first time this season after a road win against East Helena.
Havre lost earlier in the year by 19 to Billings Central, as well as on a late touchdown to Miles City. Frenchtown, Dillon and Laurel all won with ease and maintained their spots. Upcoming Class A Game of the Week: No.
5 Havre will get a chance to prove it belongs in the 406 MT Sports rankings this week as fourth-ranked Laurel invades Blue Pony Stadium on Friday night in a game with plenty of Eastern A playoff implications. Nine of the 10 ranked teams in Class B won during Week 6. The only loss was by eighth-ranked Columbus, which lost 17-12 to third-ranked Jefferson in Boulder.
It was the third win over a ranked team this season for the Panthers. Their only blemish was to No. 2 Malta, which improved to 6-0 this week.
The Mustangs join Manhattan as the last remaining unbeatens in Class B. Upcoming Class B Game of the Week: There's a huge game on Friday night in the Western B between sixthranked Eureka and fourthranked Florence-Carlton. The Falcons have won five in a row since their season-opening loss to Jefferson and a win over Eureka could set the stage for a season-ending tilt with Missoula Loyola, now ranked 10th after beating Eureka last week, for the Western B crown.
There were three match-ups between ranked teams last week. Top-ranked Fairview withstood a challenge from Circle, winning a hardfought game on the road. For the second time in three weeks, No.
3 Valley Christian won a battle of unbeaten teams by 40-point margin. The Eagles beat Darby by 48 back in September and beat previously No. 6 Seeley-Swan 55-12 last Friday to affirm their position in the top three.
Drummond-Philipsburg also bumped up a spot to No. 4 after a 28-0 shutout of ninth-ranked Ennis. Manhattan Christian rounds out the top five which consists of the last five unbeaten teams in the classification.
There are two new teams making their debut in the 8-Man rankings this week: Culbertson and St. Ignatius. Culbertson comes in at No.
8 after a 25-0 win over previously ranked Scobey, while the 4-1 Bulldogs, winners of three straight after a loss to Seeley-Swan, enter at No. 10. 8-Man Game of the week: The top spot in the 8-Man South division is on the line Saturday as fourth-ranked Drummond-Philipsburg pays a visit to fifth-ranked Manhattan Christian.
It will be the final regular-season matchup of undefeated teams this year in 8-Man football. 6 It was a weekend of chaos in 6-Man football as the No. 5, No.
6, No. 7, and No. 9 teams all lost.
Broadview-Lavina, the No. 6 team last week, was drubbed 6718 by No. 8 Bridger.
The win by the Scouts jumped them up to fifth, while Absarokee and Jordan dropped out of the top 10 entirely, as did previous No. 5 Hot Springs following its loss to Lincoln. Twelve teams in 6-Man football are either undefeated or have one loss.
Savage is one of those teams and moved back into the top 10 following a win over Jordan, as did Lincoln after knocking off Hot Springs (46-26). The Lynx are joined by Noxon, which debuts this season at No. 8 thanks to four-straight wins, including a victory over Lincoln.
Bainville was another benefactor of all the movement in 6-Man. The Bulldogs have won five a row since losing their opener to Jordan and following a 20-point win over Plevna, they made the jump to No. 6.
Upcoming 6-Man Game of the Week: Roy-Winifred is one of those 6-Man teams with just one loss after a 7169 defeat at the hands of Broadview-Lavina to start the season. Since then, the Outlaws, who have won four straight by an average of 34, are unbeaten in the Central division and will battle fourth-ranked Centerville for first place. The defending state champion Miners have won five in row but they will be on the road Friday night.
Here are the complete 406 MT Sports rankings after Week 6. Week 6 Class AA 1. Bozeman Gallatin (6-0) 2.
Helena Capital (5-1) 3. Billings West (6-0) 4. Kalispell Glacier (5-1) 5.
Great Falls High (4-2) Class A 1. Frenchtown (6-0) 2. Billings Central (6-0) 3.
Dillon (4-1) 4. Laurel (5-1) 5. Havre (4-2) Class B 1.
Manhattan (6-0) 2. Malta (6-0) 3. Jefferson (5-1) 4.
Florence-Carlton (5-1) 5. Red Lodge (5-1) 6. Eureka (5-1) 7.
Glasgow (4-2) 8. Jollet (5-1) 9. Three Forks (5-1) 10.
Missoula Loyola (3-3) 8-Man 1. Fairview (6-0) 2. Belt (6-0) 3.
Valley Christian (6-0) 4. Drummond-Philipsburg(6-0) 5. Manhattan Christian (6-0) 6.
Circle (5-1) 7. Fort Benton (5-1) 8. Culbertson (5-1) 9.
Seeley-Swan (5-1) 10. St. Ignatius (4-1) 6-Man 1.
Denton-Geyser-Stan-ford-Geraldine (6-0) 2. Box Elder (5-0) 3. Chester-Joplin-lnverness (4-1) 4.
Centervllle (5-1) 5. Bridger (5-1) 6. Bainvilie (5-1) 7.
Savage (5-1) 8. Noxon (4-1) 9. Lincoln (4-1) 10.
Broadview-Lavina (4-1) For tips, email: chris. or text/call: 406-475-4292..
