The Sentinel Spartans are the only team with a home date as Butte, another team looking for a win, comes to Missoula County Stadium for a nightcap.
Hellgate and Big Sky play on the road at Great Falls High and Billings Senior in a pair of afternoon games.
Butte at Sentinel, 7 p.m.
While Sentinel played preseason favorite Billings West to a near draw in yards, the Bears got the better of the Spartans on the scoreboard, 41-14, in last week's opener.
Sentinel piled up 397 total yards to West's 407, but a lack of scoring plays hurt the senior-laden Spartans. They trailed 28-14 before two late scores put it away for the Bears.
“It was already an interesting fourth quarter,” Sentinel coach Pete Joseph said, “but if we would have punched the ball in on one of our five trips inside the 25 (yard line), including three in the first half, things might have been different. But don't get me wrong, West was definitely the better team that night.”
The Spartans had 24 first downs and 206 yards rushing to get their season off to a good start.
“There's no question we moved the ball, but we need to take advantage of the chances,” Joseph said. “We need to expect more of ourselves.”
Butte racked up 291 yards during its season-opening loss to Kalispell Glacier, including a 164-yard night from running back Mike Ueland.
“They looked good against Glacier,” Joseph said. “Both teams played hard that game, they are physical. They come downfield hard at you. Arie Grey is doing a good job in a short time span, it'll be a good game.”
The Bulldogs beat the Spartans 48-20 a year ago, but it was Sentinel's second-highest scoring game of the season.
Hellgate at Great Falls, 4 p.m.
The Knights had problems with penalties and turnovers in a 32-0 opening game loss to Billings Skyview last Friday.
“We had first-and-20 a couple times, and you can't overcome those very often,” Hellgate coach Jeff Dohn said. “So, we have to clear up those penalties. Those are killers in the offense.”
Hellgate couldn't stop Skyview's run, nor its deceptive passing game, now it'll have to face a team with a more wide-open attack.
“I bet they (the Bison) will go shotgun and throw it around more,” Dohn said. “They did the same thing last year, where they started out under center, then spread it out.”
Great Falls quarterback Trylan Wassman threw for 144 yards and a touchdown against Big Sky, while running backs Zach Wichman and Max Galland kept pace on the ground.
The Knights have to get better production out of their backfield if they want to have success against a defense that has been consistently good the past few seasons, Dohn said.
“They've got some big kids there on the defensive line. It'll be tough to move them,” Dohn said, “they always have good linebackers.
“Plus they run the same defense we do, so we've been working hard on throwing this week. I think we have a good game plan.”
Though the Knights struggled in their season-opener, the team was buoyed by a spirited crowd at Missoula County Stadium, Dohn said.
“That was a great student section,” he said. “It's nice to see that and feel that. The kids can't wait to come back to that next week.”
The Bison topped Hellgate 34-0 in Missoula last year in the Knights only shutout loss of the season.
Big Sky at Senior, 4 p.m.
After last Friday's setback at Great Falls High, the Eagles hit the road again on Friday with a couple goals in mind, coach Gary Ekegren said.
“We're looking to eliminate some key mistakes,” Ekegren said. “We didn't make a lot of mistakes, and we played really good football, but the mistakes we did make were really costly.”
A touchdown catch ruled out of bounds, a muffed punt and couple other turnovers hit the Eagles the hardest - not to mention injuries.
Senior running back Brooks Nuanez returned the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a TD, but was lost to a broken and dislocated collarbone later in the game. Nuanez, who also starts at linebacker, won't be back any time soon.
At the time, Nuanez's run put Big Sky in the lead before some of the other miscues took their toll.
“We played well,” Ekegren said. “We just have to relax a little, and get after it a little bit more, that's what we've been emphasizing.”
Senior Jordan Tripp was also slowed up on offense with a few bumps and bruises, so Ekegren plans to use some younger backs.
“I was pleased with how we moved the ball, with the exception of when we had an important down, we didn't step up and didn't do as well as we should have.”
Big Sky lost 35-7 to Senior last year in Missoula in one of the Eagles' worst games of the season. After that loss, Big Sky won five of its next eight.
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