HIGHWOOD — It's been a while since football has been played in Montana, but all-star games across all classifications are here, with the first being the 6-Man contest taking place Friday night in Highwood.
"Playing with the best people around Montana and getting to play against a great team — (the Blue Team has) a lot of great players on that team, as well — it should be pretty fun," Box Elder's Tracen Jilot, who is playing for the Red Team, said Wednesday during practice.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
"Our defense is what's going to hold us different from (the Blue Team)," said Denton-Geyser-Stanford's Axel Becker, a Red Team member. "I think we got the best defenders here. We're going to play some hard-nosed linebacker football. That's the way I like it, too, so it should be fun."
"We're out here trying to get better and get to know each other so we can play our best game," Hot Springs' Weston Slonaker of the Red Team said. "So I hope (the Blue Team is) doing the same, but I hope we win, of course."
"I'm super excited for the game," said Bridger's Gage Goltz, who's on the Blue Team. "Getting to play with these players that I've never played with before — or played against — and just learning everybody's skill level and trying out new positions and stuff like that, I'm super excited to go out there and see what we can do."
"I'm excited. I mean, we played a lot of these guys in the season, and it's going to be fun to get them all on the same team and see what we can do with our team," Centerville's Luke Kelley of the Blue Team said.
"Just getting to play with all these other people from different schools, I think it'll be a great atmosphere for everyone," said Chester-Joplin-Inverness' Nate Nelson, who is also on the Blue Team.
These athletes are some of the best Montana has to showcase across the 6-Man ranks, with playoff teams who made it into the latter rounds being well-represented — none better than Centerville, though, as the Miners will field six players.
"These are kids I've been playing with since I was in kindergarten flag football," Kelley said. "Getting to play with all (five) of them — our starting lineup pretty much — is going to be fun one more time."
Box Elder and Bridger, the two schools that met in the championship game, are sending four and three players, respectively.
Jilot of the Bears is back wearing pads after missing a majority of the playoffs and not being able to help lift Box Elder to its championship win.
"The way I went out was off of injury, that didn't really sit well with me," Jilot said. "I'm glad I get to play two more times for sure."
As Jilot mentioned, this won't be his last game this summer. The same goes for Kelley, Goltz and Becker. All four will be representing 6-Man in the Montana East-West Shrine Game June 21.
Friday's game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Highwood.
