HIGHWOOD — High school football is underway in Highwood, and the 6-Man Mountaineers have a few new faces in the huddle this season.
The additions come after St. Patrick's Academy, a rival of Highwood from Great Falls, announced it would not reopen for the 2026-2027 school year — a decision the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings made just days before classes were set to begin.
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For head coach Brandon Gondeiro, the sudden shakeup turned into an opportunity to keep kids on the field.
"We're just very fortunate to have a number of kids to be able to put out on the field and continue to play," Gondeiro said.
New players joining an established program can create plenty of friction, but Gondeiro says the transition has been anything but rocky — largely because many of the St. Patrick's players were already familiar faces through a co-op arrangement.
"It was kind of not really a big change because they were already part of the team," Gondeiro said. "It was a seamless transition."
Much of the credit for that smooth handoff goes to Highwood's upperclassmen, who stepped into leadership roles right away.
"Our seniors stepped up and they welcomed the kids in, our juniors too," Gondeiro said. "We had five upperclassmen who were ready to rock and roll, and they've really taken on a role of instructing the new kids from Saint Patrick's — hey, you know, this is how we do things, this is how we operate."
Senior Miles Zanto is one of those players who has embraced the extra depth. With more bodies on the roster, he says the Mountaineers can now run more effective practices.
"We've got a lot more kids, so we're able to do things like scout team and have scout plays and everything like that, and not have to rely on our middle schoolers," Zanto said. "Which is definitely nice, so we can block on bigger bodies, and it makes it a lot easier for us to get ready for the games."
For Zanto, welcoming the new players off the field mattered just as much as building chemistry on it.
"Make sure they feel included in everything we do," Zanto said. "I mean, they sit with us at lunch, tell them jokes, get them excited to play football, get them hyped up just like everybody else, and make sure they're here to play as well."
Among the St. Patrick's transfers is junior Kole Bosley, who was forced to leave his first game with the Mountaineers early due to a knee injury.
Despite the setback, Bosley says he's already felt embraced by his new team and community.
"It's a big community, and everybody's really, really nice and welcoming," Bosley said. "Made me feel right at home."
Still, starting over at a new school as a junior isn't easy, and Bosley admits the change comes with a sense of loss.
"I miss the friends that I had at Saint Patrick's," Bosley said. "Like, that's what made it enjoyable to go every day."
Through it all, Bosley says one person made the transition manageable: Coach Gondeiro.
"I'd like to give a shoutout to Coach Gondeiro," Bosley said. "When we were supposed to just be a co-op, he embraced it, you know, helped us through it. He understood that we are a new team with a new coach, and that it's going to be a learning process for us. So I just say a great thank you to coach for helping us through it."
