FORT BENTON — Six wins, zero losses. Five by way of shutout.
The No. 2-ranked Fort Benton Longhorns have been rolling so far this 8-Man football season, but they know there's still a long way to go to achieve what they want.
"We started off with a goal to win every game and we've done that so far," senior David Olson said at Fort Benton High School during Tuesday's practice. "Our confidence is at a high right now and it'll keep building throughout the season."
"We know that we're in a good position, we like where we're at," senior Eli Arganbright said. "But we definitely want to continue to put in the work to get better every week."
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Fort Benton has allowed just 22 points this season so far, all of which came in a 24-22 win over current No. 3 Belt in Week 2.
Olson and Arganbright said defense is a main identity of this Longhorns team.
"If the other team can't score, they can't win the game," Olson said. "I think that's a big thing for us."
"I'd like to see more shutouts, I think we can do that," Arganbright said. "We've only allowed the points to Belt this season and we're hoping our defense stays strong these next few weeks."
The win over Belt — which has made back-to-back 8-Man state championship appearances — is Fort Benton's marquee victory of the season thus far. It sets up the Longhorns to control their own destiny in terms of earning the Northern division's No. 1 seed.
Coach Monte Giese said it was a moral-boosting win for his team in Week 2.
"I thought our boys during that game just had a tremendous amount of composure," Giese said. "Belt comes out and scores on us on a long play their very first drive and they just didn't let that rattle them."
Giese said he has a good deal of trust in this team, which features 11 seniors.
"We have a lot of goals, and there's a lot of goals along the way that we're trying to reach," Giese said. "But at the end of the day, (a state title run has) always been in our mind and so I think they're highly motivated.
"They want to go out on top if they can."
Fort Benton's next game is against Cascade at home as the Longhorns look to improve to 7-0 on Friday night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. against the Badgers.
