BELT — The Belt Huskies have been on the doorstep of greatness the past two years, but both times the championship trophy slipped away.
After winning it all in 2022, the Huskies have suffered the heartbreak of back-to-back 8-Man state title losses to Fairview. And now it's fueling their determination to finish the job.
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“We're using it as motivation over here. Just working harder,” senior lineman Landin Schraner said.
Senior tight end and running back Teagan Fox echoed that message.
“We're taking that motivation straight to the heart,” Fox said. “And we're just, we're going to come out, play our hearts out, and use that to get through the season."
Coach Matt Triplett said he’s excited about a veteran senior class that has already experienced the highest levels of competition. Belt had nine all-state players last year, and three of them (Slater Lords, Blake Waldner and Schraner) are returning.
“I'm really excited about this senior class,” Triplett said. “There's a lot of great leadership. They mesh well together. Not a selfish guy on the team. So I'm looking forward to watching a lot of fun."
Triplett also reflected on the challenge of moving past consecutive runner-up finishes.
“I've told the guys as far as your rear-view mirror goes on the last two seasons is, we need to celebrate what we've accomplished,” Triplett said. “That's hard when you come off a loss like that … but we're really proud of what the past seniors have been able to accomplish. Every year, the same — we got to earn it, and we got to look at who we're playing next and take it one week at a time."
Belt’s motto this season is “uncommon,” a word meant to capture the work ethic needed to take the final step.
“We went with uncommon. We wanted to separate ourselves this year and, you know, be different from other teams and separate ourselves,” Fox said.
Triplett explained what it means in practice.
“We got to do things that are uncommon,” he said. “To be successful you got to do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. So that started with weightlifting … it's doing the hard things. Football's hard.”
The Huskies will also face fresh competition in the 8-Man North, with programs like Centerville and Box Elder moving up from 6-Man. Schraner said he’s eager for those new rivalries, as well as the 8-Man addition of perennial 6-Man contender Harlowton-Ryegate.
“It's really amazing watching what football players come out of here. Just good people,” Schraner said. “I'm excited about Harlow in 8-Man … they're always pretty successful. It just gives us something to go after."
Belt opens the 2025 season at Rocky Boy, with its eyes on returning to the state title game — and this time, finishing the story.
