It's Week 6 of "Friday Night Live" — MTN Sports' continuous real-time tracker of various scores and updates from high school football — as we keep tabs on what's happening across Montana.
We've surpassed the midpoint of the regular season, meaning races for playoff berths are heating up (you can track the latest standings here), and we're set for what should be a consequential night across the state. A few of the games we're paying close attention to tonight: No. 5 Helena Capital at Kalispell Flathead, Hamilton at No. 3 Frenchtown, Townsend at No. 5 Jefferson, No. 3 Superior at No. 5 Darby and No. 3 D-G-S-G at No. 2 Absarokee.
The most recent updates will be at the top of the tracker, so refresh this page often. For a look at MTN Sports' football power rankings entering tonight, click here.
At a game? You can share scores, big plays, quarter-by-quarter updates or highlight videos via email (scores@montanasports.com) or X/Twitter (@montanasports), or with a message to our Montana Sports Facebook page.
Follow along with our posts below. And also be sure to keep track of our scoreboard for more score updates.
10:50 p.m. | Friday night wrap
That's it for tonight! Thanks for following along. You can check out scores and highlights at the links below.
Class AA | Class A | Class B | 8-Man | 6-Man
10:40 p.m. | Montana communities rally around Shepherd football family after tragedy
Highlights and scores are being posted, but if you watch only one video tonight, make it this one from Shepherd.
We said it was an emotional night as the Mustangs were taking the football field for the first time since teammate Camdon Olmstead passed away last weekend, and it's hard not to get teary-eyed watching this one.
9:35 p.m. | Final scores trickling in
Here's a look at the final scores we have. We're going to step away for a bit to get things in order for the 10 p.m. newscasts, but we'll be back to share more scores and highlights in a bit.
<b>Class AA</b>
No. 1 Billings West 47, Billings Skyview 20
No. 3 Missoula Big Sky 49, Missoula Hellgate 0
No. 4 Gallatin 35, Great Falls 7
No. 5 Helena Capital 20, Kalispell Flathead 17
Bozeman 49, Belgrade 0
Butte 29, Helena 27
<b>Class A</b>
No. 1 Whitefish 49, Polson 3
Hamilton 21, No. 3 Frenchtown 20
East Helena 35, Laurel 0
<b>Class B</b>
No. 2 Huntley Project 52, Anaconda 6
Eureka 32, Missoula Loyola 14
Glasgow 50, Wolf Point 6
Red Lodge 31, Baker 24
Shepherd 38, Joliet 20
<b>8-Man</b>
No. 2 Belt 48, Cascade 24
<b>6-Man</b>
No. 3 D-G-S-G 38, No. 2 Absarokee 22
Highwood 47, Sunburst 20
9:28 p.m. | Shepherd nearing win over Joliet
Goosebumps stuff in Shepherd. The Mustangs appear to be on their way to sewing up a win on a night that's been bigger than football.
Shepherd just forced and recovered a Joliet fumble to set up a short field and then capitalized with a touchdown run to go up 38-20 late in the fourth quarter. The J-Hawks are driving now, but time is not on their side. We'll have more from this one in a bit.
9:19 p.m. | Elkhorn Rivalry delivering fireworks
It's been a fun one between Townsend and No. 5 Jefferson in the Elkhorn Rivalry. The Panthers are one of the last unbeaten teams remaining in Class B, and they've gotten all they can handle from one-loss Townsend.
The Bulldogs got within 34-32 in the fourth, but Tyzer Zody just scored a Jefferson touchdown to put the Panthers back up 42-32. Just over 4 minutes remaining in that one.
9:08 p.m. | Big Sky scores every which way in romp over Hellgate
Third-ranked Big Sky had little trouble in its crosstown game with Hellgate tonight. The Eagles jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to touchdowns in all three phases. Simon Wilson returned a punt for a TD, Elijah Jones ran in a TD, Eli Kasberg threw a TD to Mason Ramos and Kasberg returned an interception for a TD.
Kasberg added two scoring tosses to Tristan Miller as the QB finished 13-of-18 passing for 135 yards and three touchdowns.
8:58 p.m. | Undefeated teams holding court
Most of the undefeated teams are holding serve tonight. Billings West is up big on Billings Skyview, Missoula Big Sky blanked Missoula Big Sky 49-0, Whitefish and Sidney lead Polson and Miles City, respectively, in the second half, Hardin led Glendive at halftime and Huntley Project and Jefferson have leads in Class B.
Superior leads Darby in the unbeaten 8-Man West matchup, and D-G-S-G leads Absarokee in the unbeaten 6-Man matchup.
8:42 p.m. | Capital ekes out win at Flathead
Fifth-ranked Helena Capital just got a big 20-17 road win at Kalispell Flathead. The Braves led 10-7 at the end of the third quarter, but Gavin Starcevich scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Bruins and Flathead missing a game-tying field goal as time expired.
Capital has now won two straight games, while Flathead has lost three straight after starting the season 3-0.
8:32 p.m. | Halftime scores!
We have a lot of games at halftime, so let's update some scores. Unless we note otherwise, all these games were at half at last check.
Billings West 26, Billings Skyview 6
Gallatin 28, Great Falls 7
East Helena 35, Laurel 0
Frenchtown 10, Hamilton 0
Lewistown 54, Browning 0
Whitefish 21, Polson 3
Baker 16, Red Lodge 10
Columbus 22, Whitehall 6
Cut Bank 8, Conrad 0
Fairfield 34, Shelby 12
Huntley Project 38, Anaconda 6
Jefferson 28, Townsend 19
Shepherd 20, Joliet 7
Belt 28, Cascade 8
Superior 34, Darby 20
8:22 | A couple finals; plus Montana State kicking off soon
Two games have gone final. Highwood defeated Sunburst 47-20 in 6-Man action, while Eureka got a 32-14 win over Missoula Loyola in Class B.
In the other 6 p.m. game, Flathead leads Capital 17-13 late in the fourth quarter after Bear Barker connected with Ben Reichner for a Braves touchdown.
Friday night lights this week have some additional flare. Montana State is kicking off soon against Idaho. The top-ranked Bobcats are seeking their 20th consecutive win and a 6-0 start to the season against the winless Vandals.
The game is scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. kick and will air on ESPN.
For the Griz fans out there, Montana is celebrating its Homecoming tomorrow against Northern Colorado. That game is at 2 p.m. and will air on The Spot – MTN across Montana.
8 p.m. | East Helena's Bearek Shuman is having a day!
According to Ryan Fetherston in East Helena, Bearek Shuman is having quite a game for the Vigilantes. Fetherston posted to X that Shuman has thrown three touchdown passes and ran in two more as East Helena has built a 35-0 lead over Laurel late late in the second quarter.
Fetherston said Shuman also has an interception on defense.
The Locomotives are playing without first-year coach CJ Edgmond, who was suspended for the game by the Montana High School Association. Since its big win over rival Billings Central two weeks ago, Laurel lost to Lewistown last week and now faces a big deficit at East Helena.
7:46 p.m. | Games of the week score updates
Let's take a spin through some of the in-progress scores of our games of the week:
Kalispell Flathead 10, No. 5 Helena Capital 7, halftime
No. 3 Frenchtown 7, Hamilton 0, second quarter
No. 5 Jefferson 14, Townsend 13, second quarter
No. 3 Superior 28, No. 5 Darby 6, second quarter
No. 3 D-G-S-G 30, No. 2 Absarokee 14, second quarter
7:28 p.m. | Superior, D-G-S-G lead early in undefeated matchups
It is all Superior in the battle of 8-Man West unbeatens in Darby. The Bobcats just got a touchdown from Turner Milender to go up 22-0. That game is still in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, in 6-Man action, D-G-S-G leads Absarokee 16-14 in the second quarter.
7:19 p.m. | Emotional night in Shepherd
What should have been a week of Homecoming celebration for the Shepherd Mustangs has instead been a time of mourning and community support.
The Shepherd community is grieving the loss of 16-year-old Camdon Olmstead, who died following a vehicle accident last Saturday. In tribute, his football number, 66, has been painted in both end zones on the Mustangs' football field.
Support for the Olmstead family has come from communities across Montana, including tonight as the Mustangs host Joliet in a Class B football game.
It's an emotional night in Shepherd, as the Mustangs are taking the football field for the first time since teammate Camden Olmstead passed away after a vehicle accident last Saturday. Shepherd playing Joliet.
— Montana Sports (@montanasports) October 3, 2026
📸 @sportscottbreen pic.twitter.com/xXbbGSOZrq
7:04 p.m. | A beautiful fall night for football
It's time for kickoff across the Treasure State, and it's an almost-perfect fall night for football.
The Class A game of the week is a battle of Broncs as Frenchtown hosts Hamilton. Both teams are 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Southwest A. Corvallis is also 1-0 in the conference, but the Frenchtown-vs.-Hamilton winner will have a leg up for the league championship.
6:48 p.m. | Capital and Flathead trading punches early
The Braves jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks to a field goal and a Brett Chivers touchdown, but the Bruins got on the board on a Gavin Starcevich scoring run late in the first quarter. Flathead lead 10-7 heading to the second.
6:27 p.m. | Thursday night recap
And we're off! A few early games are already under way, but before we dive into tonight's action, here's a look at what happened on Thursday.
There were just two Class AA games, with No. 2 Kalispell Glacier and Great Falls CMR rolling to wins by double digits. Glacier permitted its first touchdown of the season to Missoula Sentinel and led just 14-10 at halftime, but the Wolfpack scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to get a 42-10 win. Watch highlights from that game:
CMR got back on the winning track with a 42-14 victory over Billings Senior. The Rustlers improved to 3-1 in the Eastern AA (4-2 overall) to keep pace with Gallatin and Bozeman High behind unbeaten Billings West in the conference standings.
