BOX ELDER — Jake Eldridge and Autumn Elliot have been named the new head football and volleyball coaches at Box Elder High School, activities director Neal Rosette Jr. announced on Thursday.
Eldridge will take over the Bears’ 8-Man football program after Rosette resigned following last season. Eldridge comes to Box Elder after serving as the defensive coordinator at Montana State University-Northern in Havre. Eldridge, who played for the Lights from 2004-2007, was not retained on the staff when Andrew Rolin took over the program this offseason.
Box Elder, which competes in the always-competitive 8-Man North, finished last season with a 1-7 overall record and 1-4 conference mark. The Bears will begin the 2018 season with a non-conference game at Lone Peak on Aug. 24.
“I want to thank the administration; superintendent Jeremy MacDonald and activities airector Neal Rosette Jr., as well as the school board for giving me the opportunity to lead this football program as its head football coach,” Eldridge said in a media release. “I’m very excited about the potential of our football team and can’t wait to start working with these kids.”
Elliot is also a former MSU-Northern student-athlete, playing collegiate volleyball for the Skylights from 1994-97. She has previously coached at Northern, Great Falls CMR, Minot (N.D.) High Schoo and Fort Benton.
“I am very excited to be coaching at Box Elder,” Elliot said. “The raw talent is here and with some hard work and skills training we will be a team to watch out for.”
Box Elder’s volleyball team finished fourth at the District 6C East tournament last season and will look to build off that performance in the 2018 season beginning Aug. 25 at the Sunburst Showcase.