GREAT FALLS – The Great Falls Central football team made history last week, defeating Alberton-Superior at Memorial Stadium for the the first 8-Man home playoff win for the Mustangs since the school was re-opened back in the early 2000s.
The Mustangs won 6-Man playoff games in Great Falls in 2009 and 2010, defeating Custer-Melstone and North Star in the 2009 playoffs and Augusta in 2010. GFCC gets a chance to host once more this weekend, hosting 7-3 Scobey on Saturday.
“It was pretty exciting, kind of being back where the old Central teams played, having that first (8-Man) home playoff game, it was kind of bittersweet,” said Central head coach Greg Horton. “Hearing at the end of the game, hearing the announcement that a lower seed won and we got to host another playoff game was the cherry on top for us.”
“It’s been pretty special. I mean, that’s been a goal since I started my sophomore year. We’ve kind of fallen short these past two years,” said Central senior Casey Dane. “Then we finally got it and we got lucky enough to play at Memorial Stadium for the first time since the school played in the 1960s and the 1970s, so that’s really cool.”
This Mustangs team has had a few key players fight through injuries these past few weeks. Isaac Armstrong has been banged up the past couple weeks, and Ethan Vincent and Riley Dickinson suffered injuries in the team’s regular-season finale against Chinook, with Dickinson leaving in an ambulance with a head injury. But Armstrong, Vincent and Dickinson were back in the lineup just one week later.
“We play physical football, trying to get the kids back and recovered is my goal. They step off the field, they’ve given it their all, they’ve got bumps and bruises,” said Horton. “We develop our practices in a way that gets them back into that full rested-up condition and ready to go by the next Saturday.”
Horton also went on to give credit to Mountain View Physical Therapy, which has been working with the team.
Great Falls Central will host Scobey at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m.
