Heat ready to host Hornets

Consider this a playoff game, before the playoffs actually begin.

A marquee, top-ten meeting of Montana 8-Man football powers will be played in Hot Springs Friday as the No. 4 ranked Savage Heat (3-0 in Western conference play and 7-0 overall) host the No. 8 ranked White Sulphur Springs Hornets (3-0, 5-2).

Although this game could help decide the Western conference regular season champions, the No. 10 ranked Noxon Red Devils (2-1, 4-2) will also have their say in that matter as the Devils visit White Sulphur for another key league game Oct. 26.

The Heat and Hornets prepped for their big game this week with a pair of easy wins last week as the Savage Hot Springs boys tore up Sheridan 52-15 in Sheridan and White Sulphur shredded Valley Christian 85-32 in Alberton.

Very familiar with the Hornet football program after years of competing with them in the past, Hot Springs coach Jim Lawson has a pretty good idea of what his team is up against this week.

“White Sulphur is a very solid team with a lot of depth and a lot of team speed,” he said. “They are hard-nosed, they close on the ball really quick and they have a good running attack on offense. We are looking for a tough game.”

The Hornets’ only two losses this season have come to No. 1 Big Sandy (which opened up the season several weeks ago with a win over No. 2 Jordan) and to No. 5 Richey-Lambert. Jordan defeated the previously ranked No. 1 Wibaux Longhorns 47-41 last week, and leap-frogged the Longhorns into the No. 2 spot, pushing Wibaux down to No. 3, and Hot Springs to No. 4.

Big Sandy, along with Hot Springs and Power-Dutton-Brady the only remaining unbeaten 6-Man teams in Montana, is currently 7-0, Jordan and Wibaux are 6-1 and Richey-Lambert is 5-2.

The Heat prepped for their big test this week with a quality road win over Sheridan Saturday. The Heat’s bus pulled out of the Spa City at about 6:30 a.m. that day.

“Saturday games are always a challenge and Sheridan is a pretty long bus ride,” Lawson said. “We played well enough and got the win but it was a long day.”

Quarterback/defensive back Brandon Knudsen turned in another yeoman’s effort in leading the Heat to the win. The senior signal-caller rushed the ball 10 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns, completed 10 of 15 passes for 87 yards and two more touchdowns, and pulled down seven tackles and a pick-six interception on defense.

Kyle Lawson caught five of Knudsen’s aerials for 40 yards and a touchdown, besides making four tackles and pulling down another interception, Luke Waterbury picked up 37 yards rushing and 42 receiving and scored two touchdowns, Lincoln Slonaker rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown, and Jack McAllister made a team-high 11 tackles to lead the Heat defense.