Sanders County 6-Man showdown

The Noxon Red Devils took care of their playoff-clinching duties with a 67-38 win over Valley Christina in Victor Saturday, now they can turn their attention to improving that playoff position as much as possible.

On the other end of the county, the Hot Springs Savage Heat will face an improbable situation that appears as if it will come to pass, hosting Noxon Thursday night in the Spa City and then loading up the bus and heading to White Sulphur Springs for a game with the dangerous Hornets, meaning the Heat will play two varsity games in less than 72 hours, a rare occurrence in Montana prep football.

Coach Bart Haflich and his Devils will take a 2-1 Western 6-Man Conference record into their game with Hot Springs while coach Jim Lawson and his Heat will enter the fray at 2-0, and ranked No. 2 in the most recent state 6-Man power poll.

Lawson is not happy with the fact that the Heat will be forced into playing two games in three days but says the schedule forced Hot Springs' hand in the matter. "The schedules are a mess. White Sulphur thought the game was this weekend and we had it on the third. They said it was their homecoming and couldn't change it.

"We decided we could give it a go this way," he added. "We have got to play some games, we haven't seen the field for a month and couldn't afford to lose this game too."

Haflich is sympathetic towards Hot Springs, but wants what's best for his Devils at the same time.

"I feel bad for them, they are in a tough situation," he said, "but these two games they have will go a long ways towards determining what playoff position everyone ends up in."

Since White Sulphur defeated Hot Springs 33-18 two weeks ago, the Hornets appear to have the upper hand, especially if they can knock off the Heat Saturday.

Whatever happens this week, Haflich and his Devils took care of things last week with the big win over Valley Christian. Although the final score appeared fairly close, Noxon streaked out to a 48-12 lead by halftime and were never really threatened in the game.

Cade VanVleet led Noxon's marches into Valley's end zone with five touchdowns scored in Victor, on runs of 19, 13, 45 and 11 yards, in addition to returning an interception 25 yards for another score, and tackling an Eagle ball-carrier for a safety and another two points.

Josh Baldwin scored three touchdowns on runs of one, six and 55 yards, and Garth Hendrick closed out scoring for the Devils with a 42 yard TD run. Quarterback Derreck Christensen kicked one two-point conversion and Nate Cano scored on a one-point conversion run.

Haflich knows what to expect from Hot Springs Thursday. "Hot Springs is such a well-coached team," he said. "They spread the field to create matchups and we have notoriously struggled with quick teams. We will have to do our best to contain their attack if we hope to win."

Lawson is wary of both the Devils and White Sulphur Springs. "They are both very good football teams. Noxon has a power attack that will present a challenge to us, and White Sulphur has good players at every position, with depth.

"We look forward to these games and will know a lot more about the playoff picture after this weekend."