View from the Sidelines

The high school sports post season has been a little different this year, allowing for COVID-19 of course, but the tournaments and playoffs have moved on.

In volleyball, the MHSA managed to get all four State tournaments played last week. Normally played altogether on separate floors in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, as part of an all-class event much like the one held for wrestling each year, the tournaments each had their own tournament venue this time.

The State B tourney, which the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks earned their way into, was held in Shelby and the Joliet J-Hawks won the B title, Huntley Project finished second and Choteau third.

In the State C tourney at Malta, Bridger won the championship, Manhattan Christian took second and Plentywood third.

Billings Central won the State A crown in Sidney, Columbia Falls claimed second and Hardin third.

The State AA title was decided with a playoff format rather than a tournament and Helena Capital topped CMR in five sets in Helena Saturday night in the championship match.

In football, the 6-Man and Class A championships were settled Saturday as Froid/Medicine Lake defeated White Sulphur Springs 44-19 in Medicine Lake and Laurel ran past Billings Central 34-0 in Billings.

In the 8-Man semifinals, Flint Creek busted Fort Benton 48-18 in Fort Benton and Scobey/Opheim got past Shelby 44-28 in Scobey. Flint Creek, a cooperative between Philipsburg and Drummond, will host Scobey Saturday in Drummond in the State 8-Man championship game.

In the State B semifinals, Manhattan routed Glasgow 43-18 and Fairfield outlasted Florence 8-6 in overtime. Fairfield will host Manhattan for the State B title Saturday. Of interest to local fans, Pleas Fairfield is now coached by Greg Misner, who served as the head football coach at Noxon over a decade ago.

The Class AA championship game will be played in Billings Friday night as Billings West will host Missoula Sentinel. Sentinel stopped Billings Senior 42-7 and West topped Bozeman 24-17 in the AA semifinals last week.

Mojomentum.

Related to momentum, mojomentum is actually a little different because it does not rely on the fickle winds of fate, it is a self-generated phenomena, one which needs no outside influence to occur – it comes from within, not without.

That is where the mojo in the mojomentum comes in. It is better to create your own heat rather than to depend on the warm bodies of others for your spark.

There was a lot of mojomentum created in Sanders County sports this past fall, and most recently it helped carry the Thompson Falls Blue Hawk football team all the way to the quarterfinals of the 8-Man playoffs and the Lady Hawk volleyball team to Shelby for the State B tournament.

Also making many of their own breaks along the way, the Hot Springs volleyball team motivated themselves to a second straight second place finish in the District 14C tourney, earning a second straight Western C tournament berth in the process.

Making their own forms of gridiron mojomentum earlier this fall, the Hot Springs and Noxon 6-Man football teams both earned spots in the Montana playoffs.

Mojomentum the word will probably never make it into the dictionary; but mojomentum the phenomena is something that every coach and athlete would love to be able to become a master of.

It would be nice to be able to turn on the mojomentum anytime you wish, like with the flick of a switch or the lighting of a match, but we all know it really doesn’t work that way in sports.

Mojomentum, like momentum is not just given out to people who simply want it, it has to be earned, and self-inspired, or it won’t get you anywhere.