St. Regis football: Long trips, many memories

Outside the workout room at St. Regis High School, a large forest green bus with big orange and black tigers painted on the sides rolls to a stop.

The door hisses open and out steps the driver, who is also a St. Regis Tigers football coach and physical education teacher.

One by one the players, all with shirts and ties, come out of the school, throw their bags in the baggage compartments and climb aboard, along with a few other people who have come along for the “game.”

The players file to the back of the bus, picking out choice seats before the rest of the team joins them one mountain pass and 39 miles west on Interstate 90.

Welcome to the world of 8-man football travel in Montana and Idaho.

One of the boys boarding the bus carries a box of sandwiches, others make sure reusable water bottles are filled and ready to go. The coach, Jessie Allen, says a few words to the half dozen players on board, including an admonishment to be respectful of the fact his wife and two young children are on board.

That said, the bus clicks into gear and heads off on a 102-mile journey that will decide the team’s Idaho state playoff future.

“I got my bus driving license last October,” Allen said when asked how long he’d been driving the long rig. “We had three drivers but one retired and the other two moved elsewhere. You have to be able to do it all.”

Soon the bus was rounding corners and climbing the east side of Lookout Pass, the summit of which is a dividing point between Idaho and Montana as well as the time line between Mountain and Pacific time zones.

With lots of laughing, good natured ribbing of fellow players and tall tales as the Tigers bus cruised along through green and yellow forested mountains.

First stop, Mullan, Idaho, just a few miles across the border and into a new time zone. There the bus would add the rest of the team, which is comprised of players from St. Regis and Mullan and plays most of its games and playoff games in Idaho.

A half-hour stop in Mullan to pick up the other coach, Stetson Spooner, and the rest of the players, 14 of which would dress for the game.

More gear was stowed in the storage compartments before the bus returned to I-90 with one more brief stop, Wallace, Idaho to pick up one more player.

“Tell him to run,” coach Allen told the players who were in contact with senior running back Skye Gallaway, a two-way senior standout who sprinted up an on ramp and jumped aboard.

With that, and 14 teenage boys now in the back, the bus rolled back onto I-90 toward its destination, Harrison, Idaho and a neutral game site at Harrison High School for a meeting with Lakeside High from Plummer, Idaho and an “overtime rules” football contest that would decide each team’s postseason fate. With the full team on board the sounds from the back more than doubled.

So did the smells, a testament to having 14 teenagers who pass copious amounts of gas on board.

“Oh my God,” was the cry, “who did that one?”

More laughter and numerous accusations as to the creator of the flatulence was part of the comradery on board.

With darkness closing in, the bus rolled along winding roads, past elk herds and numerous Idaho lakes and wetlands before finally pulling into the parking lot at Harrison High.

Along the way, it became apparent that the Tigers had traveled to the game without footballs.

“I guess they must have been left at the practice field,” said Spooner, referring to the daily practices held at the Mullan field. “I thought they were in the back of my pickup.”

There had been no varsity football played at Harrison this year due to low enrollment levels that did not produce enough players to form even an 8-man squad.

The field lights were still out until a custodian was found to bring light to the grass and end zone scoreboard.

After putting on the pads and colors inside the school, players from both teams were soon stretching, running and throwing in preparation for the crucial contest.

About 75 fans from both schools, some in school buses of their own, arrived for the 6 p.m. start under clear but chilly skies.

No admission was charged but the concession stand was serving, including hot coffee.

Overtime rules stipulate that each team gets the ball on the 25-yard line of the shortened field.

The first team to score more points on its possession is the winner.

St Regis-Mullan got the ball first.

A penalty on Lakeside and four plays running the ball produced an 8-0 lead when the two-point conversion was successful.

Lakeside then got its turn but the rock solid Tigers defense shut them down on three running plays before a last ditch pass from about the 20-yard line was knocked down by the Tigers defense.

Game over.

Four plays for each team, a total of about 5 minutes.

Lakeside headed home and St. Regis-Mullan advanced to a quarterfinal matchup with traditional Idaho 8-man power Kendrick Saturday in Mullan, which it lost, 82-34.

But Monday night it was back to the locker rooms after a happy post-game celebration.

Fans climbed back on their buses and into their cars and headed off into the darkness for home.

The Tigers players changed quickly and climbed aboard the Green Machine for the trip back.

One last stop at a convenience store in Mullan after dropping off the Mullan players to feed the troops and then back onto I-90.

The joyous sound of victory continued to rattle off the walls and windows of the bus, coaches happily recounting the winning score and the great plays on defense. Gas levels had gone down substantially.

Such is life on the road for small town teams in the two states. Long bus rides, good times bantering with teammates and buddies. Snacks and soft drinks to wash it all down.

Years from now, these memories will linger and be retold and no doubt spiced up.