Red Devils prep for 6-man season

As is the case with several area teams, Noxon and first-year head football coach Lucas MacArthur will be counting on a group of young players to guide the Red Devils to success in the 2022 Montana 6-player football battles.

First, they must move on from replacing a legend, graduated senior Cade VanVleet, who terrorized opponents on both sides of the ball the past three years with his dominant physical size and play. VanVleet has moved on to Montana Tech in Butte where he will throw the shot put and discus after placing second in the Class C Montana state track and field finals.

“It’s going to be tough not having our big fullback back from last year,” said MacArthur who takes over for Bart Haflich, in reference to VanVleet. “We had a lot of seniors last year and not having that big group definitely changes things for us”.

Fortunately for MacArthur and company, help is on the way.

“We have a lot of good players coming up,” he said of a strong sophomore and junior class. “It’s hard to say who is going to be our top players because all of these young men have been working really hard”.

That was evident during a team scrimmage last week that featured flashes of team speed on both sides of the ball, as well as some promising line play. With only one senior returning, Gage Hendrick, and another who transferred to Noxon from Gardiner, Johnny Knerr, the coaches are hoping the energy and speed of the junior and sophomore class players who were among 15 players to turn out for football, will show up in the win column.

A pair of underclassmen are currently battling for the starting quarterback position and MacArthur said both are seeing the field well. That and what the coach described as a “bit of speed” will be among the team’s strong points this year.

“We are hoping to improve on every aspect of the game”, he added.

After a 3-6 campaign last year, MacArthur said he anticipates the usual opponents will be strong in the wide-open game that is six-player football.

“We always have a tough battle against Hot Springs and White Sulphur Springs and I don’t really see that changing this year”, MacArthur said. “However, things seem to be very close this year so it’s really anyone’s season to win”.

Noxon was scheduled to open it’s season this Friday at home against Heart Butte, a small town on the Blackfeet Reservation in Pondera County. According to MacArthur that game was moved to this Saturday to allow the visitors one extra day to get the required number of players eligible to play.

The Red Devils will take to the road the following Saturday for an afternoon game against Geyser.