St. Regis Tigers happy to return to Montana football

This year’s St. Regis High School homecoming football game will be at home. 

Duh? 

That seems like common sense, but for the past several years the Tigers have been part of a co-op arrangement with Mullan, Idaho and have played the majority of their games in the Gem State.

The co-op arrangement still exists going into this football season, but the schools' joint agreement will move them into the Montana Western Division of eight-player football, with only one game scheduled on Mullan’s field this year. 

“We are anxious to get back on the Montana side of the border and play in the highly competitive Western Division," said Tigers’ head coach Jesse Allan. 

All but the game versus Charlo, which will be held in Mullan, will be played on Montana soil. 

The number of players from each school is also flipping, with the majority coming from St. Regis and a small handful calling Mullan home. 

Fortunately, the Mullan mascot is also a tiger, so the team will remain the Tigers no matter which side of the border they are on. 

Allan welcomed a group of players to St. Regis’ field this past Friday, the first official day of practice for Montana high school athletes taking part in fall sports. 

“We have a solid mix of juniors and seniors with varsity experience,” he said. “We are excited for their chance to step up and make plays." 

Four senior starters, Hunter Stolla (wide receiver/defensive back), Dillon Thomas (two-way lineman) and Kaden Sanders (linebacker/tight end) and Ayden Rael (running back/defensive back), are expected to anchor the unit. 

Junior tight end/defensive end Barrett Bassette is also back, as are two key sophomores, including quarterback Conner Lulis, who had an outstanding year as a freshman signal caller last season. Also being counted on is sophomore Nathan Boh, a wide receiver and defensive back. 

Lulis was instrumental in the Tigers’ 8-2 record last year. He threw for more than 1,400 yards and had 17 touchdown throws. St. Regis' only losses that season were to Shelby, Montana and a playoff loss to Hagerman, Idaho in the Idaho eight-player postseason tournament. 

“Conner had a great freshman year,” Allan said. “Sanders and Rael will handle the ball carrying duties this year." 

Gone from last year’s team is John Pruitt, an all-around standout athlete who graduated and is now playing basketball at Rocky Mountain College in Billings. Also gone is speedy running back Kofi Appiah, a native of Nigeria whose family moved to Idaho several years ago. Also graduating was Mullan student Alex Trogden, who missed most of the second half of the season last year with a leg injury.

Both Appiah and Trogden graduated from Mullan High this past spring. 

St. Regis gets tested right out of the gate this year with an opening home game versus Mission High, one of the co-favorites in the Western Division this year. They travel to I-90 rival Superior on Sept. 20 for a conference game with the Bobcats. 

The Tigers will also play at Plains on Oct. 17. 

    St. Regis running back Kaden Sanders (left) and Ayden Rael run a drill on holding onto the football during the Tigers' opening practice this past week. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)