When the NFL schedule is released, and as soon as your done looking to see when your favorite team is on prime time. You look to see how does your favorites teams schedule stack up with the rest. It can either fill you with worry or confidence. Well with high school football it is a little harder to figure out; one because there are so many teams and sometimes schedules can have errors on them.
Thanks to my friends at Montana AA Prep Football they put together a master schedule for the AA. With the race for the state title looking a little more wide open this season I decided to take a look at who has the toughest schedule and who will have a little beat easier path.
Now let me say this no game in the AA is easy and every coach has echoed those same sentiments.
With that said here are my rankings on who has the toughest schedule in the AA.
#1 toughest schedule... The Glacier Wolfpack...
Grady Bennett's squad saw an impressive streak come to an end last season. The path back to the playoffs and to create a new streak will be daunting. Glacier will face seven playoff teams from a season ago, the only one they don't play is Billings West. the pack will see five playoff teams within the first six weeks of the season. Talk about a daunting stretch. The wolfpack open the season with two time defending champion Billings Senior. Glacier will put the 26 game winning streak of the Broncs to the test. Then after that the wolfpack will face a physical CMR team that did get the best of them the year before. Glacier first two contests will be on the road before they have a home game. From weeks three to week six will be the most interesting stretch for the wolfpack. They are at home against Bozeman, Helena, then play the visitors in crosstown against Flathead then face Sentinel. So the good news is essentially for the pack is they are home for 4 straight weeks. With the final four weeks of the season they will travel to Great Falls who I think will be an improved team then back home against a tough Capital team. The wolfpack finish with Big Sky and Hellgate. The wolfpacks fate may be decided early in the season but as I mentioned above many of their tough games will come inside the friendly confines of Legend Stadium.
#2 The Butte Bulldogs...
Coach Arie Grey's football team has been a team on the upward trajectory and looks to make a push back to the postseason. For the Bulldogs they are going to get push back as they are another team that will see 7 playoff teams from a season ago. The Bulldogs will be put to the test the opening week against a Flathead team hungry to prove it's a force to be reckoned with. Then they face the Hellgate Knights. Then this is the most daunting stretch for the Bulldogs. They go to Capital, then Bozeman, back at home vs Sentinel, travel to Billings West, and then at Senior. Talk about testing your mettle as a team. The Bulldogs must come out of this stretch favorably if they want to get to the post season. If they can they will face a tough Great Falls team followed by Skyview and Big Sky. As tough a town as Butte is from what I hear their schedule will be just as tough.
#3 The CMR Rustlers...
It has been two season with no playoff appearances for CMR. This powerhouse doesn't look to continue this trend in 2018. Unfortunately their schedule does them no favors. They are the third and final team that will face seven
playoff teams. CMR's schedule does not have quite the stretch as Glacier and Butte has. They do have a tough 3 out of first 4 games with seeing Helena, Glacier, Big Sky, and Senior. It came down to late in the season to determine that CMR would not make the post season and it may come again as they see Flathead in week eight and then West in week nine. CMR can get to .500 ball but whether or not they make the post season with such a tough schedule is the question.
#4 The Flathead Braves...
Kyle Samson's squad made the postseason and accomplished a lot of first in the program for quite some time. Beating Helena, Glacier, Bozeman and hosting a playoff game. Quite the season. This year Samson's Braves looked to build upon last season and take the next step. The Braves schedule may not have as many as seven playoff teams but six is still no cake walk either. The Braves much like the teams above will have a stretch that will determine how good this team really is. The Braves will take on Butte on the road to start the season. Then it is in week two where the stretch begins. The Braves host Capital in rematch of the first round playoff game a season ago. Billings West make the 7 hour trip to NW Montana and that match-up in week three I think will be the game of the week. The Braves then travel to Wash-Griz for a match up with Sentinel, then at home against crosstown Glacier followed by a trip to Bozeman. That stretch pending its outcome could setup the Braves with a playoff game or put them in danger of not making the postseason.
#5 Skyview Falcons...
The Flacons will have a different offensive outlook in 2018. Will that lead to more wins under first year head coach Nathan Wahl we shall see. Skyview has a tough three game stretch from week three to five. They host Senior, travel to Capital and then play West. They have a tough final 3 games at Helena, at Butte, and hosting Bozeman. The Falcons made it very interesting late last season can they do so again and could they sneak their way into the postseason. Skyview will be a tough football team that no one can overlook.
#6 The Hellgate Knights...
The Knights have a very tough schedule because they unfortunately have not beaten anyone as of late so they will face an uphill battle the entire way. I think Hellgate can finally win one or two games this season. Hellgate's toughest part of the schedule will come in the final four games as they take on Sentinel, at Senior, then at home against Flathead and Glacier. This team has been at the bottom and head coach Mick Morris has been leading this team in an upward trajectory where we could see Hellgate be competitive sooner rather then later.
#7 The Capital Bruins...
Kyle Mihelish squad has a lot to replace but has the opportunity to get things straightened out before the toughest part of their schedule which is the final four games. The Bruins will face West, Senior, and Sentinel at home with only one road trip to Glacier in the final four weeks of the season. To start the season the Bruins see three teams that didn't make the post season the year before. The only playoff team they see before crosstown is Flathead in week two. The Bruins are a program that doesn't miss the post season and I don't expect that to change.
#8 Billings West Golden Bears...
The Bears have a lot coming back this season and are garnering a lot of preseason hype. Tough to argue with an offense that will have a big O-Line, two tackles at 6-5 helps. The Bears face challenges in week two and three against Bozeman and Flathead both games are on the road. Towards the end of the season is probably the golden bears biggest test. They go to Capital, then Sentinel,vs CMR, and finish with Senior which will be a very interesting game, more then bragging rights will be on the line. West will be a fun team to watch and is a team that looks to unseat the Broncs as top dog in Billings.
#9 The Bozeman Hawks...
The Hawks have a favorable schedule because their 6 playoff teams are sprinkled throughout their schedule. This doesn't mean it will be a cake walk for them. They have two games in week two and three that will show us what they have. They play at home against West and then visit Glacier. a few weeks later the Hawks have probably the toughest part of their schedule. Through week's five, six and seven they play at Senior, at home vs Flathead, and back home against Helena. The Hawks will be another formidable team but how they play in those 5 games is what I will be watching for.
#10 The Great Falls Bison...
The Bison will look to make a push as a new kid on the block in early November. The Bison haven't been to the post season since I was in high school. Head Coach Mark Samson looks to change that this season. There really isn't an easy portion of their schedule. Four of their first five games will feature playoff teams from a season ago. Great Falls gets an early test against traditional power Capital, then at Skyview, at home against Sentinel and at West. Great Falls will have to find a way to navigate through that to put themselves in a position to control their own destiny in the final weeks of the season.
#11 Big Sky Eagles...
Gone is Levi Janacaro. This team will have a very different look in 2018. Can Big Sky find a new offensive weapon to help lead them back to the post season that is what we will find out. Big Sky will have West and then a crosstown match-up with Sentinel in week two. They have a daunting four game stretch with Senior at home, on the road at Flathead, back home vs Bozeman, and back to Kalispell to face Glacier. Big Sky must take advantage of their first five games of the season and in particular against CMR, Hellgate, and Great Falls if they want to set themselves up for a playoff berth in 2018.
#12 The Senior Broncs...
The Broncs have a 26 game winning streak, back to back state championships and now are looking to make it a three peat. The Broncs will be tough once again and they will also get everyones best shot. Senior starts tough with games against Glacier and Helena. after that, the next eight weeks games against four playoff teams. Senior will also finish the season tough with agmes against Capital and West. Another story line is can Senior catch the Baker Spartans 37 game winning streak? They are 26-0. If they get past the first two I think they will have chance to reach it and perhaps beat it.
#13 the Sentinel Spartans...
Sentinel is a team that is garnering a lot of attention as a team that could make a deep run in November. With Rylan Ort back at QB that definitely helps the conversation. Sentinel's schedule is sprinkled with playoff teams and non playoff teams. The Spartans biggest test in the schedule will come in the final three weeks of the schedule. They face Billings West and Helena at home before finishing the season on the road vs Capital. The Spartans match-ups with the Kalispell schools are going to be back and forth affairs as they have been in the past.
#14 The Helena Bengals...
This is by no means saying the have the easiest schedule cause there is no such thing but somebody has to be number 14. The Bengals face five playoff teams on their schedule. Helena will see Senior early in a rematch of the state title game from a season ago. Helena final three out of four games will be the test for them I think. They go in the road for all three games against playoff teams. They are at Bozeman in week 7, at Sentinel in week 9 and at Flathead in week 10. Helena is another team that will be getting a lot of preseason love and rightly so. They are another program that has reloaded not rebuilt.
There is my list for who has the toughest Class AA football schedule. It is time for the first week of action and this season will have twists and turns. Who will emerge victorious during their toughest stretch of the season. The next four months are about to tell the story!