Talented Trojans open season Saturday

After two of the most successful seasons in recent history, the Whitehall/Harrison High School football will hope for more of the same when they open the 2018 season Saturday, August 25 in a neutral site game against perennial Class B powerhouse Colstrip.The Trojans had originally been scheduled to open their season August 31 at home against Missoula-Loyola. Colstrip was left without an opponent for their August 24 game after Wolf Point was unable to play. Colstrip officials reached out to Whitehall Wednesday. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

In a quest for their third consecutive playoff spot, the Trojans will bring a mix of returning talent and talented underclassmen.

In his fifth year with the team, Whitehall head coach Dan Lacey said it has been great watching the players in his program compete over the years and see the success obtained through hard work and dedication. He also praised the importance of the offseason.

"Our program talks a lot about how important it is to have a strong offseason which helps the body get ready for the season," he said.

Because of the loss of a talented senior class, many younger kids will see varsity time, something Lacey feels is great for the program.

"We preach competition everyday in practice and as a coaching staff it is our job to get the best 11 players on the football field. If it's a freshman or a senior we expect them to understand what we are expecting from them," he said.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Trojans will return all-state quarterback Max Feight who had nearly 3,000 yards passing and 32 touchdown passes.

"Max does a great job of spreading the ball around and with our receiving core and running backs each of them will have multiple opportunities to make plays for us," he said.

Whitehall will return three players that caught over 20 passes last season (Cade Briggs, Sawyer Keener, Connor Johnson), which Lacey feels is nice to having coming back.

"Our goal on offense is to take care of the football and value our opportunities. We have players on offense that have very dynamic skill sets and it's our job to put those players in situations to be successful. I have really liked what I've seen so far in camp and look forward to watching us continue to grow throughout each practice," Lacey said.

Sawyer Keener is the leading returning rusher with 703 yards, with Feight adding 614.

Lacey said they have a few younger kids that haven't seen a lot of varsity playing time , but have looked really good in camp so far and could see extended action on Friday nights as well.

He expects the offensive line to play fundamentally sound football.

"We have always been an undersized offensive line, but our effort is what fuels their success. Communication with this group will be key to our success as a whole. Coach (Ed) Simon does a great job with this group and we have a few different combinations that we have liked so far in camp," he said.

On defense, Lacey likes what he saw last season from first year defensive coordinator Brennan Hayes.

"Defensively we like to keep it simple so our athletes can be put in positions to make plays. Last year we created a bunch of turnovers and our secondary had 17 interceptions. Our front 4 will be crucial to our success and we have a solid linebacker core coming back this year," Lacey said. "I think Coach Hayes is much more comfortable this year with understanding what teams throughout our league like to run and he does a great job of preparing our kids week in and week out for our opponents."

Key returning defensive players for the Trojans will be Keener (Team high 131 tackles in 2017), Feight (seven interceptions), Briggs (four interceptions), Johnson, Eli Reynolds and Colby Smith.

Lacey said some new faces to look to set up on defense this year will be Tegan Robbins, Dylan Smith, Gaten Wassberg, Mike Wilkinson and Devin Woody.

During their fall camp the team has devoted a full practice session each day to special teams.

"Our kick off team and our punt return team were areas of weakness last year that we have spent a lot of time working on to get better and understand what our expectations are," he said.

Following the August 31 game against Loyola, Whitehall will be on the road September 7 against Shepherd and September 14 in a conference matchup against Big Timber. They will return to Trojans field September 21 for a homecoming matchup against Three Forks. After a September 28 home game against Townsend, they will return to the road for a October 5 road game in Boulder. They will wrap up their home season on senior night October 12 against Columbus.

The final regular season game is October 19 at Manhattan.