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The Noxon Red Devils are scheduled to play the Harlowtown-Ryegate Engineers in Harlowtown Friday night in the first round of the Montana 6-Man football playoffs.

Whether coach Bart Haflich and his Red Devils make that trip was largely up in the air Monday afternoon as Noxon schools were set to shut down for three days beginning Tuesday due to one or possibly two positive COVID-19 cases. School officials said remote learning would be held for at least three days before any further decisions will be made.

In the meantime, the playoff-bound Red Devil football team will be in limbo, which seems to be the favorite dance step in America this year – no one really knows what to expect next.

"We are planning on practicing today and then start remote classes tomorrow," Haflich said from his office at Noxon High School Monday afternoon. "Then we will try to find a way to keep getting ready for the rest of the week. Whatever happens, right now we plan on getting on the bus and heading to Harlowtown Friday and playing that game."

If it does come to pass that the Devils are allowed to depart the West End and make the monumental drive across Montana, Haflich thinks his team matches up well with the Harlowtown-Ryegate crew.

The Engineers, the No. 1 seed from the Central Division, who have made the trip to Hot Springs several times in the past several years for playoff and regular season games, are 5-1 after defeating Geraldine-Highwood 54-14 October 14. The Red Devils, the No. 3 seed from the west, are 2-2 after last playing at Hot Springs October 8, where they lost 42-28 to the Savage Heat. Noxon roared back with a big second half effort in that game to make things interesting in the late going.

John Hamilton

READY TO ROCK! The Noxon offensive unit in action against White Sulphur Springs in Noxon back on Sept. 25.

Haflich wants his boys to get moving earlier this time. "We want to come out playing like we did in the second half at Hot Springs," he said. "We really think we can compete with Harlowtown if we come out strong. They have some good athletes and are pretty quick, but we feel like it is a good matchup for us.

"If we get to play," he added forlornly.

Haflich said his team is raring to go but fears that circumstances may cost them yet again in this convoluted year of 2020. "Our guys are excited, we would like to win that first playoff game in Noxon football history," he said. "But it is kind of frustrating not knowing what could happen next. It's not fair to anyone – the players, the coaches , the fans, everyone suffers."

If the Devils do indeed play and win, they would face the winner of the Broadview-Lavina versus Froid-Medicine Lake game next week.