FINAL COUNTDOWN

Hawks prepare to host state championship

 

November 18, 2021

Miriah Kardelis

RUNNING TO STATE - The 12-0 Blue Hawks run the field for the ceremonial ringing of the bell after their 41-16 win over Park City last Saturday. As is tradition, the team rings the bell after each win, one time for each point they score.

On Saturday, Previs Field at Thompson Falls High School takes center stage as the site of the 2021 Montana 8-Player Championship football game.

Blue Hawk Coach Jared Koskela and his team are feeling the support of the community. "The support from the community keeps increasing through the season," Koskela noted. "The more support they get, the more energy the team has. They play really well under that support."

Koskela said Flint Creek is a familiar foe for the Hawks. Though they haven't played each other in two years, Koskela has had a plan in case the teams met in the playoffs. At that last meeting in October of 2019, the Hawks won 64-24. "They were defending state champs then," Koskela said. Now, the Hawks are ready to face off against the Titans once again.

"It just feels like another game," Koskela said, adding that he doesn't think it's really set in for his 12-0 Hawks that this is a state championship game. "It's different. We're not used to this and that's a good thing."

The Flint Creek team isn't the only familiar foe for the Hawks. Coach Koskela played football for Montana Tech as a linebacker, from 2002 to 2006. The Orediggers faced off each year with the Carroll College Saints. Playing for the Saints as a left tackle during those same years was Jason Ostler. Where is Ostler now? He's in his first year as head coach of the Flint Creek Titans. When Flint Creek came to Thompson Falls for a junior varsity game earlier this season, coaches Koskela and Ostler learned of their connection. Koskela said Montana Tech only beat Carroll once during the coaches' college careers, but Koskela joked that's a little more motivation as the duo meets as head coaches this weekend in the state championship game. The two played college as opponents, and now are head coaches at the high schools from which they graduated.

It has been 46 years since the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks won their last state championship in football. In that era, they went back-to-back in 1974 and 1975 for two straight state championships. As the Blue Hawks prepare to host the state championship game this weekend against Flint Creek, a cooperative between Philipsburg and Drummond, alumni from those last state championship teams are reminiscing about the energy a championship brings to the community. Several players from the 1974 and 1975 Hawks are still in the area. In 1974, the championship game was played in Thompson Falls, with the Hawks beating Huntley Project 60-22. Alumni Bob Brown, who still lives in Thompson Falls, said the energy was incredible and that there were thousands of people in attendance. That year, massive wooden bleachers were built courtesy of Thompson Lumber Company. Norm Williams was an integral part of getting those bleachers built for the semifinal and state championship games, brown said. Darrel "Torgy" Torgrimson was a member of the coaching staff in 1975 and remembers the game well. Jim Conlin caught a pass up the middle in the Hawks' final score of the 13-6 game. Conlin, who also still lives in the area, said the team just kept winning. "You never thought about losing," he said. "It was always about winning. We just kept on playing hard and everybody worked together."

Alumni from the 1974 and 1975 championship teams who still live in the area are hosting a dinner for the 2021 Hawk squad Thursday. Brown said that while it's cool to be a part of this history, the alumni want to make it about the 2021 class. "This is their day and we want them to feel special." Brown said he is excited for this weekend's championship and wishes he was on that field. "Give me a helmet, I'm ready to go," he laughed.

Koskela said playing a state championship game on the home field where he played high school football is very special. "Not many guys get that opportunity if they come back to their hometown," he said. He never got the chance to play at this level in high school. He said he has always looked up to former Hawk coach Curt Kegel, wondering if he could ever be as good. "He was my mentor and I've wondered if I can have as good of a team as he used to," Koskela said. He's now getting the chance as his Hawks play for the state championship.

 

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