Red Devils wrap up season

The regular season ended last week for the Sanders County 6-man football teams, and now they can look ahead to the playoffs.

Hot Springs clinched the top spot in the West and will play host to Valier this Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the playoffs. Noxon narrowly missed the playoffs, ending up No. 4 in the West. The top three teams advance to the postseason.

Noxon was originally scheduled to play Hot Springs in the final regular season game of the year, but the Savage Heat forfeited due to the recent death of a player. Noxon Superintendent David Whitesell said the school started making calls to try and find a replacement team to play. Though the Lima Bears had lost to Noxon 57-0 earlier in the season, the team jumped at the chance to play another game this season. So the Bears hopped on a bus and drove more than 350 miles to Noxon to play one more time.

Lima only had seven players, so in a true display of sportsmanship, three Red Devils - Shane Murray, Kade Hill and Brian Risch - suited up and played for the Bears. Early in the game, Hill yelled at Noxon coach Lucas MacArthur and joked that he was going to transfer to Lima because they were treating him so well.

Hot Springs finished the regular season at 7-0 and sealed the stop seed in the West with their final win at Twin Bridges on October 12. They will get home-field advantage as they enter the playoffs and host Valier at 1 pm on Saturday, October 28.

It was a beautiful fall day in Noxon last Thursday as the Noxon Red Devils celebrated their seniors on the football field. The game at Jenny Lampshire Memorial Field had the feel of a neighborhood pick-up game as the Red Devils traded friendly jabs from both sides of the field. Noxon ended up winning the contest 55-18.

In the first play of the game, Lima fumbled the kickoff reception and Noxon recovered. Senior Antonio Lodi then ran the ball in 18 yards for Noxon's first score of the game. On Lima's second attempt, Risch threw an interception that was caught by Chancellor McDaid. From there, sophomore Ricky Williams had an incredible one-handed catch before quarterback Justice Kayser ran into the end zone.

Owen Ramsey recovered a Lima fumble and then Zach Storaasli had a reception for yet another Noxon touchdown. Ian Brown would also score for the Red Devils before the first quarter was even over. The first buzzer sounded with Noxon up 29-0. In the second quarter, McDaid intercepted a Lima pass near the goal line and ran it all the way back for a touchdown. That was the only score of the quarter as the teams went into halftime with Noxon up 35-0.

Lima was able to score three times against the Red Devils in the second half. The Red Devils on both sides of the field came away with a win as they celebrated their seniors.