Top teams pair off as football playoffs begin Friday

The Montana high school football playoffs kick off this week with an impressive slate of first round games.

Class A starts with rematches in three of its first four games, led by Columbia Falls hosting Corvallis for the second time this year at 7 p.m. on Friday.

The Wildcats (7-1) trounced Corvallis (4-5) 48-14 at Satterthwaite Field in the first game of the season, scoring 41 points in the second quarter to start the rout.

On the same side of the bracket, Hamilton (6-3) hosts Butte Central (4-5) at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the rematch of a game played two weeks ago in Hamilton. The Broncs won that matchup 48-29 in a game that featured a combined 10 turnovers between the teams. Billings Central (6-2) will host Miles City on Friday night in another rematch of a game played two weeks ago on the same field. Billings Central won that game 42-21, with Rams quarterback Jet Campbell throwing three touchdowns despite BC’s run-heavy offense.

In the only fresh matchup of the round, Lewistown (6-2) hosts Laurel (5-3) on Friday night. The Eagles are the only team to beat top-seeded Sidney this season, but have a pair of losses to playoff teams in Miles City and Belgrade. Laurel has beaten a pair of playoff teams in Butte Central and Miles City but has three losses to Belgrade, Sidney and Billings Central, the last two by at least two touchdowns.

There’s only one regular season rematch in Class B, with a handful of intriguing games between highly-ranked teams. All eight of the games are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Bigfork (7-1) opens the playoffs on the road for the second straight season, this time at defending state champion Fairfield (8-0). The last time the two teams met in the playoffs, Bigfork beat the Eagles 24-21 to win the 2010 state championship game.

District 7B champion Eureka (7-1) hosts Malta (4-4) for its first home playoff game in three years. A win would be the first trip to the second round for the Lions since 2008.

In a few other marquee matchups in the first round, Missoula Loyola (8-0) hosts Baker (6-2), Huntley Project (8-0) hosts Shelby (6-2) and Cut Bank (6-2) hosts Whitehall (8-1) in a trio of toss up games between teams that have been at the top of the standings all season.

Glasgow (6-2) hosts Colstrip (8-1) in the only rematch of a regular season game. Colstrip beat the Scotties 12-7 at home in the first week of the season, but will have to travel to the Hi Line for the playoffs.

Manhattan (6-2) hosts Roundup (4-4) and Columbus (5-3) hosts Ronan (5-4) in the other games of the weekend.