FRITZ NEIGHBOR
SPORTS EDITOR
Fritz Neighbor is the Sports Editor for the Daily Inter Lake. He oversees sports coverage across the Flathead Valley, including high school athletics, youth sports, and regional competitions. In his leadership role, he helps shape the newspaper’s sports coverage and editorial direction. Fritz’s column, Full Count, taps into his decades’ long career covering Montana sports. You’ll also see Fritz sharing his thoughts and insights on the Big Sky Now podcast.
IMPACT: Fritz’s work celebrates the athletes and teams that bring Northwest Montana communities together.
Recent Stories
Moy shines as Bravettes sweep Bruins
The Sterck sisters, Savanna and Sienna, and Akilah Kubi tended to steal the stat lines as the Flathead Bravettes’ volleyball season gained steam.
Glacier heads back to Butte seeking better outcome
The Glacier Wolfpack’s last visit to Naranche Stadium didn’t end well: A fourth-quarter interception and a safety set the stage for Butte’s 20-17 win on Oct. 8.
Construction underway for Pioneer League stadium
There’s a general manager, a manager and also a couple of players in place for Kalispell’s fledgling Pioneer Baseball team.
Big Sky notes: Red letter Saturday for MSU
The Big Sky Conference game of the week is an easy call: No. 4 Montana State visits No. 5 Eastern Washington Saturday, on the red turf of Roos Field.
Hollis May to coach Wolfpack girls track
Glacier High School has selected its new girls track coach, and pending school board approval it will be longtime teacher and coach Hollis May.
Knights get 3-peat; Glacier boys fall in AA soccer final
Glacier boys fall in AA soccer final
The Pack against the Black Knights soccer battle was everything you thought it’d be Saturday — a tight, physical game with so few scoring chances one goal would win it.
Whitefish, Columbia Falls football teams open playoffs at home
Montana’s high school football playoffs take off in earnest today in Class A and below, with deserving teams celebrating successful seasons with a home game.
Glacier hangs on to beat Senior 21-14
To survive the Billings Senior Broncs 21-14 Friday night at Legends Stadium, the Glacier Wolfpack needed a little bit of everything.
Glacier prepares for run-happy Broncs in first round
One encouraging thing about Glacier’s Friday battle with Billings Senior — the team that knocked the Wolfpack out of the 2020 AA football playoffs — is there’s no Junior Bergen to worry about.
Whitefish’s Harmon loves acting – and making running room
Tanner Harmon, all 180 pounds of him, toils for the Whitefish Bulldogs in the relative obscurity on the offensive line.
COLUMN: Long May he stay this way
The 47th Northern Rodeo Association Finals begin today at 7 p.m. inside Majestic Valley Arena, with youngsters and veterans alike taking on rough stock for three straight nights.
Big Sky notes: Griz, young QB get well in Idaho
The Montana Grizzlies looked like a new team in their 34-14 win at Idaho Saturday, at least on offense, though Bobby Hauck deflected any thought that Kris Brown’s 256 passing yards and deep strikes were the products of better game planning.
Vikings bring home some plunder
The last time Bigfork won a boys cross country title? They went back-to-back in 1974-75.
Kats break through for first state title
Saturday was a perfect day to run at the Montana State Cross Country Championships, unless it wasn’t.
Pirates rally past Bulldogs in second half
Saddled with their first halftime deficit of the season, the unbeaten Polson Pirates scored four touchdowns to rally past Whitefish 38-24 Friday in the Dawg Pound.
C-Falls girls, Eureka boys still chasing state XC titles
There’s a chance the Columbia Falls girls can score with Hardin Saturday, at the Class A portion of the State Cross Country Championships, and a chance Eureka’s boys could keep their streak going.
Glacier’s Sullivan pilots a win
Senior’s all-around game keys Wolfpack’s victory over Hellgate
The Glacier Wolfpack was down one Jake, and for a minute it was down two, but still had the weapons to beat Missoula Hellgate 55-20 in a Western AA football game Friday night. Connor Sullivan was one of those weapons.
Rendina decided he was a back in Little Guy, and hasn’t stopped running since
Jake Rendina will tell you statistics don’t mean much, and when you consider he quietly seized Glacier High’s record for career touchdowns last Friday — with his third against crosstown rival Flathead — it’s easy to believe.
Pack brings in Hellgate; Flathead finishes at Big Sky
It is a dangerous Missoula Hellgate football team that visits Legends Stadium tonight. Just ask the Butte Bulldogs, who needed to rally for a 30-27 win over the 2-5 Knights.
There’s good 2-QB results and there’s bad
While Montana was having trouble with Sacramento State’s two-headed quarterback in a 28-21 loss Saturday, Eastern Washington was having no trouble with Idaho’s.
Sac State gets landmark win over Griz
The Hornets, playing two quarterbacks and some excellent defense, beat the No. 5-ranked Montana Grizzlies Saturday, 28-21.
Sac State winning recipe has Griz flavor
The 20th anniversary celebration of Montana’s 2001 national championship was this weekend, and the festivities included then-head coach Joe Glenn and dozens of players taking to the Washington-Grizzly Stadium turf before the game.
Glacier coasts past Flathead in crosstown matchup
At the crosstown game, the Glacier Wolfpack was back to making big plays. Junior quarterback Gage Sliter threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, and Jake Rendina piled up three more rushing scores as Glacier handled Flathead, 56-0, in their 15th meeting at Legends Stadium.
COLUMN: A spell-check of a name, and we’ll take it
About five minutes into his introductory press conference this week Rich Bisaccia gently corrected a writer on the pronunciation of his name.
Crosstown and a Cat-Dog on tap
It’s a crosstown football game in Kalispell tonight, and neither the Glacier Wolfpack nor the Flathead Braves have won for a couple weeks.
Glacier getting stellar senior seasons from 2-sport standout Sam Ells
On or around Sept. 28 Glacier soccer coach Ryan Billiet got word from one of his top players, Sam Ells, that he might miss practice that day because of a sudden schedule change: He was headed to a cross country meet in Whitefish.
Griz can hope for health ahead of Sac State
The Montana Grizzlies are 4-1 after their difficult 31-14 win over 0-5 Dixie State Saturday, and if Bobby Hauck had a hard time getting a squad on the field, especially along the defensive front, so be it.
Griz pull away from Dixie St. in second half
It wasn’t the walkover victory many expected Saturday, with the winless Dixie State Trailblazers coming to town. The Montana Grizzlies will take it, turnovers and missed opportunities and all.
Ford tough: Griz corner keeps showing up in red zone
Justin Ford is making a habit of this. After Dixie State came up with a fumble early in Saturday’s game with the host Montana Grizzlies, quarterback Kenyon Oblad led the Trailblazers smartly down the field.
Explosive Bengals sprint past Flathead
Most people know that Helena High, with Kaden Huot at quarterback, is a formidable opponent.
AA football: Glacier heads to Butte for key battle
So much for a tidy finish to the Western AA football season.
COLUMN: DeRue comes up aces — and more aces
The Ryder Cup has ended gloriously, the leaves are falling decorously and that usually means time is running out to get in that last 18 around these parts.
Big Sky notes: Griz may need to overcome volatility at QB
The Montana Grizzlies’ last-gasp, 34-28 loss on the red turf at Roos Field Saturday served to repeat a couple axioms for those that you may have forgotten: One, Eastern Washington always has a dynamic quarterback, and Eric Barriere was the difference maker on his home field.
State A golf: Laurel surges back to top; Smith, Bulldogs second
It looked for a while that the Whitefish boys might not shake off a little controversy at the State A golf tournament, which concluded Saturday at Polson Bay Golf Course.
Sentinel surges over Flathead, 54-0
Quarterback Zac Crews had a very efficient first half for Missoula Sentinel Friday, his four touchdown passes helping the Spartans a 48-0 lead on the way to a 54-0 win over Flathead at Legends Stadium.
Prep football: Doesn't get easier for Braves, Pack
Things don’t get easier for Kalispell’s two AA football teams this week, with the Flathead Braves taking on top-ranked Missoula Sentinel Friday at Legends Stadium, and Glacier going to Helena.
Wynne, Wolfpack boys eying State AA hardware
Flathead golf coach Roy Antley has five solid players on his girls team as it heads to the State AA tournament beginning today in Bozeman.
Big Sky roundup: Flowers’ kickoff return against Cal Poly was exemplary
After his team lost to the Montana Grizzlies 39-7 Saturday, Cal Poly coach Beau Baldwin talked about how he had screen plays dialed up to beat some Griz blitzes, but that they didn’t quite work out.
UM dominates Cal Poly, 39-7
Phased: Griz ride defense, special teams to win over Mustangs
Sullivan shines as Glacier downs Capital
Connor Sullivan’s catch-and-run of a 59-yard scoring pass was a thing of beauty Friday night, but it was a catch he made at the end of the first half that really dazzled.
Bruins another stern test for Wolfpack
The Glacier Wolfpack are coming off a tough first loss of the football season, and things don’t get a whole lot easier tonight with Helena Capital coming to Legends Stadium.
COLUMN: Inspired hires, garden spots, sticker shock
After seeing the bill for Bruce Barnum’s beer garden extravaganza — $14,448, for 2,064 beers — I can only think: Why didn’t Jerry Glanville think of this?
AA Football: Braves look to get back on track against Hellgate
Coming off a 48-7 homecoming loss to Butte, the Flathead Braves look to get well on the road, with a game against Missoula Hellgate Thursday.
A change of course
Glacier’s Salonen traded the gridiron for fairways
With a last name well known in Griz nation, the expectation was that the seventh-grade quarterback of 2016 would be the starting high school QB in 2021. Then Will Salonen changed the play.
Wildcats fly past Libby in Northwest A clash
Isaiah Roth scored three touchdowns, Cody Schweikert threw for two and the wide-open Columbia Falls Wildcats took a surprising 48-0 football win over run-first Libby Friday night.
AA football: Flathead seeks strong start; Glacier heads to Sentinel
Three slow starts have added up to, well, a slow start to the football season for the Flathead Braves, who will try to get going Friday against a very solid Butte High squad.
Roth shows up to give Cats another target
It was just a couple years ago that a transfer from Nampa, Idaho, became the new kid in town in Columbia Falls.
Early returns — and serves — look good for Bravettes, Pack
Prep notes
COLUMN: Milestones reached 24 hours apart
Two night games and 200 wins.
Humphrey, defense power Griz past WIU
Montana quarterback Cam Humphrey threw for a career-best five touchdowns and the defense was again impenetrable in the No. 4 Grizzlies’ 42-7 thumping of Western Illinois Saturday.