MISSOULA — At the inaugural crosstown flag football series in Zootown, the foundation for a thriving high school sport was on full display.
As Missoula Hellgate, Missoula Big Sky and Missoula Sentinel faced off over the course of nearly five hours, the fan engagement remained steady throughout Wednesday evening. Student sections filled out for each game, food vendors lining the outskirts of MCPS Stadium.
Montana’s flag football season is brief — the state tournament is just around the corner on Oct. 1-2 in Hamilton — but the interest and passion for crosstown matchups, regardless of the sport, remain consistent.
“It was so much fun tonight,” Big Sky coach Michela Anderson said. “They did a great job putting it all together. All these people coming out to watch these girls play at home for the first time, the great atmosphere, I think they had fun. I had fun.”
The Spartans emerged with the city title on the back of a dominant defensive effort, beating Hellgate 7-0 and capping the night with a win over Big Sky, 18-0.
Regardless of the results, the proof of concept for flag football in Missoula was a resounding success.
“Guys have always had this sport (football),” Sentinel sophomore Kaysa Fuller said. “Now, it’s the girls’ turn, and it’s a really big thing.”
Missoula County Public Schools approved the addition of flag football to the sports catalog in February, the schools’ respective head coaches being selected over the summer. It’s been a quick turnaround from planning and organizing the squads to taking the field.
The process of bringing the teams together, finding cohesive identities and even learning the sport is still an ongoing one, Hellgate coach Tyler Gillman said.
“What we do have, is we’ve got a lot of enthusiasm,” Gillman added. “We’ve got kids that are coachable and want to learn, and they’re there for each other.”
While Big Sky was facing its crosstown foes for the first time Wednesday, the Spartans and Knights had played twice previously before the showcase. The squads split the prior meetings, setting up the opening game of the evening as a rubber match.
A touchdown pass from Drew Bahm to Fuller in the first quarter proved to be the difference as Sentinel’s defense clamped down on the Knights for the remainder of the game. A 7-0 victory set the Spartans up for beneficial playoff seeding in the West, Sentinel head coach Rajiem Seabrook said.
“To be able to just celebrate these girls and celebrate women’s sports is important, and to do it in a way that hasn’t been done before,” Seabrook added. “There aren’t food trucks out here for varsity football, there’s not shared t-shirts.”
Hellgate had a quick turnaround for its matchup with the Eagles, taking place less than a half hour after its loss to Sentinel. Knights freshman Texas Gilman got the scoring going with a first-quarter scamper into the end zone to go up 6-0, but Big Sky quickly responded with a touchdown from senior Raigan Foster minutes later. The Eagles converted the PAT, creating a 7-6 lead that carried into the fourth quarter.
With less than four minutes to go in the contest, junior Ava Harrington skied for a touchdown catch to return the lead to Hellgate. Big Sky was unable to answer, giving Hellgate a 14-7 win and a 1-1 record for the event.
Despite lower roster numbers for the Knights, Gilman said he has athletes “that can play.” As the youth flag football foundation strengthens in Missoula and more girls are able to play with the goal of high school ball, the Class AA programs will become stronger and stronger.
“We’ll get our numbers up at Hellgate, but we can compete with the numbers we’ve got now, and we mean to compete,” Gilman said. “We’ve got two weeks to go now, and we’re going to try to give a great game to every single team we see.”
Big Sky finished the night with a matchup against Sentinel. The Spartans jumped out to an early lead as junior Morgan McKinney took a screen pass to the house. Fuller scored her second touchdown of the night, also on a screen pass, and the Spartans led 12-0 at halftime.
A touchdown run from freshman Sydney Papp closed the scoring in the fourth quarter, the Spartans emerging with a 16-0 shutout and a full shutout over eight quarters over its crosstown rivals.
The crosstown energy, even with a brand new sport, was still evident for Seabrook.
“I don’t care if it’s football or underwater ping pong,” Seabrook added. “They get up for it because it means something.”
The three schools have just a couple more weeks of regular season ball before the postseason kicks in. Kalispell Glacier will be looking for its fourth-consecutive state title, the powerhouse of the western AA to date. The Missoula schools are excited to compete for a state title, too.
Beyond 2025 postseason aspirations, though, the crosstown series showed the fan engagement and player interest is very real in Missoula. With those factors in favor of the sport, flag football appears to have a bright future in the area.
“Girls sports don’t get the recognition they deserve,” Fuller said. “This really helps build up women in sport and that atmosphere.”
Carson Cashion is a sports writer for 406 MT Sports. Follow him on X @CarsonCashion or contact him at carson.cashion@406mtsports.com.
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