By Bruce Sayler
Butte High dialed long distance for three of its four touchdowns in a 12-all Purple/White Scrimmage tie Friday night, capping preseason football drills at Naranche Stadium.
Temperatures were in the mid-80s and a smoky haze hung over the city as spectators came out to the storied stadium to get a look at the 2026 version of the football Bulldogs.
The scrimmage ended a day of intrasquad competitions that began with a four-touchdown girls’ flag football scrim while afternoon threatened to crack 90 on the thermometers. Volleyball was a comfortable indoors for setting as a competitive group took to the Ross J. Richardson Gym court. The cross country runners have to figure the deans owe them one for their tour of midtown Butte beginning and finishing in the late afternoon heat at Naranche Stadium and soccer borrowed the football turf to show off a probable record turnout in forming this year’s edition.
Hopes and some expectations are always high on scrimmage day, a reward for the past couple of weeks of work in the summer preparations for the fall sports seasons.
“The big thing for us is going to be where we are when the play is over,” 20th-year Butte High head football coach Arie Grey said. “We can do some good things.
“I thought our backs did a good job tonight and our bigs are a great group and will become a strength. Our skill kids, though, will be our strength early.”
Four quarterbacks saw considerable time and senior Raeder Grey, the coach’s son and the starter since the middle of last season, led two scoring drives. The first ended in a 2-yard plunge by senior Miner Lee and the other wound up a 47-yard strike in stride to sophomore wide receiver Ryan Bache.
Junior ballcarrier Matt Marsenich marked off a 31-yard scoring run up the south sideline to the east end zone and junior running back Xavier Jory rumbled up the middle on a 28-yard carry for the other TDs in the game.
The defense recorded nine sacks in the scrimmage of about an hour. Grey shared QB duties with junior Troy Samson and sophomores Zyler Petersen and Calvin Cunningham. Petersen threw for 134 yards, completing nine of 18 attempts. The two older QBs saw more limited time. Grey was 4-for-6 for 71 yards passing.
More unofficial statistics showed Lee leading the rushing attack with 54 yards on 10 carries while Jory gained 52 on three totes, senior Jaeger Hansen had 48 on five packs, Marsenich 33 on three and Samson 31 to emerge as leaders.
The passing game was varied in the receiving area as 14 different players caught aerials – led by Bache’s TD grab. Sophomore Easton Dawes and senior Brayden Giop each caught two passes, the only receivers with more than one, according to the stats. Dawes actually caught three passes, but one came on defense when he played in the secondary. It was the only turnover of the scrimmage.
A lighter offensive line is working on technique to compensate while the defensive line, not huge itself, is anchored in the middle by a pair of 300-pound-plussers in 5-10, 302-pound sophomore Cameron Breitzman and 6-5, 340-pound mountainous senior Nemo Becker. Sophomore Hunter Anderson, 5-10, 280, saw extensive time.
The main performers in the D’s sack attack included sophomore Paxton Anderson, junior Kanyon Flynn, sophomore Colton Nasheim, junior Colt Stenson, Jory and sophomore Cooper Carter as underclassmen were accorded a lot of field time.
The coaches got a good look at the up-and-comers. They already know what to expect from the varsity returnees.
“I’m proud of how our kids worked in the offseason,” coach Grey said. “We made some huge strides and now we just need to stack some days. This is a good group with a lot of multi-sport athletes. They spend a lot of time with each other, which is good for us.”
Butte pool members of the Montana Officials Association worked the game and Grey said them doing so was a positive, too.
“Thank those guys, it was nice to have them here,” he said. “They now understand our alignments and know how to communicate with out kids. I was really happy with out alignments on both sides of the ball.”
John Stenson is back for a second year at the girls’ flag football team helm and rostered 44 players for Friday’s scrimmage. The offense looked to be a bit ahead of the defense as it unveiled a much-improved passing game with sophomore returnee Rylee Erickson at quarterback. She also scored a touchdown in the scrimmage that saw junior Brylee Ballensky tally on a reception and junior Kenzie Rowe and sophomore Ellie Carey finish long runs in the end zone.
Turnouts of 33 girls and 34 boys have the soccer teams excited about this season and prospects for the program future. Geno Liva is the head girls’ soccer coach while Adam Colvin is at the helm of the boys’ team. Liva is also the school’s head coach in girls’ wrestling.
The volleyball team returns a good list of athletes to go into competition in a strong Western AAA Conference with a good chance to contend. Head coach Guy Wadas also has a promising bunch in both cross country teams that will likely draw more college interest for recruits as in recent years.
The golf teams opened their seasons with tournaments earlier this week at the Highland View and Fairmont Hot Springs courses. The other sports teams will launch their schedules this coming week.
