The start of the season is a week away.
Still, local football fans can get their football fix Friday and Saturday as Montana Tech, Butte High and Butte Central hit the fields for teams scrimmages.
The Bulldogs will hit the field first, playing the annual Purple and White Game at 7 p.m. Friday at Naranche Stadium.
The scrimmage is part of a night in which the cross country , soccer and volleyball teams will also hold scrimmages. The Butte Athletic Council will hold a barbecue.
To get a good look at the Bulldogs, make sure you’re on time.
“We’ll go 80 plays,” Butte High coach Arie Grey said. “That might take a half hour, it might take who knows how long.”
With the Bulldog offense geared at running as many plays as it can as fast as it can, expect the night to be a short one.
Grey said he’s not big on beating up on his own team anyway, so a quick look is all he needs.
“We’re going to go in and work on what we need,” Grey said. “We want to put kids in a position to evaluate them, and we’ll go from there.”
Butte High opens the season Aug. 24 at home against Great Falls Russell.
The Maroons will play the Maroon and White Game at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. That one could take a little longer.
Coach Don Peoples Jr. said he expects to go about an hour and 20 minutes, putting the No. 1 offense vs. the Nos. 2 and 3 defense and the No. 1 defense vs. the Nos. 2 and 3 offense.
Peoples played up the importance of the scrimmage as the team prepares to play host to Belgrade in the season opener Aug. 25.
“It gives you the game-type of feel you really need to have before you play,” Peoples said. “We practice and practice, but you can’t simulate that game tempo.”
The Orediggers go last, playing the inaugural Rock Pile Game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Alumni Coliseum.
The practice game, which is set at night because the Orediggers’ Sept. 1 home opener against Eastern Oregon is at 6 p.m., comes one week after Tech opened preseason camp.
Tech coach Chuck Morrell said the game likely will be the last time quarterbacks Brian Schwarzkoph and Nick Baker can audition for the starting job. Rehersal
Morrell said the Orediggers will pick their quarterback they’re going to stick with after the practice game.
The Touchdown Club will tailgate after the scrimmage.
“It’s going to have a game-day feel,” Morrell said.
