BADLANDS BOWL THIS WEEKEND IN MILES CITY

Click to view

Montana staff solid again

By Josh Samuelson
When the Montana Committee for the Knights of Columbus Badlands Bowl sits down at the end of the high school football season and discusses who the coaches for the Badlands Bowl should be, they typically get it right. Montana's 11-4 record in the series against North Dakota is proof of that.
And this year, they look to have gotten it right once again.
Pat Murphy will be the head coach for Montana when they take on the North Dakota All-Stars on Saturday night at 6 p.m., at Denton Field.
Murphy will be assisted by Chance Ferlicka, Scott Wilson, Dan Stanton, Clint Croy and Travis Rauh.
Murphy has coached high school football in Montana for 26 years, with the last five at Class AA power Helena Capital.
Murphy has led the Capital Bruins into the state championship game in each of the last four years, winning the Class AA state championship the last three years.
Murphy started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Missoula Big Sky for 11 years, followed by a four year stint as head coach at Park County High School in Livingston. Murphy had a successful five year run as head coach in Boulder before moving on to Capital.
At Capital, Murphy has a 51-11 record. In 2007, the Bruins set a state record for total rushing yards with 3992 and last year, the Bruins racked up 5983 yards of total offense, and averaged 47 points per game.
Murphy was selected to the NFL Youth Summit in 2003 and has been the Coach of the Year the last three years.
Murphy will be the third different Helena Capital Head Coach to be the Montana Head Coach. Walt Chauncey coached in 1996 and Mark Sampson coached in 2001.
Chance Ferlicka has been a long-time assistant coach at Capital, and is a former Bruin player. Ferlicka will be making his second appearance at the Badlands Bowl, he coached with Sampson in 2001.
Ferlicka graduated from Capital in 1980, and graduated from Carroll College in 1984 with a secondary teaching degree and four years of playing football under Bob Petrino. He later earned a Master's Degree from Montana State University.
Ferlicka has been a teacher, or counselor, at Capital for 25 years. He has been a player, or coach, for all 11 state championships that Capital has won.
Wilson is the head football coach, and athletic director, at Polson High School.
He has been the head coach at Polson for the last eight years, and has led the Pirates into the playoffs seven of those eight years. The Pirates have won three Northwestern A Conference titles in the last eight years.
WIlson has coached for 19 years, and was an assistant coach with Murphy at Missoula Big Sky when they won the state AA title in 1994.
Wilson graduated from Missoula Big Sky in 1987 and attended Boise State University on a wrestling scholarship.
Croy has coached football in Montana for the past 15 years, with the last 10 at Glasgow. He has been the head coach for the Scotties the last six years, and has also coached basketball and track.
Croy stepped down as head football coach after this last season, and this game will be the final game for Croy as a football coach.
The Scotties have advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class B playoffs each of the last two seasons, losing to the eventual state champions each year. The two postseason victories matched the total postseason wins at Glasgow over the previous 12 years.
Rauh is a 1994 graduate of Custer County District High School, where he was an All-State quarterback for the Cowboys. He played football at Rocky Mountain College.
Rauh is currently the Head Coach at Broadwater High School in Townsend, where he has coached for seven years. In his tenure at Townsend, he has a record of 34-25, the Bulldogs were 13-27 under three head coaches in the previous five years.
Rauh's offenses rank first, second, third and fourth all-time in school history for passing offense and first, second and fifth all-time in scoring.
Rauh was an assistant coach at Laurel High School in 1998 and 1999, where they were a state semi-finalist in 1998 and were the state champions in 1999.
Stanton was a late-replacement for the Badlands Bowl, as Superior Head Coach Dan Lucier could not make the game due to a family emergency.
Stanton is making his second consecutive appearance in the Badlands Bowl, he was an assistant last year under brother Jim Stanton of Billings Central.
Stanton has been a long-time coach at Custer County District High School, and is entering his sixth season as head coach. Stanton led the Cowboys to the 2008 state Class A championship a year after going 2-7.

Monday, June 15

Montana all-stars in Miles City for Badlands Bowl

By Josh Samuelson
Thirty-four of the top high school football players from across Montana are in Miles City in preparation for the upcoming Knights of Columbus Badlands Bowl all-star football game to be held Saturday evening at 6 at Denton Field.
The players, and coaches, arrived in Miles City yesterday and did a short walk-through at the practice field at Custer County District High School.
"Right now we just haven't seen them a whole lot," Montana Head Coach Pat Murphy said. "But it is a nice group of kids. We have tremendous speed and quickness across the field. These really are the 34 best players from Montana."
Murphy, the head coach at three-time Class AA state champion Helena Capital, is assisted by long-time Capital assistant coach Chance Ferlicka, Miles City head coach Dan Stanton, Polson head coach Scott Wilson, Townsend head coach Travis Rauh and Glasgow head coach Clint Croy.
Stanton is a late replacement for Superior head coach Dan Lucier, who had a family emergency. Stanton will be making his second consecutive appearance on the sidelines, as he coached last year with brother Jim Stanton.
Murphy will have plenty of help getting the team ready. Five players from Helena Capital, including quarterback Matt Reyant, will help make the adjustment for the rest of the team.
The defending state champion Custer County Cowboys are very well represented in this year's game, with five players playing for Montana.
Runningback Brennan Haughian, center James Love, defensive linemen John Henry Beardsley and Nick Love and defensive back Hayden Kalfell will represent the Cowboys this week. Kalfell replaced Billings West's Jase Muri, who was injured during the track season.
The Miles City connections don't stop with Stanton and the five players: Travis Rauh is a former all-state quarterback for the Cowboys.
The team will be practicing throughout the week, with plenty of other activities scheduled.
The Badlands Bowl Banquet will be held on Friday night at 6 at the Miles Community College Centra. The featured speaker for the banquet is Carroll College Head Football Coach Mike Van Diest.
The game kicks off at 6 p.m. at Denton Field. This will be the 16th Annual game for the event that alternates between Miles City and Dickinson (N.D.).
Montana holds an 11-4 record in the series, including last year's 54-14 win at Denton Field.