"Best of Best" headed to Billings in July for 71st Annual East-West Shrine Game
Share
Tweet
Havre High graduate Jace Stokes, left has been selected to play and Harlem High graduate Reece Hutton has been selected as an alternate as well.
It's the time of the year when student athletes are recognized and celebrated for their sports accomplishments during the previous sports seasons. Forty graduating high school football players from across the state of Montana have been nominated and selected to play in what many call the premier, "best of the best" post season game-the Annual Montana East-West Shrine Game. This year's game will be played Saturday, July 15 in Billings on the campus of Rocky Mountain College.
Coach for the East Team will be Chris Murdock, from the state champion Billings Senior Broncs. He's coached the Broncs for eleven years, the last five seasons as head coach. For the West Team, Tony Arntson will be at the helm. He's headed the Helena Bengals for the past twenty-three years. Players were nominated by their schools and coaches across the state, then 40 were selected to participate in the 71st edition of the Montana Shrine Game.
The history of the game
Billed as one of the longest running state Shriners' games in the nation, the event Montana began in 1947 and has been staged each year since. Because of its longevity and continuity, the annual Montana Shrine game is billed as one of the oldest high school all-star football games in the United States. The game raises significant amounts of money and raises public awareness about the expert orthopedic and burn care available at the Shriners' Hospital for Children in Spokane. In its 70+ years of operation, the game has raised more than one million dollars for the Spokane Shrine Hospital.
Through the years the game has featured some Montana standouts who went on to be All-Americans in college and had professional careers in the National Football League and the Canadian Football league. This year's players will join an elite fraternity of players, many who have gone on to distinguished football careers beyond high school. Statistics, over the years, show a slight edge in the win column to the East Team.
Great football and more
While the Saturday evening game is the highlight, there are plenty of other activities to draw folks. In fact, the welcome for players and others directly involved with staging the game begins the Sunday before the big game. All during the week there are golf outings, sports auctions, banquets and hospitality rooms hosted by different clubs and groups. Saturday morning, on game day, there is a parade downtown and tailgating at the college runs before and during the game.
Three Local Athletes connected to the 71st Contest
The Class of 2017 graduates, familiar to fans of football all across the Hi-Line have been selected for the game.
Havre's Jace Stokes has been selected to play Linebacker for the East team. Chinook's Tate Niederegger and Harlem's Reece Hutton have been selected as Alternates for the game.
Stokes is headed to play football for Montana Tech where he will play Runningback and study Business. Jace is the son of Phil and Eva Stokes and Angie Stokes.
Hutton is the son Miles and Linda Hutton and plans to attend Dickinson State this fall where he will play Football as well as compete for the Bluehawk Track & Field team.
Hutton was twice an All-State selection for the Wildcats on both sides of the ball. He was also a standout wrestler and holds the Harlem school record in the Shot Put with a heave of 52;4".
Hutton was also a Captain for the Class B North All-Stars where his team defeated the South 59-20.
Tate Niederegger
Hutton plans to Major in Ag Business and later focus on Finance.
Niederegger is the son of Paul and Tammy Niederegger and will head to Montana State University Bozeman this fall where he will Major in Business with an eye toward Law School.
Niederegger was an All-State runningback for the Sugarbeeters this past season and has been selected to the All-Conference list on both sides of the ball the past two years.
Niederegger finished on the podium at the State B/C Wrestling tournament winning two State titles in the process. He also competed in Golf all four years of high school qualifying for the State meet in May. The first weekend of June Niederegger competed in the 34th Annual Class C All-Star football game in Butte.
