BUTTE – The Montana East-West Shrine Game is five days away from kickoff, and the West team is starting to jell.
They are practicing at Montana Tech’s Bob Green Field in Butte all this week. It was a rain-filled Tuesday morning for the West squad, but these players couldn’t be happier for the opportunity to compete in one final game to wrap up their high school careers.
“This has been the best couple years of my life or four years of my life. And football has made that the best time in my life,” said Levi Janacaro, a Missoula Big Sky all-star on the West team. “So I’m hoping this game kind of sums up what I’ve done in Missoula and football-wise, kind of bring it all to a wrap and move on to the next chapter”
Even though this game is the pinnacle of high school football in the state of Montana, it goes beyond the gridiron. The members of the West team understand that, while winning is important, the bigger cause, benefitting the Shrine Hospital, is the main goal.
“(It’s) for all the kids. Like they say, they always talk about all the Shrine kids and how this game is for them and how raising money and it’s just overall a good deal,” said Whitehall receiver Wyatt Alexander. “I mean, we’ve already talked to some of the kids and they’ve been pretty cool.”
The Shrine Game kicks off at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Great Falls.
