HELENA -- The Helena High and Helena Capital football teams hosted individual scrimmages Thursday to get "game situation" time in before they start their seasons on Sept. 11.
Overall, Helena High head coach Scott Evans said he was relatively pleased with how his team handled the day.
"I liked what we did passing the ball. We did some good crisp passes in the end zone, had some guys open, some deep balls," said Evans. "I wanted to see that (Thursday), and we got that."
Another thing worth noting is the Lewis and Clark City-County Board of Health voted to have Lewis and Clark public health pass an amendment that would allow spectators in the stands this fall with an adequate plan in place. Evans said he didn't even realize the amendment was adopted until he was out on the field in the middle of the scrimmage.
"I'll be honest with, I didn't find out until I was on the field. The scrimmage just started. I had some rumors, of course, going in there, so I really just walked out there and did the scrimmage and I'll talk to the guys more about it (Friday)," said Evans. "That was not on our mind at all. You know, that's politics, and we'll just play football."
The Helena Capital Bruins had a little bit of time before their scrimmage to find out about the news, and head coach Kyle Mihelish said that he wasn't that surprised that the amendment was put in.
"I thought something was going to come down. I know all the other counties have been a little more progressive with this. I know that the people in charge were going to make the right decisions," said Mihelish. "I mean, I think it's important that these kids have family members here and watching them play their senior year."
As Helena Capital gets ready to start its season next Friday, the Bruins are a relatively young team, and Mihelish said they're going to have to do the right things all around to ensure that they get some momentum to start the season.
"That was the biggest goal of us to get out and do things right," said Mihelish. "They're going to make mistakes and that's fine. We'll coach them on the fly and we'll get things done."
The Bruins will start their season on the road against Kalispell Glacier at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11, while the Bengals will start their season at home, hosting the Butte Bulldogs at 7 p.m. the same night.
