Columbia Falls sports begin in earnest

Practices for the Columbia Falls High School sports teams will be more meaningful this week as they prepare for their opening games.

The varsity football team will open its season on Sept. 2 at Corvallis.

The rest of the season will feature four home games, Sept. 9 against Hamilton, Sept. 30 against Libby, Oct. 7 against Polson and Oct. 21 against rival Whitefish.

The game against Libby on Sep. 30 will be the homecoming game.

The remaining away games are Sept. 16 at Stevensville, Sept. 23 at Ronan and Oct. 14 at Bigfork.

All games are at 7 p.m. and the playoffs will begin Oct. 29.

The junior varsity football team will have its first game on Sept. 12 against Whitefish at 4:30 p.m., followed by home games on Sept. 17 against Browning at 2:30 p.m. and Sept. 19 against Libby at 4:30 p.m.

The away games are at Ronan on Sept. 26, Libby on Oct. 3 at 4:30 p.m. and Polson on Oct. 10 at 5 p.m.

Freshman football will start their season on Sept. 10 at the Kalispell jamboree, starting at 10 a.m.

Home games will follow against Eureka on Sept. 20, Flathead on Sept. 27 at 4 p.m. and against Polson on Oct. 11 at 4 p.m.

Away games will be held at Bigfork on Sept. 17 at 11 a.m., Libby on Oct. 1 at 10 a.m., Flathead on Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. and Whitefish on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.

The boys and girls soccer teams also begin their season on Sept. 2, playing against Park at home. The boys start at 3:30 p.m. and the girls will follow at 5:30.

Other home games include Belgrade on Sept. 3, with the girls starting at 11 a.m. and the boys at 1 p.m., Flathead on Sept. 13 with the girls starting at 3 p.m. and the boys at 5:30, Bigfork on Oct. 1 with the boys starting at 11 a.m. and the girls at 1 p.m., Libby on Oct. 4 with the girls starting at 3:30 p.m. and the boys at 5:30 and against Whitefish on Oct. 6 with the boys starting at 3 p.m. and the girls at 5.

Away games will be held at Bigfork on Sept. 6, with the girls starting at 3:30 p.m. and the boys at 5:30, at Hellgate on Sept. 10, with the boys starting at noon and the girls at 2 p.m., at Polson on Sept. 17, with the girls starting at 11 a.m. and the boys at 1 p.m., at Libby on Sept. 22, with the boys starting at 3:30 p.m. and the girls at 5:30, at Corvallis on Sept. 24, with the boys starting at 11 a.m. and the girls at 1 p.m. and at Whitefish on Sept. 27, with the girls starting at 5:00 p.m. and the boys at 7.

The playoffs will begin on Oct. 13.

The volleyball team begins its season Aug. 27 at the Whitefish Tip-off Tournament at 8 a.m.

Home matches will follow against Bigfork on Sept. 8, Libby Sept. 16, Polson on Sept. 23, all at 4:15 p.m., Whitefish on Oct. 1, Frenchtown on Oct. 8, both at 3:00 p.m. and Ronan on Oct. 28 at 4:15 p.m.

Away matches will be held at Hamilton on Sept. 2 at 10 a.m., at Whitefish on Sept. 13 at 4:15 p.m., at Ronan on Sept. 24 at 3 p.m., at Bigfork on Sept. 29, at Libby on Oct. 4, both at 4:15 p.m., in Missoula on Oct. 14, time to be announced, at Hamilton on Oct. 20 at 11 a.m., at Corvallis on Oct. 20 at 4 p.m. and at Polson on Oct. 29 at 3 p.m.

Freshman matches will be at 4:15 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Junior varsity and varsity will follow after a warm up period.

The junior varsity team will also have a home tournament on Aug. 27 at 8 a.m. and an away tournament in Corvallis on Sept. 3 at 10 a.m.

The divisionals will be held Nov. 3 - Nov. 5 in Columbia Falls.

The cross country teams will have six meets to warm up before the Western A Conference meet on Oct. 15 in Ronan and the State meet in Missoula on Oct. 22.

The first meet will be on Sept. 2 at Libby at 1 p.m.

Meets will follow in Kalispell on Sept. 10 at 10 a.m., Ronan on Sept. 15 at 2 p.m., at Missoula on Sept. 24 at 10 a.m., in Hamilton on Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. and in Browning on Oct. 8, with times to be announced.

The golf team will start a bit earlier than the other teams, with the first tournament to be held in Bigfork Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Tournaments will follow on Aug. 29 in Whitefish at 9 a.m., Libby on Sept. 1 at 9:30 a.m., Ronan on Sept. 9 at 9:30 a.m., Missoula on Sept. 16 and 17 at 9 a.m., Bigfork on Sept. 22 at 10 a.m. and Whitefish on Sept. 26 at 9 a.m.

Divisionals will be held Sept. 29 at Polson at 9 a.m. and the state meet will be held in Whitefish on Oct. 6 and 7, with times to be announced.