FRENCHTOWN — The high school football regular season is nearly halfway over and one of the standouts this year has been Frenchtown, which has has taken down contender after contender to start the year 4-0.
The Broncs' 4-0 start is the first time since 2019 they've started a season this well. Coincidentally, that was the last time Frenchtown beat perennial contender Dillon, and last Friday the Broncs beat the defending state champs in a thriller that vaulted them to the No. 1 spot in the Montana Sports Class A rankings.
"So the crowd was pretty big, exciting," senior tight end and defensive lineman Billy Corette said. "I really like the big test that we have. It helps our team kind of look to each other. We're always ready for those big tests."
"I think it helped a lot," senior quarterback and defensive back Brody Hardy added. "Just brought a lot more energy to the game and made it feel like a playoff game."
Frenchtown opened the season with blowout wins over Columbia Falls and Corvallis, two programs that were among the final four teams remaining in the playoffs a year ago.
Following that was a win over Lakeland, Idaho, then the win over Dillon. Next is this Friday's game against another undefeated opponent in No. 3 and 4-0 Bigfork.
But a 4-0 start was something this group saw as a possiblility coming into the season.
"I've grown up with these kids since third grade," Hardy said. "We've always been playing football, and I feel like a lot of the team came to offseason stuff, and came ready to play this year."
The Broncs' success has come under first-year head coach Seth Mason, who was an assistant the past four seasons, and has seen the work put in by this group each year.
"They've got each other's back and right now, they do it for each other, and they look to each other when times are tough. And when times are good, they celebrate together," Mason said. "And that's probably the biggest thing that's helped propel this crew forward."
Frenchtown also returned a big core of last year's squad after losing just six seniors.
With eight seniors leading the way, the Broncs are right back atop the mix of contenders, a place they hope to stay come November.
"Definitely just staying humble and just keep working hard," Corette said. "There's still some great teams out there. We just got to keep grinding."
