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'Beeters finish season 5-5 after first round playoff loss

The Chinook Sugarbeeters ended their football season with a 70-6 loss to the top ranked undefeated Fairview Warriors this past Saturday.

The Sugarbeeters were back in the Montana Class C Football playoffs for the first time since their championship season in 2015. The team came along way to get back to the playoffs but the Warriors made it clear they still have a lot of work to do.

The Warriors scored early and often and in nearly every way possible. The Sugarbeeters never hung their heads and kept competing until the final whistle.

Chinook freshman Hunter Molyneaux's 60 yard scamper late in the contest provided the 'Beeters only points and showed that the Chinook football program is back on the rise.

Head coach Mike Jones and his staff have began building for the future and re-establishing the 'Beeters as team to beat in the Northern C.

Jones installed new offenses and new defenses and the kids bought in early on and found themselves back in the post season as a result.

The Sugarbeeters will graduate Trajan Hannum, Brendan Edwards, Tye Mitchell, James Christensen, Karson Powell and Isaac Bell and like every year new players will have to step up and fill those shoes.

The 'Beeters began the season with a 48-6 loss to the Shelby Coyotes. They evened their record the following week with a 40-22 win over the cascade Badgers. They then defeated the Fort Benton Longhorns 44-30 before falling to the Centerville Miners 37-28.

Chinook then earned a 2-0 forfeit decision over the Rocky Boy Northern Stars and a 56-6 shellacking of the Simms Tigers in their Homecoming game. They then closed out with a 46-21 loss to the Great falls Central Mustangs and a 56-6 defeat at the hands of the Choteau Bulldogs.

The 'Beeters then punched their playoff ticket with a hard fought 12-8 win over the rival Chester/Joplin-Inverness Hawks.

Coach Jones was able to start preparing many of his younger players right from the first day of practice and was able to find valuable playing time that provided many of them with great experience moving forward.

Junior Sam Dumas, sophomore Ethan Macleod and freshman Toby Niederegger all started all 10 games and sophomore Favion Couturier was counted on heavily to help the line out on both sides of the ball.

The 'Beeters layed the groundwork to build a program on and with a productive off season the team will be looking to improve again next fall.