406SPORTS

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BUTTE CENTRAL

Peoples is looking to revive a Butte Central Class A program that he has headed since 1989. The Maroons have been state contenders through most or their gridiron history, but a sagging enrollment and critical injuries have held the BC team down in recent times. Peoples said enrollment is on the upswing and the 24 Maroons practicing football this fall include good veteran talent and a renewed penchant for hard work. Signs, the coach said, are that increasing enrollments will boost future football turnouts. The school has shown a net gain of 45 students since the spring of 2023, he noted.

Peoples and his staff are excited, too, the longtime mentor noted.
“We feel we have a lot of kids who can play varsity football,” he said. “We had a pretty intense summer of football with going to the Montana Tech camp in June and to a jamboree in Three Forks in July.
“And, we had a good summer of kids getting in the weight room. So, we reported this year in better football mode (than in recent past). The kids did a really good job in early August of getting out three or four nights a week to work on things themselves.”
The smaller roster prevented BC from much unit-on-unit intrasquad scrimmaging as nearly every starter will be playing big roles on both sides of the ball. So, the camps and the jamboree are what was used to form and teach the team concepts and approach. The innovation accompanied the determination to be better than the 1-8 record Butte Central posted last year.
Butte Central does have seven seniors among its players, so experience and leadership should be pluses. The group includes third-year starter Michael Peck on both lines, along with receiver/defensive back Coy Campbell, two-way linemen Michael Hand, Jon Cox and J.J. Taylor, running back/linebacker Aidan Ossello and running back/defensive back Justus McGee.
The juniors are an experienced group, too, with returning receivers Jack Nagle, Kelton Keane and Tony Stajcar. Ryan Peoples, nephew of the head coach and son of assistant coach Doug Peoples, started as a receiver as a sophomore last fall, but is switched to quarterback this year. He played two games at the QB position last year because of an injury to the starter. The receivers will see time on defense, too, either at linebacker or in the secondary.
The promising sophomores likely to see important time, Don Peoples Jr., said, are brothers Danny and Bobby McCarthy along with Gunnar O’Brien, Jack Nylund and Burkley Lakkala. All lettered last year. Another, speedster GG Fantini, turned out for the team this year and figures to play quite a bit, too.
Stajcar and O’Brien are also the backups at quarterback.
Coach Peoples said he doesn’t know yet if the four-day school week Butte Central implemented this year will be a boon to the extracurricular programs, including football. However, he noted genuine Maroon excitement seems to be effervescent this preseason and gives him cause for positivity.
“I think we have a chance to be a lot better than last year,” he said.