School activities getting back to normal

The disturbance that kept Flathead Valley schools from participating in activities last weekend has left the sports schedule jumbled for the next few weeks.

There were more than two dozen games either cancelled or postponed through the weekend, with most being rescheduled. Golf and cross country events were scratched and volleyball and soccer matched have been folded into the remaining schedule.

The first major event to be postponed, the crosstown soccer match between Flathead and Glacier scheduled for Legends Stadium, has been pushed back to Tuesday. Glacier’s soccer teams will have a chance to play on the new surface before the rivalry matchup, playing Big Sky on Thursday at 3 and 5:30 p.m.

The rivalry volleyball match between Columbia Falls and Whitefish has been rescheduled for Tuesday at Whitefish.

Football was most aversely affected by the stoppages, with nonconference games at Whitefish and Columbia Falls taken off the schedule with no change to the postseason outlook. Flathead and Glacier also cancelled games from the weekend, each set to play nine games this season, with Class AA using win percentage to determine the eight playoff spots. If either team is tied with another team with nine games, normal tiebreakers will apply.

The only football game that has yet to be rescheduled is the Western B conference game between Eureka and Bigfork. The game is likely to decide both the conference championship and playoff seeding, but will need to be scheduled for a time when at least one team will be playing three games in a week’s span. The schools don’t have matching bye weeks, with Bigfork currently in its time off and Eureka’s set for the last week of the season. The schools will likely have to get cooperation from other opponents to move surrounding games to Thursday or Saturday to allow days for recovery and preparation.