Football season for the Helena Exchange Club Ravens has come to an end, and while they did not walk away holding the division championship title, these Jefferson County 5th graders enjoyed a perfect regular season record in the first year they put on shoulder pads.
The Ravens are an 11-man football team, part of the Helena Small Fry league, comprised of 5th graders from Boulder, Clancy and Montana City schools. For most players in the league, the 5th grade season is their first experience of its kind. As head coach Joey Taylor shares, “some of these kids have played flag before, but nothing quite like this — they’re brand new, and we spent some time early on trying out new things and finding where each player fit and worked together. Even this young, everybody has a skill set somewhere, and we want to find it.”
The Small Fry Football Association of Helena is a non-profit league with 18 teams across three divisions: 5th grade, 6th grade, and senior (7th and 8th grades combined). As a representative from the organization explains, each division has a different number of teams based on overall numbers at that grade level. This year, the Ravens’ 5th grade division featured a total of five teams, while the 6th grade and senior divisions had seven and six teams, respectively.
Jefferson County’s upper division Small Fry teams experienced their own share of success: the 6th grade Helena Motors Panthers, coached by Tyler Maxwell, and senior division Montana City Grill Rams, coached by Scott Todorovich, both won their respective championship games on Oct. 19 at Helena’s Vigilante Stadium.
Although he has gained experience through football camps offered by the likes of Montana State and Jefferson High, Wylder Zitnik, like many of his 5th grade teammates, had never played on a coached football team prior to this season. “It’s an incredibly educational program,” Boulder’s Rick Zitnik shares of his son’s experience. “They soak everything in like a sponge…at this age, it’s just all about getting the game into their blood, and you build from there.”
The numbers don’t lie: the 26 Jefferson County 5th graders did not drop a single game during the regular season. Across their A and B teams, the Ravens ended with a regular season record of 10-0, before a playoff stumble against the Universal Athletics Saints knocked them off the bracket.
Coach Taylor, who also works as youth pastor at Helena’s First Assembly of God, is a big believer in Small Fry’s approach to developing young players. “It’s a great program for anyone to come in at the ground level and learn the game,” Taylor explains. “Our kids learned a lot and walked away with new skills and a great season to be proud of.”
Rick Zitnik expressed similar sentiments of being thrilled with the season — for reasons going beyond their win streak.
“Around week three I think is when you started to see the bonds forming,” Zitnik recalls. “There is a camaraderie there that developed as they all started to really come together. It was very fun to watch.”
Zitnik believes the small, tight-knit nature of the Jefferson County sports community lends to stronger ties within a team as well.
“In a place like Boulder, and beyond with these kids from Clancy and Montana City, you start to see the same faces,” Zitnik explains. “These kids aren’t just making friends for a season. They’ll hopefully play together again next year, and before that, a lot of the same faces are signing up for basketball, baseball… These youth sports are where they start to build their community.”
While their first tackle football season has come to a close, this year’s crop of Ravens players are already looking toward what comes next. Many plan to return to the Small Fry program for their 6th grade season next fall. Beyond that? “These boys will see each other again in high school,” Zitnik explains. Keep an eye on these Panthers to be: Class of 2030.
