Helena High took the No. 3 seed into the Class AA playoffs last fall. The Bengals got hot at the right time and almost knocked off Billings Senior.
For Helena linebacker Alex Johnson, that loss to the reigning state champions in the state title game served as motivation entering the final off-season of high school football career — motivation to become a better leader, motivation to continue adding mass his 6-foot-2, 195-pound frame, motivation to help the Bengals return to the playoffs as a senior.
On Friday, Helena takes the third seed into the first round of the Class AA playoffs again. The Bengals will host No. 6 Kalispell Glacier. A year ago, Helena pounded Billings West 42-7 at home before handling Helena Capital 30-7 in the state semifinals. Billings Senior won its 26th straight game with a 21-16 triumph over Helena in the state title game.
In the second game of this season, Senior’s win streak halted abruptly. After 27 straight victories, Helena destroyed the Broncs 41-14, one of eight wins under first-year head coach Scott Evans.
Johnson’s performance the last two seasons as a versatile all-state performer earned him recruiting attention from Montana State, Montana, Carroll College and Montana Tech. MSU first started contacting the projected safety/outside linebacker during basketball season last winter.
Johnson said “recruiting has been up and down for me, couldn’t really decide what I wanted to do.” But last week, he said, “I had a feeling I knew it was the right decision so I decided to go for it.”
On October 24 a few days before the Bengals posted a 22-7 win over Kalispell Flathead to sew up the No. 3 seed, Johnson gave his verbal commitment to Montana State head coach Jeff Choate.
The decision allows him to fully focus on his team’s upcoming playoff run, the dominant motivator for the teenager over the last calendar year.
“It’s nice knowing what’s next,” Johnson said in an interview on the Sunday before the first round of the playoffs opened. “Now that I know where I’m going, I can just focus on right now. Especially with football season still going on, now I can just focus on the playoffs and getting it done with the Bengals.
“We are super motivated to come in and get back there. We had that attitude that we were cheated out of our state championship hopes and we want to get back there. That was a huge motivator this off-season for us.”
Growing up, Johnson said he didn’t really root for the Bobcats or the Grizzlies, instead choosing to pull “for whatever team was playing the best that season.”
Two of Johnson’s older brothers attend Montana. But Johnson counts Helena High offensive lineman and fellow Bobcat commit Holden Sampson among his best friends.
“We have been together through this whole thing,” Johnson said. “It is exciting to go through this for a few more years with him.”
The addition of the two Bengals to the Bobcat roster will double the number of Helena High products playing for Choate. Next fall, Chase Benson will be a junior defensive tackle and likely starter after the graduation of Tucker Yates and Zach Wright.
Life of football, family ties leads Helena’s Sampson to Montana State
Kaleb Winterburn was the quarterback on last year’s state runner-up and a redshirt freshman safety current at MSU. Johnson said Winterburn sent him a congratulatory text when he learned of his commitment.
There are five Helena natives on Montana’s current roster — sophomore defensive end Cole Rosling, sophomore wide receiver Danny Burton, redshirt freshman inside linebacker Marcus Welnel, and redshirting offensive linemen Trevor Welnel and Conor Quick — are all Helena Capital products.
“I was really, really impressed with Montana State’s coaches,” Johnson said. “I thought they did a really good job of making sure I understood what’s going on and were very inclusive to me. I was most comfortable there.
“I was very interested in all the schools recruiting me, honestly, but it just felt right at Montana State so I decided to go for it.”
When Johnson was a sophomore, he remembers sitting down with Evans when Evans was still an assistant under longtime head coach Tony Arntson to talk about the future.
“I told him I really wanted to be a Division I athlete and he was like, ‘Ok, here is what we are going to do.’ We just worked to that point so I can’t say thank you enough for him helping me out and getting me to this point.”
His development has accelerated at a steady pace since that conversation. Johnson’s length, raw athleticism and ability to run to the ball make him an intriguing prospect. He is undecided what he might study but he has expressed interest in engineering or in English or some form of liberal arts.
But before that, Johnson has a playoff run to lead the Bengals on.
“It was really an awesome feeling, a relief to finally make the decision,” Johnson said. “It makes it so much more simple for me. I felt like I knew where I wanted to go and coming out and letting everyone know felt great and was a relief to me.”
One of Helena’s two losses came in Bozeman, 42-22 on October 5. Helena’s other loss: a 48-14 loss at Glacier, it’s first round opponent.
The Hawks enter the playoffs with a 10-0 record and eyes on a fourth state title this season. Helena High finished as the AA runner-up four times under Arntson. If the Bengals were to win the state title, they would have to win a rematch with the Hawks in the state championship game.
“That’s the matchup are hoping for,” Johnson said.
Photos courtesy of Johnson. All Rights Reserved.
