Yes, it was just a football game.

But wasn't it great to see such excitement over high school football … West River?

While teams in the Black Hills often have to play second fiddle to our East River brethren, certainly in AA, the game Thursday night between Belle Fourche and St. Thomas More was the most anticipated game of the year in these parts, and was the marquee matchup of the week in South Dakota.

St. Thomas More and Coach Wayne Sullivan are building a tradition of excellence and have not lost to any West River team in the last four years. Trips to the state championship game for the Cavaliers are now becoming the expectation of this Rapid City program, so being undefeated with one regular-season game was not necessarily newsworth for More.

But it's not often that they have an undefeated Black Hills Conference team awaiting them at the end of their season.

Belle Fourche has been as dominant a team as More this season, blowing out most of their opponents on their way to Thursday's clash. It was a game which had been eyed for weeks, as both teams seemed destined to meet each other at 7-0. It dwarfed what may otherwise have been the most-watched game in town, the annual crosstown grudge match between Rapid City Central and and Rapid City Stevens (congratulations to the Cobblers for the win, their first of the season). Even those watching the Central-Stevens game were checking with friends on the score between Belle Fourche and St. Thomas More throughout the night.

Belle scored early on St. Thomas More, but the Rapid City hosts scored 20 unanswered points and earned a 20-7 win and keep their unblemished season going. Belle Fourche headed home with a 7-1 record but will most likely have the opportunity to avenge the loss. The way these two teams are playing, there could well be a rematch at some point in the state football playoffs, which begin Tuesday night.

But even if they don't meet again, Thursday night was a great night for high school football fans in the Black Hills region.