Former crosstown rivals from the Capital City will be working together when the two sides of the state collide in the 63rd annual Montana East-West Shrine football game tonight.

A total of six recent graduates -- three each from Capital and Helena High -- will take to the field at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls on a West squad ready to battle the East for an all-star event featuring the best graduating players in the state. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

"I put (any grudges) away pretty quickly and I think the other kids have, too," said Helena High graduate Brian Torgerson. "You get to know them and they're really good kids and it makes a good bond for the team.

"You're playing with the best kids around the state of Montana and I'm going to be playing with those kids the next five years."

Torgerson, who has signed with MSU-Northern, will join three Capital High grads, all of whom have signed to play with the Lights.

Former Bruins Dalton Peaslee, Michael King and Matt Reyant will be helping Torgerson on offense, who, along with fellow Bengal and West captain Toby Erickson, will be learning Capital's offensive scheme, which has helped lead the Bruins to three straight AA state championships. Helena safety Sean Donahue joins the squad as the lone local on defense.

"I feel like our offense, personally, is just moving perfectly," said Erickson, an all-state center who will wrestle for Boise State in the winter. "That Capital misdirection offense is a wonderful thing. I'm really enjoying it; I feel like I'm messing with the defense's mind."

Erickson said that while the offense is very close to what the Bengals did in their pull scheme and he's been able to pick it up quickly, he has received some help from Peaslee, who will be playing at offensive tackle.

"(Peaslee) has been really helpful with his teammates, pointing them in the right direction," said Capital assistant coach Dick McMahon, who will be directing the West team's offense. "He's definitely an asset on our offensive line."

With King running out of the backfield -- along with his usual place-kicking duties -- and Reyant at quarterback, the West will have a crew experienced in their offense pushing their way toward the endzone.

"I get to be a coach for a little while," said King, who might have found his calling after he finishes up college.

He said that what he's enjoyed most about the experience has been meeting the other players working alongside them.

He is joined by Frenchtown's Cody Kirk and Butte's Mike Ewen at running back, meanwhile Reyant and Bryce Carver of Dillon will have some talented receivers to throw to, including Townsend's Shade Theriault.

Theriault, who played running back for the Bulldogs last season, will move to receiver, a position he'll be playing at Rocky Mountain College this fall.

"What a talent," McMahon said. "He's very fast and I think what (West head coach Gary Ekegren) said is 'I think Rocky got a steal.' "

Ekegren, who is the head coach at Missoula Big Sky, has instituted the Eagles' 3-4 scheme, which has a tendency to put a lot of pressure on the quarterback and work its secondary with a man coverage.

"I think we're pretty good with it," Donahue said. "We play a little bit of man (at Helena) when the situation calls for it. I'm used to it, it just doesn't happen very often."

The defense will have to try to slow down East head coach Dan Stanton's offense, the same Miles City uses and features a little bit of power and a little bit of spread.

Facing off with receivers that McMahon described as "big, tall and fast," the West defense will certainly have its work cut out.

Still, the West would rather face the East's size than face the perils that awaited them at their practice field this week at Montana Tech in Butte.

During two-a-day practices over the past week -- the squad also incorporated a weight-lifting regiment each day into the mix -- King went out for a pass and ended up falling off a rock wall, plummeting, as he described, about 10 feet.

"Pretty much the whole secondary -- once he went off -- we laughed at first and then we got scared and ran over screaming his name," Donahue said.

"I had a concussion," King said from the safety of his Great Falls hotel room. "I'm all right now. I'm ready to play."

NOTES: The last time the West won was six years ago, also the last time Ekegren coached the team ... Class AA runner-up Billings West will have four players on the East squad, the most from their division, while Miles City brings five.

Jeff Windmueller: 447-4065 or jeff.windmueller

@helenair.com