Helena remembers Bengal Billy, longtime cheerleader for local students

William Neisess, better known in Helena as Bengal Billy, is on hospice at Mount Ascension, and the city is measuring his legacy in sideline moments, student high-fives and decades of game-night presence. He graduated from Helena High School in 1979, but his ties to the school never loosened: friend Sam Smith said Billy became the loudest and best cheerleader in the gym, a voice that turned him into a familiar figure at local sporting events for 67 years.

That kind of consistency mattered in Helena, where high school sports are part of the public calendar and the Bengal Booster Club brings parents, faculty, coaches, alumni and community members together around student-athletes and school spirit. Billy fit that culture so completely that students would make a point of coming over for high-fives, and Smith said the school district and friends worked to keep him on the sideline or court as his health declined over the past decade. At games, he also got the small extras that make a night feel complete: free hot dogs and popcorn.

Billy’s reach stretched beyond one season or one roster. In 2018, he was back at The Jungle for Helena’s victory over Belgrade, and players and coaches said his energy helped fire up the crowd. Helena boys head coach Brandon Day, guard Connor Murgel and former player and JV coach Jason Murgel all praised the boost he brought, with the younger players treating him like part of the program rather than just a spectator. That reaction helps explain why his name still comes up whenever Helena High’s community talks about the people who show up year after year.

The school itself carries a history that runs deep in the city. Helena High says the original school dates to 1876, and its later Romanesque building was completed in 1893. Its fight song still pushes the same sense of identity Billy amplified from the stands: “Red and white / Full of fight / On to victory!” The words have outlasted generations of players, and Billy became one of the faces and voices that kept them alive at games, pep rallies and crowded gyms.

Even now, his focus remains on people. Billy has said he wants visitors and wants them to know who he really is. In a town where school pride is built as much by regular fans as by athletes and coaches, Bengal Billy became part of Helena High’s own story, a fixture whose presence helped shape the experience for students, families and the wider community.