Wolfpack looks to rebound vs. Hellgate
Second road trip of season for Glacier football
Glacier will try to get back in the win column tonight when the Wolfpack travels to Missoula Hellgate in Class AA football action.
After opening the season with a win at Butte, Glacier fell 28-7 last week at home in a disappointing loss to Bozeman.
The Hawks surprised Glacier with their passing game, scoring two first quarter touchdowns. Bozeman then used its straight-ahead running game to control the clock, while capitalizing on Glacier mistakes to thwart any hopes of a Wolfpack comeback.
Against Hellgate, Glacier faces a very different challenge as the Wolfpack tries to stop the Knights' option attack.
"If they get their running game going you can watch them carve up the clock for 10 minutes," Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.
Responsibility football is key for Glacier's defense. Hellgate quarterback Sam Hall operates the option out of the shotgun formation and shares the ball with dangerous running backs Chris Lavoie and Brendan Gragg.
Against Bozeman, Glacier's defense turned in a strong effort - if you throw out the first quarter. But some costly mistakes and a misfiring offense kept the Wolfpack from mounting a serious threat.
Bennett said he expects quarterback Shay Smithwick-Hann to bounce back from an uneven night versus Bozeman. Smithwick-Hann was sharp in Glacier's 80-yard second-quarter touchdown drive - demonstrating what the Wolfpack offense can do when it's hitting on all cylinders - but he missed some opportunities later in the game.
Hellgate's secondary will give Smithwick-Hann a test as they picked off three passes in a 14-0 loss at Great Falls last week.
The key to Glacier's success versus Butte was that the Wolfpack didn't beat themselves. Glacier wasn't as sharp versus Bozeman, for which Bennett shoulders the blame. He said he spent too much time talking about Bozeman, instead of focusing on what his squad needed to do to win. But Bennett said the effort helped reinforce the message that this year's team is capable of matching up with the traditional powers in the AA ranks.
"We know that we can compete," Bennett said.
"Our focus all week was discipline."
Class AA
W L Helena 2 0
Billings West 2 0
Capital 2 0
Great Falls 2 0
CMR 1 1
Missoula Big Sky 1 1
Billings Skyview 1 1
Bozeman 1 1
Glacier 1 1
Sentinel 1 1
Flathead 0 2
Billings Senior 0 2
Butte 0 2
Hellgate 0 2
This Week's Games
Today
Glacier at Hellgate
Senior at Capital
Helena at Skyview
West at Butte
Great Falls at Bozeman
Sentinel at CMR
Saturday
Flathead at Big Sky
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Friday's Scores
Great Falls 14, Missoula Hellgate 0
Missoula Big Sky 29, Billings Senior 7
Missoula Sentinel 55, Butte 21
Helena High 40, Flathead 22
Bozeman 28, Glacier 7
Helena Capital 35, Billings Skyview 13
Billings West 28, CMR 7