A night to remember

Glacier Wolfpack wins first home game, 41-21, over Senior

By DILLON TABISH/The Daily Inter Lake

The wait ended just after 9 o'clock on Friday night.

That's when the filled stands at Legends Stadium rose up and cheered on the victorious Glacier Wolfpack football team as the "Go Glacier" fight song echoed over the loudspeakers on a clear night.

The Wolfpack won its first home game in the program's third year of existence after rattling off 34 points in the second half to beat Billings Senior 41-21 in the Class AA season opener.

"It's history. It's history first of all," Glacier head coach Grady Bennett said afterward as the team huddled together as pictures were taken. "I'm just so proud of this group of kids and obviously the seniors for their hard work and what they've been through and their leadership."

The Wolfpack got hit with a splash of cold water in just the second play of the game when Billings' Greg Wyatt sprinted down the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown that gave flashbacks to Glacier of the team's previous first-quarter struggles. But a holding penalty canceled Wyatt's touchdown and gave the Glacier defense new life.

After that, Billings punted and the Glacier offense lumbered onto the field. Led by quarterback Shay Smithwick-Hann, the offense put together a machine-gun drive that finished with a five-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Chery.

"I think after we marched down the field right away on that first drive and it was fairly easy I think they almost kind of relaxed a little bit," Bennett said. "I was really proud of how they rallied back and realized OK, let's go get this thing, and boy they just dug in."

The game was knotted at 7-all after the first half until the Wolfpack offense hit overdrive and cruised to 21 unanswered points. Smithwick-Hann had two rushing touchdowns in the red zone and Taylor Hart added another in the opening of the fourth.

Hart motored off a game-high 82 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Billings couldn't solve the Wolfpack defense in the second half and barely crossed the 50-yard line until midway through the fourth.

This was Billings Seniors' first appearance in Kalispell in 30 years and first against Glacier.

"I was disappointed but Glacier's a good team," Billings head coach Mark Sulser said. "The speed of the game really picked up for them as they gained momentum and belief. That was a big win for them. They're off to a good start."

Smithwick-Hann finished 16-for-24 for 160 yards passing. Wiley Fusaro rushed for 54 yards on 11 carries and Joshua Criner had a game-high 56 yards receiving for Glacier.

"Credit that offensive line, we handed the game over to them in that third and fourth quarter and they just dominated the line of scrimmage," Bennett said. "It was fantastic to see."

Billings 0 7 0 14 - 21

Glacier 7 0 14 20 - 41

First quarter

Glacier - Shay Smithwick-Hann 5 yard pass to Bryan Chery (Brendan Hagen kick), 6:10

Second quarter

Billings - Chad Newell 8 run (Cooper Kounenhoven kick), 8:53

Third quarter

Glacier - Smithwick-Hann 1 run (Hagen kick), 4:42

Glacier - Smithwick-Hann 19 run (Hagen kick), 2:15

Fourth quarter

Glacier - Taylor Hart 6 run (Hagen kick), 11:46

Billings - Greg Wyatt 5 run (Kounenhoven kick), 9:21

Glacier - Hart 2 run (kick failed), 5:33

Billings - Jeff Aders 28 pass to Danny Desin (Kounenhoven kick), 4:42

Glacier - Hart 26 run (Hagen kick), 2:10

BS GL

First downs 12 14

Rushes- yards 38-98 35-178

Passing yards 147 160

Passing (com/att/td/int) 13-23-1-0 16-24-1-1

Fumbles-lost 4-1 0-0

Penalties 9-54 6-65

Punts 5-147 3-124

Individual stats

Rushing - Billings, Newell 6-52, Aders 11-43, Greg Wyatt 11-26, Scotty Owens 7-13, Jordan Klatt 1-10; Glacier, Hart 13-82, Wiley Fusaro 11-54, Smithwick-Hann 8-45, George Werk 3-11.

Passing (com/att/yds/int) - Billings, Aders 13-22-147-0; Glacier, Smithwick-Hann 16-24-160-1

Receiving - Billings, Kyler Yovetich 3-44, Desin 4-43, Owens 3-38, Klatt 1-9, Newell 2-13; Glacier, Fusaro 2-44, Josh Criner 6-56, Colter Hanson 3-24, Connor Fuller 1-10, Chery 1-8, Hart 2-12.

Class AA

Conf Overall

Missoula Big Sky 1 0 1 0

Missoula Sentinel 1 0 1 0

Glacier 1 0 1 0

Flathead 1 0 1 0

Bozeman 1 0 1 0

Great Falls Russell 1 0 1 0

Helena Capital 1 0 1 0

Billings West 0 1 0 1

Billings Senior 0 1 0 1

Billings Senior 0 1 0 1

Butte 0 1 0 1

Missoula Hellgate 0 1 0 1

Great Falls 0 1 0 1

Helena 0 1 0 1

Friday's results

Missoula Big Sky 27, Billings West 21

Glacier 41, Billings Senior 21

Missoula Sentinel 17, Billings Skyview 6

Flathead 21, Butte 10

Bozeman 48, Missoula Hellgate 19

Great Falls Russell 21, Helena 3

Helena Capital 40, Great Falls 14