Class AA Football Preview

The Daily Inter Lake

TODAY: Flathead Braves (1-1) at No. 4-ranked Billings West Bears (1-1)

KICKOFF: 4 p.m. at Wendy's Field at Daylis Stadium

LAST WEEK FOR WEST: Senior quarterback Derek Dennehy completed just eight passes out of 25 attempts, but four went for TDs in a 35-20 home victory over Bozeman. He threw for 209 yards. Seth Compton, a wide receiver, had TD receptions of 39 and 81 yards, and David Origer, a tight end, had TD catches of 14 and 11 yards. Dennehy also ran for one TD, 17 yards, and rushed for 92. It was a big turnaround from the previous week, a 27-21 loss at Missoula Big Sky, when he threw four interceptions. Speaking of turnovers, West's defense came up with five versus Bozeman.

LAST WEEK FOR FLATHEAD: Helena Capital was nearly unstoppable, rolling to a 39-0 victory at Legends Stadium.

The Bruins (2-0), ranked No. 1 in this week's AA poll, missed out on two more touchdowns - losing a fumble at the FHS 1-yard line and throwing an interception in the end zone. Capital outgained Flathead 427-151.

Trevor Beaman led the FHS defense with 7.5 tackles. Connor Thomas was next had 5 and Dalton Hagen 3.5. Josh Turner and Dominic Eickert had interceptions. Jeremy Grosswiler had a fumble recovery.

LAST YEAR: These two teams did not play.

KEY STAT: Penalites. After Flathead had just two in a season opening win over Butte, the Braves were whistled 12 times for 75 yards versus Capital.

INJURIES: A few minor bums and bruises.

OF NOTE: Flathead left for Billings on Thursday, holding a 6 p.m. workout at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula. The team stayed in Butte that night and finished the trip to Billings today. Michael Donahue is eligible and will see playing time in the defensive backfield on with special teams.

McCARVEL'S CORNER: "The big thing this week, we have to be more disciplined in everything we do. We had far too many penalties and mistakes (last week) and that hampered us. We'll have to execute better offensively (this week) to give our defense a chance to win."

TODAY: Glacier Wolfpack (1-1) at Bozeman Hawks (1-1)

KICKOFF: 7 p.m. at Van Winkle Stadium at Bozeman High

LAST WEEK FOR GLACIER: A few too many missed opportunities by Glacier let the Great Falls CMR Rustlers slip through town with a 35-24 victory at Legends Stadium. The Wolfpack defense scrambled all game trying to solve CMR's dynamic offense led by quarterback Jake Bleskin.

The Wolfpack had a leader in the trenches in senior defensive lineman Joe Osborne, who totaled six tackles in the game. On offense, junior wide receiver Colter Hanson had a team-high 74 yards off four catches. Running back Taylor Hart had two touchdown runs and hiked his season total to five in two games.

LAST WEEK FOR BOZEMAN: The Hawks were down one point midway through the third quarter before Billings West busted out an 81-yard touchdown pass and a redzone score late in the fourth that sealed the game at 35-20. It was the second road game in a row for the Hawks, who trounced Missoula Hellgate 48-19 a week earlier. Billings West was able to contain Bozeman's rising standout quarterback Tanner Roderick, who passed for 190 yards and ran for 140 in Missoula. Against Billings, Roderick tallied 59 yards rushing and 178 passing.

LAST YEAR'S MEETING: Bozeman (3-7) dropped Glacier (2-8) 28-7. In 2007, the Hawks (4-6) dealt the Wolfpack (0-10) a 49-0 loss.

ATHLETES APLENTY: Glacier head coach Grady Bennett can describe the Hawks in one word - athletic. "They're a good football team. They're very athletic. Year in and year out, Bozeman has as good of athletes as anybody. They always have speed, quickness and size … It's no different this year. They have skilled kids like nobody else."

PLAYMAKERS IN TRAINING: Bennett said the team used practice to focus on taking advantage of opportunities on both sides of the ball. "CMR just made more plays than us. I still look at the game and am proud of the way our kids battled, but we just had coverage breakdowns and we had some drops. And if we make the plays that we could've made, I really think we're right with them or we win the football game."