Homecoming heroics at Legends Stadium

Happy homecoming indeed.

The green and blue sea of Glacier fans at Legends Stadium got what they wanted on Friday night thanks to a backup running back with one good leg, a defense that bottled up one of the best offensive tandems in the state and a crew of hardy linemen protecting a quarterback with an itch to throw deep.

The list goes on, and so does the Wolfpack winning tradition on homecoming night. For the second year in a row, Glacier's ceremonious football game was a success as the Wolfpack defeated Missoula Sentinel 17-12 in front of a packed crowd on a clear, cool night.

"I told the guys sometimes you have to win shoot-outs, sometimes you have to win slugfests and sometimes you just have to find a way to win. And that's what our guys did tonight. They just found a way," Glacier head coach Grady Bennett said.

Senior quarterback Colter Hanson passed for 264 yards and a touchdown and scored the game's deciding touchdown on a short run that capped a 7-play, 80-yard drive by Glacier (3-3) with just under four minutes left in the third quarter.

The Griffith brothers, Trey and Kyle, combined for 118 yards receiving and Glacier piled up 464 yards on offense. Kyle had a 77-yard TD reception in the second quarter to add onto his 29-yard field goal from earlier and the Wolfpack jumped ahead 10-0 in the second quarter. Senior Bryan Chery had 71 yards receiving.

"Like coach said earlier in the week, that's our job during homecoming. Our job is to win the game and it feels really good we did our job tonight," Hanson said.

Second-string running back Stormy Day, filling in for suspended starter Brendan Hagan, came into the game with only a handful of varsity carries, but the 5-foot-7 senior made the most of his opportunity. Despite injuring his knee on defense and limping through the second half, Day rushed for 137 yards on 24 carries.

"I wasn't really nervous," Day said. "I've played the position my whole life but I knew it was going to be tough. I got my chance to shine, I guess. It was fun. Everybody played hard and did what we needed to do to win."

The defense especially.

Boasting the third best scoring offense in the state, Sentinel (3-3) has averaged 32 points a game thanks no less to quarterback Riley King and receiver Ben Roberts. The duo have already connected on seven touchdowns this season. On Friday, they added another pair, scoring impressive TDs in the second and third quarters.

But that was about all the Wolfpack let by.

"What a great job by our defense to limit that team to 12 points," Bennett said. "Just a terrific job. We didn't do anything special or tricky tonight with double coverage or anything, we played it pretty straight up. Credit to coach (Shannon) Smith and the defensive staff for the gameplan."

The Wolfpack defense stuffed Sentinel on three fourth-down attempts, including one on fourth and inches on Glacier's 29-yard line near the start of the fourth quarter. Overall in the final quarter, Sentinel was only on the field for 13 plays and walked off for the last time after a four-and-out punt with 4:41 left.

After that, Day churned out the yards and ran out the clock with the pep band playing the Glacier Fight Song in the background and a new tradition building little by little.

"Tonight guys stepped up," Bennett said.

Missoula Sentinel 0 6 6 0 - 12

Glacier 0 10 7 0 - 17

Second quarter

G - Kyle Griffith 29-yard field goal, 7:50

G - Griffith 77 pass from Colter Hanson (Griffith kick), 6:02

S - Ben Roberts 47 pass from Riley King (kick blocked), 3:54

Third quarter

S - Roberts 7 pass from King (pass failed), 6:49

G - Hanson 3 run (Griffith kick), 3:53

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S G

First downs 12 21

Rushes-yards 24-64 44-200

Passing 17-34-205 13-29-264

Total yards 269 464

Penalties 9-70 6-50

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0

Individual stats

RUSHING - Sentinel, Riley King 18-51, Matt Asaro 3-9, Ben Roberts 2-3, Airel Lamb 1-1; Glacier, Stormy Day 24-137, Colter Hanson 16-70.

PASSING (com/att/yds/td/int) - Sentinel, King 17-34-205-2-0; Glacier, Hanson 13-29-264-1-2.

RECEIVING - Sentinel, Roberts 9-131, Jack Gunter 3-37, Howard Juneau 2-26, Michael Boland 2-11; Glacier, Kyle Griffith 3-94, Bryan Chery 5-71, Trey Griffith 2-24, Jacob Leininger 3-75.