Glacier storms back, tops Hellgate
MISSOULA - That final regular-season football game was looking pretty bleak for Glacier with eight and a half minutes to play.
Then the Wolfpack rattled off 25-straight points in just over six minutes and clinched the program's second-straight playoff seed with a 32-15 come-from-behind victory over Missoula Hellgate on Friday.
"I told the kids I'd rather have to earn and fight for it," Glacier head coach Grady Bennett said. "It would be nice to win 62-0 but to really scratch and claw and find a way to win; to have so many kids step up and have special teams, defense, offense all play well, it's good to win that way going into the playoffs."
The Wolfpack will play second-seed Helena (9-1) at 7 p.m. next Friday in Helena. Glacier lost narrowly to the Bengals 20-14 at home on Sept. 17. Glacier (6-4) earned the seventh seed following a tie-breaker with Billings Senior (6-4) and Billings Skyview (6-4).
The seeds between tied teams are determined by point differentials against common opponents. Senior ended up a clear fifth place, but Glacier and Skyview came down to an even closer look. In the end, Skyview edges Glacier for the sixth seed because of the Wolfpack's 28-13 loss to Senior in the first game of the season.
It almost didn't come to that on Friday. Trailing 15-7, the Wolfpack scored on a 65-yard play action TD pass from Colter Hanson to Anthony Gugliuzza. Glacier missed the two-point conversion on a pass play. That left Hellgate leading 15-13.
The ensuing kickoff turned into a scrum after Kyle Griffith hit a pooch kick downfield and Glacier's Stormy Day forced a fumble that teammate Boyce Ballard recovered on the 6-yard line. It was Gugliuzza again, but this time on a reversal touchdown that put the Wolfpack up for the first time in the second half.
The scoring didn't stop there. Glacier's defense forced a punt and the Wolfpack punched out another play-action TD, this time to Jacob Leininger. Leininger scored his second touchdown of the game on an 18-yard pass from Hanson to make it 25-15.
Hellgate (2-8) almost came back and answered on the next drive but Glacier's Bryan Chery intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop the scoring threat. Running back Brendan Hagan then put the finishing touches on Glacier's sudden explosion, scoring a 64-yard TD with just over two minutes to play.
"The kids found a way and we had so many different kids contribute," Bennett said.
Gugliuzza finished with 112 yards on two catches and Leininger caught three for 60 yards. Hanson threw for 212 yards and rushed for 21. Hagan ended with 99 yards rushing. Ballard had an interception on defense.
Glacier 7 0 0 25 - 32
Hellgate 0 9 0 6 - 15
First quarter
Gla - Jacob Leininger 25 pass from Colter Hanson (Kyle Griffith kick), 6:40.
Second quarter
Hgt - FG Carson Hopfauf, 22
Hgt - Zachary Peevey 24 pass from Jake Arledge (kick failed), 1:57.
Fourth quarter
Hgt - Dalton Gensch 1 run (kick blocked), 8:43.
Gla - Anthony Gugliuzza 65 pass from Hanson (pass failed), 8:34.
Gla - Gugliuzza 6 run (pass failed), 7:17.
Gla - Leininger 18 pass from Hanson (kick failed), 5:46.
Gla - Brendan Hagan 64 run (Griffith kick), 2:07.
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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING - Glacier (39-131): Hagan 15-99, Hanson 22-21, Jacob Konen 1-5, Gugliuzza 1-6. Hellgate (38-183): Aaron Hoppe 2-40, Brandon DeYoung 9-62, Dalton Gensch 6-22, Andrew Bewley 11-43, Arledge 10-16.
PASSING - Glacier: Hanson 9-16-1-212. Hellgate: Arledge 8-20-2-106, Mitchell Hall 1-2-0-16.
RECEIVING - Glacier: Bryan Chery 1-8, Trey Griffith 1-10, Leininger 3-60, Gugliuzza 2-112, Kyle Griffith 2-22. Hellgate: Cody Oliver 1-12, DeYoung 3-23, Peevey 4-71, Arledge 1-16.