Historic win for Wolfpack in Great Falls

GREAT FALLS - Kalispell had only had a football team beat Great Falls C.M. Russell five times in the last 38 years.

At Memorial Stadium on an unforgettable Friday night, the Glacier Wolfpack made it six.

Glacier outscored CMR 17-7 in the second half en route to a 31-21 victory over the defending state champion Rustlers, becoming the first Kalispell team to defeat CMR since Oct. 10, 2003. Flathead won that game 26-0 at home.

"To come and win in Great Falls, it doesn't happen," Glacier head coach Grady Bennett said. "This is just so sweet, for a fledgling program to come here and win a game against CMR. It's euphoric. It's historic. These kids understand what they've done. They know how few people have come here and won. They know how few Kalispell teams come here and win. It's a feat nobody will ever be able to take away from them."

Senior Brendan Hagan finished with 106 yards rushing, two touchdowns and kicked a 32-yard field goal for Glacier (1-1). Senior quarterback Colter Hanson had 199 yards passing and 85 yards rushing and scored on a 7-yard run just before halftime to even the score at 14-all. Jacob Leininger caught four passes for 142 yards with a 43-yard TD from Hanson. Glacier totaled 395 yards of offense.

"I told the kids before the game one of the things I believe about this senior group is they rise up in big games. They are big game kids. It just seems they thrive on it," Bennett said. "I told them I thought we had a chance, and they stepped up. Across the board, everybody had a hand in this."

Glacier scored 10 straight points to start the second half, but the historic night came to a fever pitch when the Rustlers scored with seven minutes left to cut the lead to 24-21.

There was no letting this win slip away; not with this bunch.

"We got out there and put together the most gorgeous drive maybe I've ever been a part of," Bennett said of the final scoring drive that sealed the game. "Our O-line just flat got it done when everybody knew we were going to run the ball. And Brendan Hagan was phenomenal."

Hagan caught a 10-yard pass from Hanson with just over a minute left, knocking the wind out of the Rustlers for good.

Glacier dealt CMR (0-2) its second-straight loss. CMR came into the season with a seven-game win streak after winning last year's championship over Helena Capital.

After the game, the Wolfpack gave the faithful Glacier fans that made the trip a fight-song celebration. And Bennett had a dream come true, even though that's not how he'd exactly describe it - he shook the hand of legendary head coach Jack Johnson, who has a career record of 315-93 in 38 years of coaching.

"I've shaken it 30 times after a loss," Bennett joked. "You wonder what it would be like to shake Jack Johnson's hand after a win. Jack is a legend. He's the greatest coach that's ever coached in Montana. For me as a young head coach, you always want to beat the best and you always wonder what it would be like. I respect him so much and I respect what they've done for years.

"Our goal at Glacier is to try and build a program like CMR's and like (Helena) Capital's. That's the goal for us. It's bigger than one win. It's saying ‘hey guys, look what we can do here.' That's just one statement and one step to show all the kids on all the teams what we can do and who we can be."

Glacier 0 14 7 10 - 31

C.M. Russell 7 7 0 7 - 21

First Quarter

CMR - Russell Morin 8 pass from Jake Bleskin (Zach McKinley kick), 4:27

Second Quarter

CMR - Gavin Hagfors 1 run (McKinley kick), 9:43

Glacier - Jacob Leininger 43 pass from Colter Hanson (Brendan Hagan kick), 5:56

Glacier - Hanson 7 run (Hagan kick), 2:44

Third Quarter

Glacier - Hagan 1 run (Hagan kick), 8:09

Fourth Quarter

Glacier - FG 32 Hagan, 11:55

CMR - Cole Neuman 6 pass from Bleskin (McKinley kick), 7:06

Glacier - Hagan 10 pass from Hanson (Hagan kick), 1:07

GL CMR

First downs 20 15

Rushes-yards 47-196 27-84

Passing 199 202

Total yards 395 286

Comp-Att-Int 9-20-1 19-44-1

Punts-Avg. 5-34.8 6-43.2

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 4-1

Penalties-Yards 13-118 7-53

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Glacier, Brendan Hagan 26-106, Colter Hanson 17-85, Kyle Griffith 2-13. C.M. Russell High, Gavin Hagfors 15-45, Jake Bleskin 11-31, Zach McKinley 1-8.

PASSING-Glacier, Colter Hanson 9-20-1-199. C.M. Russell High, Jake Bleskin, 19-44-1-202.

RECEIVING-Glacier, Jacob Leininger 4-142, Bryan Chery 2-34, Anthony Gugliuzza 2-23, Brendan Hagan 1-10. C.M. Russell High, Russell Morin 6-55, Cole Neuman 5-46, Kurtis Parsons 3-31, Ben McLaughlin 2-38, Bryan Durocher 2-24, Zach McKinley 1-8.