Glacier tries to top Bruins for 2nd time
<p>Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake Thursday night during Glacier's matchup against Helena Capital at Legends Stadium Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 in Kalispell, Montana.</p>
Two weeks ago, Glacier had never beaten Helena Capital in school history. The task this week is to beat the Bruins twice in the same season.
“When you think about just trying to beat Capital for the fist time ever, it’s a pretty daunting thought,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “It’s just such a challenge now, to have to do it twice in the same year.”
The Wolfpack (8-2) stormed past Capital (5-5) in the second half of its Week 9 game, scoring 27 unanswered points after the break to top the Bruins 33-7. In the win, Glacier held Capital to just 110 total yards of offense.
But, beating the Bruins in the postseason is a different story. Capital has won four of the last six state titles and has plenty of experience navigating the playoffs.
“All we want to take from that first game is confidence,” Bennett said. “We know we can beat them, we know we can play with them.
“I think (Capital’s) coaches are so used to it and have been there so many times, they just roll right into playoff mode. Their expectations, no matter what type of year they have, they don’t care. They believe they can win it whether they’re undefeated or 5-5.”
The Wolfpack will look to rekindle the offense it found in the second half of the first game against the Bruins after it struggled to throw against a tough Big Sky team last week, surrendering four interceptions.
“We ran the ball well, our offensive line played really well. You have to give credit to Big Sky ... They made some big plays.
“It was one of those nights but we still got the win. A kid like (senior quarterback Taylor Hulslander) who is so confident and so smart (will recover). Odds are that’s not going to happen again.”
The defense will also look to rekindle its performance from the first matchup, though it knows the game plan on the other side likely won’t stay the same.
“You know you’re going to get a lot of different looks (from Capital) this game,” defensive coordinator Shannon Smith said. “You know you’re going to get a lot of tweaks on what they do and did in the last couple games. A lot of (our success) has to do with if we’re going to be ready for the new stuff Capital is going to bring.”
After claiming the No. 1 seed in the playoffs for the first time and qualifying for the playoffs for the fourth-straight season, the Wolfpack is looking to get to the position that Capital has been in for the past two decades, competing for state titles every year.
“If you look at this senior class, all they know about Glacier is going to the playoffs,” Bennett said.
“Since they’ve been in high school that’s all they know, that expectation of being in the playoffs. For (Capital) it’s a little bit different because we’re still trying to establish that and take that next step. It’s good that our guys are in the same (mindset).”
The game starts at 7 p.m. at Legends Stadium.
No. 7 Billings Skyview
at No. 2 Butte
Skyview (6-4) defeated Butte (8-2) 55-48 in Week 2, a game that saw 1,280 yards of offense.
The Bulldogs have been on a roll since, winning 7 of 8, and putting up a ton of points along the way. Skyview capped its regular season with a 24-7 win over rival Billings West and enters the playoffs on a four-game win streak.
No. 6 Billings West at No. 3 G.F. Russell
Last week’s upset loss to Skyview prevented West (7-3) from hosting a playoff game, but set up a rematch of one of the season’s best games.
West beat CMR 28-24 in Billings, scoring a touchdown with 4.5 seconds left to topple the then-No.1 Rustlers.
As a response, CMR (8-2) has won its last two games by a total score of 98-10.
No. 5 Bozeman at
No. 4 Helena
The one game featuring teams that didn’t meet in the regular season should also be very exciting.
Helena (8-2) finished the season ranked No. 1 in the prep poll, closing the season with three wins, including two over playoff teams.
Bozeman, a former No. 1, began the season with five straight wins before a loss to Glacier triggered a three-game losing streak. Since, the Hawks have been flawless, going 3-0 and outscoring their opponents 130-21.