Glacier, Helena High hope to bounce back from difficult losses
There’s still a few firsts the Glacier football team has on its checklist. A big one could be crossed off tonight when the Wolfpack travels to play the Helena High Bengals, a team that they have yet to beat in five tries.
“It’s one of our program goals, to finally beat one of those Helena schools,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.
“It’s gonna be a tough task. They’re an excellent team, it’s on the road and all those challenges. These guys are definitely up for it. We’ll give it our best shot.”
The Bengals, like Glacier, are 1-1 this season and coming off a tough loss. Helena lost 31-28 at Billings West after surrendering two interceptions, a touchdown and a field goal in the final 2:19 of the game.
“As you watch that game they did kinda dominate the whole thing and then just fell apart at the end,” Bennett said. “They’ll be looking to get back on the winning track and so are we.”
The Wolfpack resurgence starts on offense, where it will be looking to pick up the tempo from an inconsistent first two weeks of the season.
“That’s something we stress, it’s what we do, it’s who we are. When we get away from it, we’re not as good because we allow people to line up to us and adjust,” Bennett said.
“It’s really important, especially against Helena High, because the longer you sit and let them do their thing, the more nasty it is. You’ve got to try to snap it and catch them making some mistakes as they’re trying to do all their stuff.”
The Bengals play an attacking zone defense, often using a variety of looks to confuse their coverage scheme.
“They’ve got a difficult defense,” senior Glacier quarterback Taylor Hulslander said. “It’s very confusing with all the stunts that they try. But, when you do that you can also give up some areas.”
On defense, Glacier will get a test it hasn’t seen a ton of early in the season — a passing attack. After facing two run-heavy offenses, the defensive backfield is likely to get a workout against a team that has thrown the ball at least 32 times in each of its first two games.
“I’m interested to see (how they match up),” Bennett said. “I think our secondary is one of the strengths of our team. Helena’s got some good athletes on the perimeter. It’ll be a fun ballgame watching those guys get a shot.”
The defensive front should help the backs out. The Wolfpack rolled up five sacks against Great Falls C.M. Russell last week, and will look to get the same type of pressure against the Bengals.
“There’s a chance to put pressure on the quarterback,” Bennett said. “We did last week against CMR. Our defense played outstanding. If our defense can continue to play well like that, we have a chance to win every game.”
The game begins at 7 p.m. tonight at Vigilante Stadium in Helena.