Crosstown football: Wolfpack whips Braves
<p>Flathead senior running back Austin Root (center) eyes the goal line Friday night during the sixth crosstown matchup at Legends Stadium.</p>
<p>Teammates congratulate Glacier sophomore Evan Epperly (20) after he took an interception back for a touchdown Friday night during the sixth crosstown matchup at Legends Stadium.</p>
The Glacier defense forced six interceptions and scored twice, leading the way in a 55-14 blowout over crosstown-rival Flathead on Friday night at Legends Stadium.
Flathead (0-6) was hanging with the Wolfpack (4-2) for most of the night, scoring on a pair of long drives against the tough Glacier defense in the first half. With Glacier leading 27-14 in the third quarter, the Braves drove the ball deep into the Wolfpack zone, mixing a steady run game with a pair of long passes to Jerum AuClaire and Kevin Grosswiler.
The Braves drove all the way to the 2-yard line on third-and-goal, but were stuffed on a run up the middle to Austin Root. On fourth down, Glacier jumped the snap, sacking Flathead quarterback Matt Tokarz in the backfield for the turnover on downs.
Three minutes, 95 yards and 11 plays later, Glacier was up three scores with all the momentum.
“From then on the wheels fell off,” Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said.
On the next drive, Glacier’s Evan Epperly picked off Tokarz and took the interception 90 yards for a touchdown. The Wolfpack would intercept Tokarz on five of the Braves’ last six drives. Epperly finished with three interceptions in the game.
“You can’t say enough about the job those guys in the secondary are doing,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “That’s 11 interceptions in two weeks. It’s just unbelievable how those guys are covering back there.”
Glacier got its offense moving in the game, putting up 470 yards while dramatically picking up the pace of play. Wolfpack quarterback Taylor Hulslander threw for 248 yards and connected with six different receivers.
“Our tempo has been struggling the past couple games,” Hulslander said. “We really picked it up this game. That really helps. It makes the defense tired. They had five or six two-way players, it makes it hard on them.”
Flathead was able to move the ball, but its seven turnovers, including two in the red zone, killed its chances. Tokarz finished with 261 yards in the air and 38 on the ground. Root finished with 72 yards on 23 carries to lead the Braves in rushing. Grosswiler led the team with 91 receiving yards.
“We tried to mix it up, we were trying to give them a few different looks,” McCarvel said. “I thought we got some good things out of it, kept them off balance a little bit.”
Glacier’s Kyle Griffith scored three touchdowns, two on the ground and another on a 13-yard pass from Hulslander. Noah James led the Pack in rushing with 12 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown. Nic Cramer had a team-high 83 receiving yards.
The Wolfpack stay home to host Missoula Sentinel (2-4) next week. Flathead plays Helena Capital (4-2) in the Capital City.
“I’m really proud of our guys, they worked so darn hard,” McCarvel said.
“When I looked at them in the locker room, those guys gave it their all.”
Flathead 7 7 0 0 — 14
Glacier 13 14 14 14 — 55
First quarter
GLA - Kyle Griffith 12 run (Griffith kick), 9:56
GLA - Noah James 9 run (kick failed), 6:47
FH - Austin Root 1 run (Dylan Torgerson kick), 1:31
Second quarter
GLA - Aaron Mitchell 1 run (Griffith kick), 7:48
FH - Matt Tokarz 1 run (Torgerson kick), 4:51
GLA - Kalen Reed 27 pass from Taylor Huslander (Griffith kick), 2:35
Third quarter
GLA - Griffith 11 run (Griffith kick), 1:55
GLA - Evan Epperly 90 interception return (Griffith kick), 0:42
Fourth quarter
GLA - Griffith 13 pass from Huslander (Griffith kick), 10:03
GLA - Todd Ogden 37 interception return (Griffith kick), 4:06
Flathead Glacier
First downs 16 22
Total yards 371 470
Rushes-yards 37-110 26-222
Passing yards 261 248
Comp-Att-Int 17-30-6 21-35-0
Penalties-yards 5-25 6-49
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Individual statistics
RUSHING - Flathead: Austin Root 23-72, Matt Tokarz 14-38. Glacier: Noah James 12-76, Aaron Mitchell 5-49, Logan Jones 2-41, Taylor Huslander 2-24, Kyle Griffith 2-23, Evan Epperly 1-5, Kellyn Faraone 1-4, Brad McChesney 1-0.
PASSING- Flathead: Matt Tokarz 17-29-261-6, Kevin Grosswiler 0-1-0-0. Glacier: Taylor Huslander 21-35-248-0.
RECEIVING - Flathead: Kevin Grosswiler 7-91, Jerum AuClaire 4-85, Dylan Thomas 2-70, Trampus Barton 2-11, Austin Root 2-3. Glacier: Nic Cramer 6-83, Kyle Griffith 7-71, Kalen Reed 2-43, James Cutler 4-37, Logan Jones 1-10, Noah James 1-4.