AA football final preview: Wolfpack vs. Hawks

For the first time in school history, Glacier (11-1) will play for the Class AA state football championship, crossing the divide to Bozeman (12-0) to take on the Hawks at 7 p.m. tonight at Van Winkle Stadium in Bozeman.

While it’s the first time since 2000 that a school from Kalispell has played for a title, Bozeman is a familiar foe for the Wolfpack. Glacier has played the Hawks more than any other team in school history, trailing the all-time series 3-5 including losses in the last two meetings.

With this contest, the teams will have met four times in the last two seasons. Bozeman knocked Glacier out of the playoffs last season before handing it its only loss in 2013 in a 27-12 slugfest in Bozeman. Glacier won the first meeting in 2012, beating the Hawks 7-3 in Kalispell.

“It’s real good to get back there and get some payback,” Glacier senior Brendan Windauer said.

“It’s still coming on from last year when we beat them at our home game. It’s exciting every time that we play. I know we’ve gotten better and we’re definitely going to come out to win.”

Windauer was one of a handful of injured players that didn’t finish the first contest this season. The defensive lineman needed seven screws, a plate and six weeks of recovery to mend a broken ankle suffered in the first quarter of the loss.

He as much as the rest of the team is ready to make amends for a game they felt got away.

“It’s going to be hard to sleep,” Windauer said. “But it will be fun. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, it’s good to get back into it.”

Glacier challenged Bozeman in Week 3, playing the Hawks to their closest game all season. For a team that has won its games by an average of nearly 39 points all season, the 15-point victory was narrow, especially considering the way Glacier challenged the normally stout Bozeman defense.

The Wolfpack offense has rolled since, finding a groove under first-year starter Brady McChesney. The junior quarterback was second in the state only to all-world signal caller Dallas Cook of Butte in total offense, passing yards and passing touchdowns. He’s connected with a wide array of targets, lifting senior Evan Epperly to a 1,000-yard receiving season and junior Logan Jones to nearly 900, both among the top 10 in the state.

“We are just really, a completely different team. We’re so much better than we were back in week 3,” Bennett said.

“I think CMR saw that last Friday night (in Glacier’s 52-7 victory). Thinking maybe we might be the same team we were back in week 2. We’re so much better.

“That excites us, too. I just want the kids to have confidence in those things and go out there and give it their all Friday night. I think it can be a great football game if they do.”

Bozeman has gotten better, too, and is still one of the most talented teams in the state.

Led by future-Montana quarterback Will Weyer on offense and Division I prospects Will Dissly and Grant Collins on defense, the Hawks are a physically imposing squad. Running back Hunter Gappmeyer, who led the state in rushing this season before fracturing his collarbone, is expected to play as well after spot duty last week in Bozeman’s 56-26 victory over Billings Skyview last week.

“Bozeman is the most physical team (in the state),” Bennett said.

“They’re just bigger and better than everybody, and have been all year ... They’ve done what they had to do. They were ranked No. 1 and clearly, they’ve lived up to that all year long. They have not had one dip.”

While the strategy in the past has been to force a team to be one-dimensional, Bennett said that task is nearly impossible against the Hawks.

“They can equally just gash you with the pass or the run,” Bennett said. “It’s going to come down to execution. This isn’t a team we’re going to be able to beat with smoke and mirrors or tricks ... We’re going to have to just flat out execute.”

With Dissly and Collins up front, the Wolfpack will have to be patient on offense as well. While they’ve gashed teams on big plays this season, Bozeman’s defense is less likely to sprout holes.

“They’re smart,” Bennett said. “They’ve got such a good front seven that they can keep two safeties deep and just not give up the big play.

“We’re going to have to put drives together and execute. That’s the only way you’re going to beat Bozeman is to execute consistently all game long.”

With a win, Glacier would clinch the first Kalispell football championship since 1970. Bozeman has won three championships in its history, and been to three of the last four title games. The Hawks last won it all in 2010.

“We have a lot to prove and we’re going to definitely prove it,” Windauer said.

“A lot of people think Bozeman is out of our league. That’s definitely not the case.”

The game will be broadcast locally on 103.9 FM and online by the NFHS Network for a fee of $9.95. The link is www.nfhsnetwork.com/channels/montana.