Bozeman hands Glacier 1st loss of football season
BOZEMAN — Turnovers cost No. 3 Glacier its first loss of the Class AA football season as the Wolfpack fell 27-12 at No. 1 Bozeman on Friday.
Glacier (2-1) gave the ball away three times, ending promising drives and giving extra chances to a potent Hawks (3-0) team that has dominated teams all season.
The Wolfpack had its chances early, scoring its first touchdown of the night on a 56-yard touchdown pass to Evan Epperly up the right sideline, cutting the Bozeman lead to 7-6 after the point after was blocked. Epperly had a big night, catching 11 passes for 175 yards and making countless plays on both sides of the ball.
The Hawks answered on the next trip down the field, bleeding the Wolfpack defense with constant dumps to all-state tight end Will Dissly over the middle. On fourth-and-goal with 6:40 to play in the half, Bozeman ran a perfectly executed play action, faking a handoff left only for quarterback Will Weyer to bootleg right and toss to one of two wide open options for a touchdown.
However, a missed extra point kept Glacier within striking distance.
The Wolfpack had no trouble moving the ball between the 20-yard lines, but stalled on two consecutive possessions in the third quarter with miscommunication in the backfield, fumbling twice on botched option handoffs.
Bozeman answered, scoring two touchdowns. Receiver John D’Agostino led each, scampering for a 60-yard catch on the first to set up a dive from Hunter Gappmayer, and getting behind the defense on the second to haul in an 86-yard touchdown of his own. D’Agostino finished with 161 yards receiving.
The scores effectively put the game out of reach for Glacier, which scored on an Epperly run with five minutes remaining to cut the lead to 27-12. The ensuing 2-point conversion was knocked away leaving the Wolfpack scrambling.
Glacier’s final drive ended on yet another turnover deep in the Bozeman end.
Glacier 0 6 0 6 — 12
Bozeman 7 6 14 0 — 27
1st quarter
Boz — Will Weyer 6 run (PAT good) 3:54
2nd quarter
Glac — Evan Epperly 56 pass from Brady McChesney (kick blocked) 9:37
Boz — Collins 4 pass from Weyer (kick failed) 6:40
3rd quarter
Boz — Hunter Gappmayer 1 run (PAT good) 5:02
Boz — John D’Agostino 86 pass from Weyer (PAT good) 3:44
4th quarter
Glac —Epperly 4 run (pass failed) 5:08
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Glacier (32-77): Logan Jones 8-23, James 14-69, Epperly 2-5, McChesney 7- (-15), Caleb Jones 1 -(-5). Bozeman (35-121): Hunter Gappmayer 31-117, Weyer 3-(-11), Appel 1-15.
PASSING — Glacier: McChesney 21-40-1-249. Bozeman: Weyer 22-34-0-332.
RECEIVING — Glacier: Epperly 11-175, Sam McCamley 4-16, James 2-21, Malloy 1-17, Logan Jones 2-20, Cochran 1-10. Bozeman: Gappmayer 5-49, John D’Agostino 6-161, Dissly 4-60, Dokken 3-43, Coffman 2-17, Collins 1-4.