Football: Banged-up Glacier prepares for Hellgate, homecoming

Glacier football is beat up after last week’s loss to No. 1 Bozeman. 

The No. 5 Wolfpack suffered a handful of injuries in their first loss of the season and will likely be without its full squad tonight as its prepares for its annual homecoming game against Missoula Hellgate. 

“We know we’re going to be without four or five guys,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “A few of our kids will need to step up. It’s their time now.”

Full team or not, Glacier will be heavily favored in the game against the Knights, who have yet to score a point this season. In three games, Hellgate has been outscored 150-0, giving up at least 65 points to both ranked teams it has faced. 

 Even with the seeming disparity, Glacier doesn’t plan on taking this game lightly. The Wolfpack is still smarting after last week’s loss, looking to clean up the mistakes that cost it a chance at an early-season marquee win. 

“The Hellgate kids aren’t giving up,” Bennett said. “They’re not focused on the scoreboard or the record. You still see them playing hard in the fourth quarter no matter what the score is.”

Turnovers cost Glacier last week and have been a focus of discussion as the team prepares for the Knights. The Wolfpack offense gave away the ball on three key drives in the Bozeman zone last week, ending promising efforts that could have got Glacier back in the game. 

“On defense we need to turn the ball over more and on offense we need to take care of it,” Bennett said. “The classroom of defeat is sometimes the best classroom to learn. You look at the tape and realize the mistakes you made and what you need to fix them. You focus on the next team on the schedule and can’t wait to get back out there and fix the things that didn’t go right.”

The team tried not to focus on the negatives of last week’s loss, but where they could improve. Despite the turnovers, Glacier drove the ball well on one of the most stout defenses in the state.  

The task this week is to keep the team playing well with a cast of new characters on both sides of the ball.

“I love how they practiced this week,” Bennett said. “We’re trying to get the new kids ready, work up a new gameplan around a couple of things they bring to table.

“It’s exciting for those guys. They look at this game as a chance to show what they can do.”

Glacier will kick off at 7 p.m. at Legends Stadium.