Glacier gridders whip Billings West
BILLINGS — Glacier football lived up to its early expectations, making a statement in its Class AA season opener Friday afternoon by trouncing Billings West 31-7 at Daylis Stadium.
The Wolfpack was impressive, totaling 427 yards of offense.
The Glacier season started with a hiccup, McChesney throwing an interception on the opening drive, but the Wolfpack found its groove quickly.
McChesney found Devin Cochran along the right sideline and Cochran broke a pair of tackles to bound into the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown.
After stalling at the 1-yard line on the next drive, McChesney found Logan Jones for a 30-yard touchdown and Sam McCamley for a 31-yard score on the next two drives to give Glacier a 21-0 lead.
West scored just before half to cut the lead to 21-7 at the break.
The Wolfpack didn’t need to do much on offense in the second half, holding West to just 37 total offensive yards after the break.
Thomas Trefney, who saw the bulk of carries for Glacier (19 carries for 78 yards), scored on a 4-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Brandon Purdy capped the scoring with a 28-yard field goal.
“I thought we got into a groove,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.
“It’s such a long trip and it’s so difficult for the kids. I was proud of them. I thought it was a workman-like effort. I didn’t think we were necessarily as crisp as we’d like to be across the board, but we got the job done.”
McChesney completed eight straight passes at one point in the first half, finishing 18 for 30 with three touchdowns and 263 yards. He also rushed for 14 yards.
Glacier’s Logan Jones had six rushes for 64 yards and eight catches for 109 yards. McCamley had three catches for 77 yards.
Cain Boschee had an interception for the Wolfpack defense.
“I’m really happy with our defense, I’m really proud,” Bennett said. “That’s the side of the ball we lost the most (players to graduation). They played outstanding.”
Glacier begins its home slate next week against Great Falls C.M. Russell.
Glacier 31, West 7
Glacier 7 14 0 10 — 31
West 0 7 0 0 — 7
First Quarter
G — Devin Cochran 26 pass from Brady McChesney (Brandon Purdy kick) 8:01.
Second Quarter
G — Logan Jones 30 pass from McChesney (Purdy kick) 11:17.
G — Sam McCamley 31 pass from McChesney (Purdy kick) 5:36.
W — Jayson Leinwand 14 pass from Casey Klaboe (Kevin Welliver kick) 3:26.
Fourth Quarter
G — Thomas Trefney 4 run (Purdy kick) 10:45.
G — Purdy 28 field goal 8:06.
Team Statistics
Glacier West
Rushes-yards 38-154 25-47
Passing 20-32-1 13-24-1
Passing yards 273 136
Totals yards 427 183
First downs 20 8
Fumbles, lost 2-0 2-2
Penalties 7-64 1-1
Punts 3-26.3 5-35.2
NDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Glacier: Brady McChesney 8-14, Thomas Trefney 19-78, Logan Jones 6-64, Leif Ericksen 2-(-20), Alex Stewart 2-8, Patrick O’Connell 1-10. West: Zach Wolff 9-17, Casey Klaboe 4-(-5), Cody McCombs 11-19, Brandyn Van Zee 1-16.
PASSING — Glacier: Brady McChesney 18-30-1-263, Leif Ericksen 2-2-0-10. West: Casey Klaboe 13-24-1-136.
RECEIVING — Glacier: Sam McCamley 3-77, Riley Connell 1-3, Logan Jones 8-109, Devin Cochran 4-58, Patrick O’Connell 1-7, Thomas Trefney 3-19. West: Zach Wolff 3-11, Jayson Leinwand 6-69, Cody McCombs 2-45, Brock Bolin 1-11, Parker Bernhardt 1-3.