Second time for West, Glacier football

It’s tough to beat a team twice in a season, but Glacier football is getting better at it.

In the last two years, the Wolfpack has played a team twice four times, and is getting progressively stronger when it comes to meeting opponents again in the playoffs.

As any team would, Glacier struggled in rematches in 2012, beating Helena Capital 33-7 in the regular season only to beat the Bruins 21-13 in the first round of the playoffs. Bozeman, which the Wolfpack beat 7-3 earlier in the year, would top Glacier in the semifinals.

Last year, Glacier opened the playoffs with a 62-55 shootout victory over then-defending champion Butte, which it had beaten earlier in the season. In the semifinals Glacier beat Great Falls C.M. Russell 52-7, vastly improving on an odd 20-14 win in Great Falls in the regular season.

The top-seeded Wolfpack opens the playoffs this season playing a familiar opponent again, this time eighth-seed Billings West. The game starts tonight at 7 at Legends Stadium.

“They’re much improved,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “They’re a totally different team than we saw the first week, which we would expect.

“It looks to me like they’ve really settled in on what they’re good at. I think early on they were still trying to find their way a little bit, trying to find their identity, what they’re really good at.

“We feel like they’ve found it. What they’re running on both offense and defense now is really solid.”

Golden Bears senior quarterback Casey Klaboe is fifth in the state in passing, averaging 187.3 yards per game. He’s also seventh in the state in total offense, leading the fifth-best passing offense.

Parker Bernhardt and Brock Bolin are favorite targets of Klaboe and backs Cody McCombs and Jackson Cobb have led the ground attack the last few weeks.

“What they’ve been doing really well is going with heavy personnel: two and three tight ends at times,” Bennett said.

“They’ve got two running backs that run really hard. Two solid, tough running backs that are going to hit the hole hard and just grind away. Their offensive front is big.

“Their gameplan, I think, would be to establish the run, then they play action off of it really well. Their quarterback is really good at play action fakes and then getting guys open when you bite on the run.

“They’re varied enough, they’ve been able to do it all over the years. Who knows if they’ll come in and try to throw the ball against us. We have to be ready to defend everything, stop whatever they’re going to come in and try to do.”

Glacier, which has started slow in contests against teams that like to slow down the pace of play, will be looking to firing its tempo from the opening whistle.

“Our tempo is always a key,” Bennett said.

“When we get that going and rolling it’s overwhelmed people. That’s been huge for us. When we don’t that makes a difference.

“Our tempo is always a big factor for us and it allows us to get that momentum going, use our athletes and it turns into a huge roll for us.”

If things don’t get going right away, or if the Wolfpack’s fast-paced offense hits a rut, Bennett and Glacier know they can lean on running back Thomas Trefney, who enters the game scoring multiple touchdowns in six straight games. He has 21 this season.

“We’ve known all year that if teams are going to take away our wideouts on the perimeter, Trefney is a good back and our offensive line is very good so we can run the ball,” Bennett said.

“It just gives you both dimensions.”

Bennett said even with all of Glacier’s weapons on offense and defense, he doesn’t think games will play out as easily as the Wolfpack has become accustomed to winning.

“We’re not expecting it to be like this season where we’re up big at half and winning by 50. That’s the way the playoffs are. Each game is going to be a defensive slugfest and whoever can run the ball best. We feel like we’re in a good situation right now and prepared for whatever.”

In the other Class AA playoff games, No. 2 Helena (9-1) plays No. 7 Bozeman (5-5); No. 3 CMR (8-2) hosts No. 6 Billings Senior (6-4); and No. 4 Billings Skyview (7-3) faces No. 5 Missoula Big Sky (7-3).