Bengals bust Glacier in opener
With smoke billowing into the Flathead Valley, threatening to delay kickoff, it was instead Glacier’s offense that was missing its timing.
The Wolfpack showed potential but cost itself with mistakes, falling 23-17 to Helena High on Friday night at Legends Stadium in the first game of the Class AA football season.
Glacier fell into an early deficit after first-year starting quarterback Leif Ericksen sailed a pass that was intercepted by Helena’s Joe Mueller and returned to the Glacier 13-yard line. While the Wolfpack defense held firm, Helena took a 3-0 lead with a 22-yard field goal from Willem Morris.
Glacier would start to get its offense rolling at the end of the first quarter.
The Wolfpack, riding a strong performance from senior running back Thomas Trefney, methodically moved the ball down the field, scoring on a five-yard slant from Ericksen to Patrick O’Connell to cap a 15-play, 75-yard drive that encapsulated four minutes.
Glacier seemed to ride that momentum, holding Helena on its next drive, and catching a break when the Bengals long snapper sailed a ball over the punter’s head. The Helena punter recovered and tried to attempt the punt 20 yards behind his line, but instead found the arms of Glacier’s Seth Anderson, who blocked the attempt and recovered it at the Helena 11-yard-line.
The Wolfpack stalled and saw its field goal attempt pushed back after a false start on fourth down, but was still able to convert a 32-yard attempt from Cameron Anderson, who had plenty of leg to spare, to take a 10-3 lead with 5:58 remaining in the half.
Glacier’s untimely penalties would start to add up, however, as the end of the half approached.
On the ensuing drive, Helena moved into Glacier territory on a pass interference call and four plays later converted a fourth-and-two with a 22-yard run to the Glacier 16. The Wolfpack held the next three plays, but was called for another pass interference, this time in the end zone to keep the Helena drive going.
Glacier forced the Bengals into another fourth-down situation, but lost Helena receiver Ryan Arntson in the flat, the coach’s son hauling in a 16-yard pass from Jackson Thennis for a touchdown with just 30.9 seconds remaining in the half to tie the game at 10-10 at the break.
Glacier seemed to grab the momentum early in the second half, as senior safety Jake Willich intercepted Thennis deep in Glacier territory and returned the ball to midfield.
The Wolfpack drove the ball to the Helena 29-yard line, only to get called for a false start, and follow that by negating a 10-yard gain with a holding call. An incompletion and a sack backed Glacier up to midfield, forcing the Wolfpack to punt.
Helena returned the punt 40 yards to start its next possession on the Glacier half of the field.
Penalties began to arise again, Glacier earning a roughing the passer penalty after holding the Bengals on a third-and-short.
Helena was set up at the Glacier nine-yard line as the fourth quarter began and needed just two plays, both runs up the middle from senior back Nick Van Horssen, to score a touchdown and take a 17-10 lead.
Glacier turned to the wildcat on the next possession, with junior Tadan Gilman lining up at quarterback. The Wolfpack moved 25 yards and kept the Bengals off balance, but a misalignment left Gilman scrambling on the fifth play of the drive, resulting in a fumble and a turnover.
Two plays later Helena scored again, Taylor England streaking past the defense and hauling in a bomb to score a 55-yard touchdown and give the Bengals a 23-10 lead with 8:29 to play.
Glacier was given second life from a drive-ending penalty and sack when Helena muffed a punt and the Wolfpack recovered, but a holding penalty and a false start stilted the chance with a little more than four minutes to play.
Glacier would score with 1:25 left, senior receiver Noah Lindsay hauling in a back-shoulder pass before spinning away from a defender and streaking up the sideline for a 36-yard touchdown.
The ensuing onside kick took a favorable bounce, but Helena recovered the ball safely and ran out the clock on the final possession.
“There’s a lot of new guys getting their first experience tonight,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.
“We simply had too many penalties tonight, too many mistakes.”
Trefney ran for 164 yards on 13 carries to lead the Wolfpack. Ericksen finished 14-of-25 passing for 119 yards.
Van Horssen had 117 yards on 22 carries.
“That’s really what the game comes down to tonight,” Bennett said.
“We made a couple big mistakes that they took advantage of. It seemed like every time we’d get something going, we’d make a mistake or get a penalty. Every time we’d feel like we were getting something going we’d get a penalty.”
Helena High is now 7-0 all time against Glacier, the only team the Wolfpack hasn’t beaten in Class AA.
Helena 3 7 0 13 — 23
Glacier 0 10 0 7 — 17
First Quarter
HHS — Willem Morris 22 field goal, 3:58
Second Quarter
GLA — Patrick O’Connell 5 pass from Leif Ericksen (Cameron Anderson kick), 10:40
GLA — Anderson 32 field goal, 5:58
HHS — Derek Jenneskens 16 pass from Jackson Thennis (Morris kick), 0:31
Fourth Quarter
HHS — Nick Van Horssen 4 run (Morris kick), 11:40
HHS — Taylor England 55 pass from Thennis (kick failed), 8:18
GLA — Noah Lindsay 36 pass from Ericksen (Morris kick), 1:25
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Helena Glacier
First Downs 8 12
Total Yards 223 306
Rushes-yards 35-106 32-180
Passing yards 117 126
Punt Returns 4-39 1-68
Kickoff Returns 3-30 3-(-26)
Interceptions Ret. 1-57 1-43
Comp-Att-Int 5-15-1 15-26-1
Punts 4-35 6-32
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 9-57 11-100
Time of Possession 20:11 21:36
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Helena, Nick Van Horssen 22-117, Ryan Arntson 4-8, Carter Pappas 1-(minus 8), Jackson Thennis 8-(minus 11). Glacier, Thomas Trefney 13-164, Tadan Gilman 3-20, Patrick O’Connell 2-2, Caleb Jones 2-2, Leif Ericksen 6-(minus 8)
PASSING—Helena, Jackson Thennis 5-15-1-117. Glacier, Leif Ericksen 14-25-1-119, Tadan Gilman 1-1-0-7.
RECEIVING—Helena, Taylor England 1-55, Derek Jenneskens 2-34, Ryan Arntson 1-23, Derrick Olsen 1-5. Glacier, Noah Lindsay 6-77, Drake Dulin 2-12, Thomas Trefney 1-10, Caleb Jones 2-8, Tadan Gilman 1-8, Scout Willcut 2-6, Patrick O’Connell 1-5.