Class AA football: Glacier's rolling, headed back to Butte
Glacier football has hit its stride the last few weeks.
Since dropping its first two games, the Wolfpack is on a state-best five-game win streak and back near the top of Class AA, tied with three other teams for third place at 5-2.
In that time, Glacier has outscored opponents by an average of nearly 23 points and picked up crucial wins over Missoula Sentinel and Great Falls C.M. Russell in the last two weeks.
Finally looking like the high-octane team it thought it could be entering the season, the Wolfpack enters a stadium where that kind of offense has excelled over the last few years.
Butte has been among the state’s best offenses the last three seasons, setting record numbers while playing Glacier as tough as nearly any team. The Bulldogs and Wolfpack were involved in a pair of shootouts in 2013 and even in Glacier’s dominant season a year ago, Butte scored more points against Glacier than any team except state runner-up CMR.
The first of the shootouts two years ago came at Butte’s Naranche Stadium, the first time Glacier played there since it was renovated prior to the 2011 season. An historic field set next to the high school among the old buildings in Uptown Butte with very little sidelines and a raucous crowd nearly right on top of the field, Naranche is the loudest and most intimate playing field in the state, serving up one of the best home-field advantages.
Glacier’s only trip saw running back Noah James run for a then-school record 201 yards and the Wolfpack defense force six turnovers, returning three interceptions for touchdowns. Even with what would seem a dominant performance, Glacier needed every advantage it took, as then-Butte quarterback Dallas Cook, who would go on to set state records in total offense, threw for 530 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 73 yards and another score in a 58-41 Glacier win.
“That honestly is one of the (best) memories I have as a coach that sticks out,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “I’ll never forget that night: the atmosphere, the game, the way that stadium is built, the crowd. It was so much fun.”
While Butte (1-6), hasn’t been nearly as potent this season, Glacier is still trying to right its ship on defense after giving up 50 plays to 17 of its own in the first half against CMR last week.
The Bulldogs, as they have the last few seasons, still like to pitch the ball around, even if they have injuries to their skill positions. Quarterback Ty Peterson left the game with Flathead last week injured in the fourth quarter and leading rusher Bo Mortensen didn’t play a down in the contest.
“Defensively, with Butte, it’s going to be stopping the big play,” Bennett said. “We were on the field so much last week. We’re trying to get off the field and focus on (doing better) on third and fourth downs and turn the ball back over to our offense.”
Working on a short week, the offense will look to keep its rhythm that has seen it score a combined 200 points in the last four games.
“The good thing is we’ve done this (short week preparation) a couple of times now,” Bennett said.
“We try to combine what we normally do into Monday and Tuesday. We shorten some of the periods up and some of the things we do.”
The Wolfpack will kick off at 7 p.m. at Naranche Stadium in Butte. The game will be broadcast on 103.9 FM The Monster in the Flathead Valley.