AA football: Glacier hopes to limit mistakes, bounce back

Missing timing plays, lining up in the wrong alignments and blown coverages all added up against Glacier in its first home loss since 2012 last weekend against Helena High.

The Bengals scored two touchdowns after receivers got lost in the defensive backfield and the Wolfpack hindered nearly every opportunity it had to seize momentum by committing 11 penalties for 100 yards.

Even with the rare occurrence, the last home loss coming in a 34-21 semifinal loss to Bozeman three seasons ago, the in-game mistakes had a familiar feel for the Glacier coaching staff.

“Right away after the game, as we’re driving back on the bus, that’s usually how we feel after the scrimmage,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.

“Some of our mistakes with our execution on offense was stuff you normally see in a scrimmage. With our receivers, our spacing’s not right, he’s a little too far off the line of scrimmage, the routes are running into each other. There’s so many little things that normally you see in a scrimmage and fix them.

“That was our first game, but it was scrimmage-like, as far as the feel of those errors.”

Heavy smoke from forest fires in the region forced officials to cancel the annual football scrimmage two weeks ago because of concerns about air quality.

The normal period to work out the kinks that are typically seen in the team’s first foray into a game-like atmosphere was missing as the Wolfpack opened against one of the toughest teams in the state.

Now time to digest its mistakes, and a full week of practices outdoors, the Wolfpack feels it’s on the right track.

“We definitely made too many mistakes,” Bennett said.

“What was good is that we saw so many good things also. The kids could see it. They really realized what they needed to work on.

“This was the first week we’ve really been able to condition. We had great practices.”

Glacier doesn’t get any time to ease back into its schedule, facing off against Bozeman, another state title contender, and maybe the most impressive team in Class AA in the season’s opening week.

The Hawks beat Missoula Hellgate 56-7 last Friday, resting their starters for most of the second half.

The two teams are building a budding rivalry as they’ve built themselves into powerhouses.

Glacier has played Bozeman more than any other team in the last five seasons, the teams meeting seven times since 2010. In that same time span, the teams have had nearly unmatched success. Bozeman has won two state championships and posted the third most wins in the state. Glacier is tied for the most wins and has played more games than anyone, taking home its first state title last year.

“Bozeman’s always so athletic,” Bennett said. “Coach (Troy) Purcell is such a good coach. We know it’s going to be a great test.”

Facing such a strong team again, the urgency for the Wolfpack to shake its first-week issues is high.

“We knew going in our schedule was as tough as anybody in (Class) AA: opening with Helena, Bozeman and then having to go to (Helena) Capital. These first three games we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Bennett said.

“Since we dropped the first one, we’ve got to play well Friday night and do what it takes to get the win.”