AA Football: Glacier slips by Capital, 7-3
HELENA — On his only carry of the night, Glacier senior Jacob Willich scored on a 6-yard touchdown run. The Wolfpack defense took over from there, holding Helena Capital to a field goal in a 7-3 Class AA football victory on Friday at Vigilante Stadium.
The Wolfpack leaned on its defense on a night the offense continued to struggle in the red zone.
Glacier (1-2) drove into the red zone on its first possession, but a holding call pushed the Wolfpack back and forced a punt. To Glacier’s advantage, the Bruins (2-1) fumbled on the return and the Wolfpack was able to start its drive anew inside Capital territory.
Willich’s score came shorly after to give Glacier all the advantage it would need, thanks to a stingy defense that looked to be in mid-season form.
Capital’s only score came after a Glacier interception deep in its own territory. The Wolfpack was able to hold on the short field, forcing the Bruins to settle for a 25-yard field goal.
“Defensively, what an incredible effort, so many good performances,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.
“They were all over the field.”
Glacier held Capital in its own end for most of the night, and relied on a strong running game to help carve the clock in a close contest.
Thomas Trefney had a game-high 120 yards rushing on 32 carries, even after tweaking an ankle just before halftime.
Wolfpack quarterback Leif Ericksen was 16 for 31 for 165 yards and Caleb Jones had eight catches for 81 yards.
“Trefney was a stud tonight,” Bennett said. “He kept churning and working and ended up with (a lot of) yards.”
The win is Glacier’s fifth straight over Capital and its second in a row at Vigilante Stadium. More importantly, it’s the first win of the season after two tight losses at home to start the season.
“It’s a monkey off our back, a sense of relief,” Bennett said.
While still struggling to put points on the board, the offense found more rhythm as it largely stayed away from penalties in the contest.
“Our tempo was good,” Bennett said. “We had 85 plays tonight. That’s as many as we’ve run (in a while). That’s good. We got the ball in the hands of a lot of people.
“We’ve just got to come away with points. We saw tremendous improvement in all three areas.”
Glacier is back on the road for its next contest against Great Falls High (2-1). The Bison were trampled by Flathead (2-1) on Friday in Kalispell, losing 41-12.
Wolfpack 7, Bruins 3
Glacier 7 0 0 0 — 7
Capital 0 3 0 0 — 3
First quarter
GLA – Jacob Willich 6 run (Cameron Anderson kick), 4:16
Second quarter
CAP – Braxton Kent 25 field goal, 3:34
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GLA CAP
First downs 19 12
Rushes-yards 48-104 21-50
Passing yards 188 149
Comp-Att-Int 17-32-1 22-42-1
Punts-avg 4-37.5 5-31.6
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 5-50 2-15
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Glacier: Thomas Trefney 32-120, Leif Ericksen 8-minus 33, Jacob Willich 1-6, Taden Gilman 5-13. Team 1-minus 2. Capital: Daniel O’Malley 10-35, Will Hunthausen 1-minus 1, Carter Pappas 9-15, Payton Pappas 1-1.
PASSING — Glacier: Ericksen 16-31-1-165, Gilman 1-1-0-24. Capital: Carter Pappas 22-42-1-149.
RECEIVING — Glacier: Caleb Jones 8-81, Jacob May 1-7, Drake Dulin 4-56, Noah Lindsay 2-15, Trefney 1-10, Gilman 1-19. Capital: Danny Burton 6-29, Hunthausen 9-67, O’Malley 2-1, Brad Haller 5-52.