Football: Wolfpack looking to rebound versus Butte

Last week’s stumble to Great Falls C.M. Russell left the Glacier football coaching staff asking a lot of questions.

The Wolfpack marched out to an easy 14-0 lead before struggling to move the ball for the rest of the game, having issues in the passing game and with getting off the field on third downs, which led to the team’s first loss of the season.

The loss came after a string of games that saw the Wolfpack test its limits with a pair of double-digit comebacks and an overtime shootout win over Missoula Sentinel.

With the loss, the goal this week was to refocus the team.

“We just didn’t play to our standards with our enthusiasm, passion, intensity. We didn’t play as hard as we do normally,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.

“As you watch the film, you come away very disappointed with the overall effort. It’s a good week to self examine and have everybody take a look at themselves and be accountable.

“It’s mainly about the effort. With effort comes better focus, comes execution. All those things will fall into place. But, you’ve got to bring your very best. That’s been the focus all week long.”

Glacier still has most of its playoff destiny in its control, sitting in a tie for second place in Class AA with Billings West at 6-1. Glacier should be favored to keep control of the second seed should it win its last three games.

To do so, the Wolfpack needs to limit the mistakes that have left it vulnerable this season, something it is doing by pushing aside any talk of playoffs.

“More than ever as a coaching staff this week, we forgot about everything else,” Bennett said.

“We’ve got to get our team back to where we know we need them to be and see how they respond. It’s easy to respond in practice, but how are they going to respond Friday night in a game?”

Glacier will look to right the ship against Butte, a team that has had little questions about effort despite a 2-5 start to the season.

“They play hard, I don’t care what their record is,” Bennett said.

“Coach (Arie) Grey, his teams will always fight you to the very finish. That’s why we got beat last week, we got outplayed. They’re going to come play as hard as they can. That’s on us.”

The Bulldogs aren’t shy about throwing the football, an area that Glacier has struggled defending at times this season.

“We’re trying to simplify our coverages a little bit, making sure we’re really solid on our coverages,” Bennett said.

“We’ve had some communication breakdowns at times, and sometimes guys trying to do a little too much ... When one guy tries to do too much all of a sudden you’ve got that blown coverage and people have been good enough to find that on us.”

The matchup with Butte usually draws a big score, the teams averaging a combined 75 points per game in the last four meetings, including Glacier wins of 55-29 and 62-55 in the last two meetings at Legends Stadium.

“The kids rallied well this week, I’m excited about it,” Bennett said.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. at Legends Stadium and will be broadcast locally on 103.9 FM and streamed online at mtsport.tv.