FOOTBALL: Desperate Flathead aiming for a crosstown upset

It’s been almost a month since Flathead played a game at Legends Stadium, but don’t expect the Braves to get a warm welcome home Friday night.

At least, not from half of the crowd.

Or the team on the visitor’s sideline.

Or the weather, for that matter.

The Braves (3-5) hit their home turf for likely the last time this season at 7 p.m. to kick off the 10th annual crosstown game against Glacier (7-1), a team that’s coming off what its coach called “our best effort of the season by far.”

Still, Flathead coach Kyle Samson and his troops are ready for what amounts to a must-win for the Braves if they wish to remain in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot. Flathead has to win Friday and have Missoula Big Sky beat Helena Capital to avoid missing out on the postseason for the sixth time in the last eight years. Even with a win, the Braves would need another victory next week and some additional help to crack the field.

“It doesn’t take much for us to get excited for this week with crosstown and our senior night,” Samson said. “It’s always an emotional time and a big thing for us. We’re excited to go out and compete.”

The Braves lost 30-20 at Capital last Friday, a crushing setback for a team that was finally healthy and had reeled off back-to-back wins, albeit one by forfeit.

“I was very proud of our guys and the way they came out in the second half,” Samson said. “But we just dug ourselves too big of a hole.”

Things are quite a bit sunnier on the other side of town, where Glacier flexed its considerable muscle in a 55-21 over Butte at Legends last Friday. The Wolfpack led that game 34-7 at halftime and racked up 521 yards of total offense.

That win came after five straight close calls for Glacier, including a 28-23 loss to Great Falls C.M. Russell on Oct. 7.

“We’d found a way to win and we had been escaping, but we hadn’t been playing that well,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “You hate to lose a game but [the CMR loss] might have been the best thing for us. I kind of called them out, challenged us a little bit. We had to stop having some selective effort plays.

“They responded like I knew they would. It’s a great lesson and I’m glad the guys learned it now instead of later on.”

The Wolfpack is currently third in Class AA and has already secured a playoff spot. Glacier would clinch at least one home playoff game with a win Friday, but Bennett knows his team must remain focused against a desperate Braves bunch.

“We talked a lot about that this week,” he said. “Who’s going to be the more hungry team? We talked about it with Butte last week, too. I knew they were going to play hard to the very last snap and Flathead’s the same way, that’s the way they’re coached.

“You compound it with they are desperate, they’re backed into a corner, but on the flip side we’re challenging our guys about their hunger, the situation they’re in. What’s your hunger level?”

Glacier has won the last seven crosstown meetings, including a 41-26 win a year ago, and leads the all-time series 7-2. Both coaches expect an electric atmosphere Friday, despite a weather forecast that includes more rain and cool temperatures.

“Everyone knows that the emotions are going to be a little bit higher because it’s crosstown and there’s going to be a ton of people in the crowd,” Samson said. “We want to embrace that. It’s one of the great things about high school football when you have the whole town there watching.”

“It’s definitely a special week just because of what crosstown means to the community,” Bennett said. “There’s nothing like it.

“Kalispell supports its athletics more than any city in the state, I believe that. It’s going to be a great atmosphere that the kids get a chance to play in and that’s what it’s all about.”

The game will be broadcast live on KGEZ 600 AM and 103.9 FM The Monster. A live video stream will also be available at www.mtsport.tv.