AA Football Glacier hoping for some playoff help
The Glacier football team has its hands full this week. And not just with the game on the field.
Glacier (3-5) will host Missoula Hellgate (0-9) tonight at 7 at Legends Stadium needing a win to keep its playoff hopes alive. If it gets that win, it will start scoreboard watching, hoping for either Helena Capital or Billings Skyview to give the Wolfpack some help.
Glacier’s 0-4 start to the season, capped by a crosstown loss to Flathead last month, put the Wolfpack behind in the Class AA standings with little hope of making the playoffs.
Since that night, the Wolfpack offense has been nearly unstoppable in a 3-1 stretch that culminated with a narrow loss at Missoula Big Sky last week.
Despite the loss, which took Glacier’s playoff hopes out of its own hands, there were loads of positives in the game. The Wolfpack scored at least 30 points for the fourth straight game and senior tailback Drew Turner ran for a school record 276 yards.
“Really encouraged,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.
“Even though we lost that game I still feel like we’re getting better and we’re progressing. Obviously, there’s some things (that we need to fix). Defensively, we’ll make some adjustments and we’ll fix some things and grow. It wasn’t a game where we took a step backwards. It wasn’t. It was still steps forward, we just got beat.
“You look at all the positives and you fix the things you need to fix.”
Glacier was beat up in the loss, losing a handful of starters to injury, and will need to show off its depth against Hellgate. The Knights, while not deep, have talent on their roster, led by University of Montana basketball commit Rollie Worster at quarterback.
“We have to keep rolling with whoever steps in there,” Bennett said.
“The thing about Hellgate is they play hard. Coach (Mick) Morris is doing a good job. You put the film on, some teams at this point (of the season) are ready to turn the pads in. These guys are playing. In the first quarter, first half against Flathead, if you didn’t know any better you’d think these guys are playing for something. He’s got them believing that whether it’s this year or next year they’re going to turn things around.”
A win against the winless Knights would get the Wolfpack halfway to a trip back to the playoffs. Glacier would then need a loss from either Missoula Sentinel (4-4) or Bozeman (4-5) to slide back into the top eight and into the playoffs for a ninth straight season. Sentinel plays at Helena Capital and will look to end a two-game losing streak on the road. Bozeman lost five straight games before a 30-0 win over Great Falls last week. The Hawks host Billings Skyview (3-6), a team that has won three of its last four games.
“Unfortunately we can only control what we can control and hope that we get in,” Bennett said. “I still feel if we get in, we can do some damage. I still believe this team has a lot of potential.
“The guys that we’re pulling for, Skyview is playing really well now and Capital’s a good team. So, we’re pulling for some good teams and I think it can work out. We’re banged up a little bit. If we get in and get some guys back, I still think this team can make a run.”
If Glacier makes the playoffs, it would be as a seventh or eighth seed, and would come with a likely trip to Billings or Helena. Billings Senior has already secured the top seed in the playoffs and Helena High can take the second seed with a win against Flathead or a loss from Big Sky.