Glacier falls short in loss to CMR

By JOSEPH TERRY

The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS — Glacier couldn’t get a stop when it needed to, surrendering a near 8-minute drive to Great Falls C.M. Russell in the final quarter to sap any fruitful run at a comeback in a sloppy 21-14 Class AA football loss on Friday at Satterthwaite Field.

CMR (1-1) fended off a second-half rally from Glacier (0-2), scoring a go-ahead touchdown at the end of the third quarter, then successfully milked the clock for the rest of the game, holding possession for 8 minutes, 58 seconds of the 12-minute fourth quarter to earn the win. The backbreaker was a 16-play, 60-yard, clock-sapping drive that lasted for 7:38 of game clock, leaving Glacier with just 1:39 to drive the length of the field for a potential game-tying score.

“You’ve got to give them a ton of credit,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “As we were kind of coming back and getting the momentum, they put the hammer down and pounded the nail in.

“That was big by them. That was a great drive. There was so many good things (in the game), but we had three offsides penalties in that drive. Across the board we have to get better.”

Glacier finally found its preferred tempo in the final drive, moving the ball 66 yards to the Rusters 14-yard line, only to miss on two chances at the end zone with the game ending on a sack.

“We thought we had a good call to get a double move, and we did, but they brought the heat and forced (Glacier senior quarterback Brady Peiffer) to step up,” Bennett said. “If he would’ve had just a little bit longer, I think he had a guy open. But, he was forced to step up and escape to the right and that closed that off. That’s the first time he’s been in that situation, it’s all a learning experience.”

The Wolfpack offense was almost nonexistent for most of the game with CMR packing the box to prevent Glacier running back Drew Turner from burning them on the ground. In the first half, Glacier compiled just 46 yards and one first down on only 20 plays, passing for negative yards and turning the ball over three times.

“They packed the box,” Bennett said. “We knew they were going to do that. That’s what teams are probably going to do, pack the box and put seven or eight, nine (players), really, near the line of scrimmage and challenge us to beat them in the passing game. We’re not there yet. We’ve got to keep getting better.”

CMR scored both of its first-half touchdowns off Glacier fumbles, needing to drive just four yards on its first scoring drive and 35 on its second, completing both in third-down situations.

That momentum turned slightly at the start of the third quarter, when Glacier came out firing.

The Wolfpack fed Turner on the first drive of the second half, with the senior back breaking free on a 45-yard run to put Glacier in plus territory for only the third time all game. Turner didn’t need much more time to finish off the drive, bowling in for a 13-yard touchdown just two plays later to cut the Rustlers lead to 14-6.

Glacier’s Cole Crosby continued the roll, picking off a CMR pass shortly after and returning it 53 yards to the Rusters 12-yard line. New addition Mark Estes got his first touchdown at Glacier three plays later, follwing up the score with a conversion pass to Max Morris to tie the game at 14-14 less than eight minutes into the half.

CMR wasn’t deterred, however, converting a long third down on the next drive, then leaning on quarterback Garrison Rothwell to get deep in Glacier territory. With 26 seconds left in the third quarter, Rothwell found Kyle Byrne wide open in coverage and completed the easy pitch-and-catch for a 29-yard touchdown to retake the lead. That drive took 3:34 off the clock, a precursor to the final, clock-draining drives the Rustlers were able to convert in the fourth quarter.

Glacier went three-and-out on its next two drives, but pinned CMR to its own 12 with more than nine minutes to play, flipping the field for what seemed to be an advantage. A holding call a few plays later only pinned the Rustlers back further, sticking them with a second-and-21 at their own 13, but the Wolfpack couldn’t get off the field.

CMR got out of the deep yardage in two plays, completing a 13-yard pass on third-and-9, then converted two more third downs and drew two more encroachment penalties to steadily march down the field. Glacier called two timeouts on the drive to conserve time, finally forcing a pooch punt with 1:39 to play that traveled through the end zone.

The Wolfpack moved the ball quickly on its last drive, picking up double-digit yardage in its first two plays. A 21-yard connection with 20 seconds to play got the Pack to the 14-yard line with enough time for a few shots at a tying or go-ahead score.

The first try found Turner in the back corner of the end zone, only to see the ball knocked away. The second chance never got out of the backfield, with Peiffer avoiding a few defenders in the backfield but unable to uncork a shot into the end zone before being pulled down with no time remaining.

Turner finished with 95 yards on the ground, with 63 coming on one drive. Peiffer was 12 for 25 with 67 yards passing and an interception.

The CMR offense wasn’t necessarily better, finishing with just 294 total yards. Rothwell was 11 for 24 passing for 125 yards with a pair of picks and two touchdowns. He also led the team with 58 yards rushing.

This is the second time in two years the Wolfpack has started its season with a pair of losses, opening 0-2 in 2015 before rallying off nine straight wins to get back to the state semifinals. In 2013, the Pack started 1-2 before ripping off a long winning streak that ended in its first state title game appearance.

“We talked about what happened in 2013,” Bennett said. “Those guys stepped up and responded in the right way. They didn’t panic, they didn’t pull the plug. Everybody stepped up, worked a little harder, took care of things a bit better, became a little bit more accountable. That team went to the finals.

“In 2015, we started 0-2. Again, the guys didn’t panic or pull the plug.

“It’s what those guys in the locker room decide to do with it. Again, it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. We’ve been here before. That’s why we do what we do as a program. Everybody has a choice to make. You either step up and do things a little bit harder, a little bit better, be a little bit more accountable for what you’re not getting done, or you can step back ... Now, it’s on all of us. We have to find ways to improve.”

CMR 7 7 7 0 — 21

Glacier 0 0 14 0 — 14

First quarter

C — Jake Olsen 7 pass from Garrison Rothwell (Cason Taylor kick), 7:04

Second quarter

C — Jake Wilkins 24 pass from Kellen Hartman (Taylor kick), 8:44

Third quarter

G — Drew Turner 13 run (Pass fail), 9:49

G — Mark Estes 13 run (Max Morris pass from Estes), 4:06

C — Kyle Byrne 29 pass from Rothwell (Taylor kick), 0:26

CMR Gla

First downs 20 9

Total net yards 294 189

Rushes-yards 46-145 23-122

Passing 149 67

Punt returns 0-0 3-39

Kickoff returns 3-65 2-22

Interceptions-Ret. 1-0 2-61

Comp-Att-Int 25-12-2 25-12-1

Punts 7-239 6-221

Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-2

Penalties-yards 8-57 7-35

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — CMR, Garrison Rothwell 21-58, Jayson Ingalls 17-54, Jaydon Dobrow 4-19, Tucker Greenwell 3-14. Glacier, Drew Turner 16-95, Brady Peiffer 4-19, Mark Estes 2-6, Jackson Pepe 1-2.

PASSING — CMR, Garrison Rothwell 11-24-2-125, Kellen Hartman 1-1-0-24. Glacier, Brady Peiffer 12-25-1-67.

RECEIVING — CMR, Kellen Hartman 4-34, Jake Wilkins 3-45, Jake Olsen 3-26, Kyle Byrne 2-44. Glacier, Drew Deck 4-21, Jackson Pepe 3-15, Max Morris 2-12, Brec Rademacher 1-8.