Crosstown Football Legendary meeting for Flathead, Glacier meet
After four weeks of delays, Flathead and Glacier will finally get a chance to play at Legends Stadium.
That the game comes against each other is a lucky coincidence.
Nearly a month of construction delays in installing the new artificial turf pushed the opener to last week, when the schools were forced to shut down after a terror threat.
Now, with seemingly every impediment out of the way, the teams will share the home opener, with Glacier manning the home sideline on the West and Flathead on the East.
“They’re super excited for this weekend,” Flathead coach Kyle Samson said. “It should be a great event for Kalispell to have the first game pitting the two teams against each other.”
The game also comes with both teams needing to reboot their seasons. Flathead has started 1-2 and Glacier 0-3, with each team losing a shot to earn a win last week. With Class AA teams typically needing five or six wins to make the playoffs, and only six weeks remaining, both teams are stuck in a playoff race that is close to leaving them behind.
“That’s been our theme all week: that sense of urgency,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.
“Whether it’s trying to get that win, and we need that win, or just playing with a sense of urgency, I think that’s what we’ve been missing. It’s been our focus on both fronts. The win-loss column yes, but also just playing with a sense of urgency.”
Glacier will be breaking in a new quarterback, giving junior Evan Todd the start after his impact performance at Bozeman. Todd jump-started the stagnant Wolfpack offense with a touchdown drive and nearly led two more in the loss.
The Wolfpack found some success with wildcat packages, lining up wideouts Jackson Pepe and Mark Estes at quarterback. That look will aim to ease pressure on senior running back Drew Turner, who has carried the ball 61 times in three games, second most in the state at the position.
“We’ve been really practicing hard this week,” Pepe said.
“We’re going to put it all on the line and hopefully get a turnaround for the season.”
One place where execution has stalled for Glacier is on special teams, with the Pack missing an extra point and a field goal and surrendering a kickoff return touchdown in a 7-6 loss at Bozeman.
“Special teams is an area where we have to get better,” Bennett said.
“You can look back to the Bozeman game and feel like that cost us the game in a sense. That’s something the guys have been working hard on all week and it’s something we need to get better at.”
Flathead has had strong starts to all three games this season, with senior quarterback Taylor Morton leading the Braves to second half leads in each. The problem has been with closing games out, with Flathead losing each of its last two by a single score.
“We’ve just got to do a little bit better job in the second half of finishing,” Samson said.
“We were winning both games at halftime. We’ve just got to go out and make sure that we finish better.”
The Braves have found a threat on the offensive side of the ball with the combination of Morton and junior receiver AJ Jones. Morton is third in the state in passing yards and Jones second in receiving yards.
There is also the added motivation of breaking an 8-year winning streak by the Wolfpack. The last time Flathead won a crosstown game was a 38-28 shootout in 2008, with senior quarterback Brock Osweiler at the helm.
“We didn’t get our full Monday practice this week, but other than that I feel like this has been our best week of practice,” Morton said.
“Every single one of our guys has been so focused. We know that we have a tough competition ahead.
“Not only have we not played in two weeks, crosstown is a huge rivalry for both teams. Knowing that we haven’t beat them in nine years, we’re really ready to get after it.”
The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at Legends Stadium. The Flathead radio call will be on 96.5 FM and 600 AM KGEZ and the Glacier call on 103.9 FM The Monster.
There will be a live stream of the game available on mtsport.tv.
Crosstown Football History
Glacier leads series 8-2
Oct. 21, 2016 — Glacier 43, Flathead 7
Oct. 23, 2015 — Glacier 41, Flathead 26
Oct. 31, 2014 — Glacier 27, Flathead 7
Nov. 1, 2013 — Glacier 56, Flathead 7
Sept. 28, 2012 — Glacier 55, Flathead 14
Sept. 30, 2011 — Glacier 56, Flathead 44
Sept. 24, 2010 — Glacier 48, Flathead 35
Sept. 25, 2009 — Glacier 41, Flathead 7
Oct. 17, 2008 — Flathead 38, Glacier 28
Oct. 12, 2007 — Flathead 49, Glacier 13