Class AA Football Glacier, Flathead hope to end regular season on a high note
They are all important, but perhaps more so this week.
Glacier must win to reach the Class AA football playoffs.
Flathead, already guaranteed a spot in the upcoming 8-team playoff field, needs a win to earn a higher seed.
The top four seeds host first-round playoff games.
So those are the stakes for both teams entering the final weekend — No. 10 — of the regular season.
Glacier (4-5), for the second straight week, has a Thursday contest, this time at Missoula Hellgate (2-7) at 7 p.m.
Fourth-ranked Flathead entertains No. 5 Helena High at Legends Stadium Friday night at 7 in its regular-season finale.
The playoff quarterfinals begin Nov. 2.
“If we win, we’re in,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.
Depending on how the other games play out, the Wolfpack would be seeded sixth, seventh or eighth. Four other teams are also 4-5 on the season — Missoula Sentinel, Great Falls High, Butte and Helena Capital. Those five teams are battling for three playoff spots.
Glacier lost to Sentinel 35-28, but beat Great Falls 42-38 and Capital 35-21. Glacier did not play Butte.
The Wolfpack has won three straight and four of the last six.
“It makes me proud of the boys, coaches,” Bennett said.
“They believed, worked hard.
“At 1-5, a lot of teams would start to pack it in a little bit. But that next week the kids went to Great Falls and pulled out a really big win. Since then we have been on a roll. It’s a pretty neat story (so far), we just need to finish it.”
Glacier is looking to get back to the postseason after missing out a year ago with a 4-6 mark. That snapped a string of eight straight years in the playoffs.
“The playoffs (this year)are as wide open as it’s ever been,” Bennett said. “If we can get in, all eight teams have a shot. It will be the best tournament ever.”
But for that to happen, Hellgate stands in the way.
“They beat a team that beat us,” Bennett said.
“The Hellgate coach has turned that program around. They believe they can win, play with anybody. We will have to play our best. It doesn’t matter. This week is about us getting better, taking the next step, getting in the playoffs and making something happened.”
Flathead coach Kyle Samson welcomes the challenge of finishing with a tough foe.
“I like having a game like this before the playoffs,” he said.
“They (Helena High Bengals) are big and physical, have a big offensive line, good running back. They are solid all the way around. We just have to be ready to go.”
Samson said his team has made improvements each week.
“That’s exciting,” he said. “We’re playing our best football right now.
“The kids are doing a good job of working on the little things every day,” he added.
“It’s something we talked about — focusing on the little things.”
Glacier and Flathead enter their games in relatively good health. If Glacier would advance to the playoffs, running back Preston Blain has a shot at breaking the school rushing record for a season. He currently has 1,397 yards after last week’s 232-yard, four- touchdown performance against Big Sky. Drew Turner has the school record of 1,666 yards set in 2017.
Standings
Class AA
Overall
W L
Bozeman 9 0
Billings West 8 1
Helena 7 2
Flathead 7 2
Billings Senior 6 3
Missoula Sentinel 4 5
Great Falls High 4 5
Glacier 4 5
Butte 4 5
Helena Capital 4 5
Great Falls CMR 2 7
Missoula Big Sky 2 7
Missoula Hellgate 2 7
Billings Skyview 0 9
Today
7 p.m. — Glacier at Missoula Hellgate
7 p.m. — Bozeman at Billings Skyview
Friday
7 p.m. — Helena High at Flathead
7 p.m. — Butte at Missoula Big Sky
7 p.m. — Missoula Sentinel at Helena Capital
7 p.m. — Great Falls at Great Falls CMR
7 p.m. — Billings West at Billings Senior
Last Week
Glacier 34, Missoula Big Sky 14
Billings West 34, Great Falls CMR 21
Bozeman 52, Great Falls High 26
Flathead 62, Missoula Hellgate 23
Butte 56, Billings Skyview 13
Helena Capital 42, Billings Senior 21
Helena High 34, Missoula Sentinel 28, OT