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Wolfpack fall just short in quarterfinals

by Daily Inter Lake
| November 7, 2020 7:45 PM

BILLINGS — The Glacier Wolfpack never led, never gave up and in at the end, in overtime, came up just a couple feet short – or rather, off to the right.

A missed field goal allowed Billings Senior to escape with a 20-17 win in the State AA football quarterfinals at Daylis Stadium Saturday afternoon. It was the final act in a taut game in which Glacier had fewer big plays but stout defense.

The Wolfpack also lost two players to COVID-19 quarantine before they could board the bus to Billings; two more were pulled off in Bozeman. Glacier still got touchdowns from Ethan Diede and Jake Rendina and a field goal from Patrick Rohrbach and ended up 6-3.

“Everybody has to deal with it. For all of that craziness, this group of kids handled it wonderfully,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “They’re a great group of kids, fun to coach. The “Care” factor with these seniors – they cared about each other, the staff, the sport. It’s a special group. Just wish I could coach them another week.”

The host Broncs (7-1) will travel to Missoula Sentinel (8-0) for a semifinal game Friday. This seemed likely when quarterback Junior Bergen tore off touchdown runs of 50 and 52 yards in the first quarter.

But the Wolfpack stayed in with a 9-yard touchdown pass from JT Allen to Diede – after Allen found Jake Turner for a 38-yard gain – and Rohrbach’s field goal. Senior had a second-quarter drive stall on downs at the Glacier 26, and settled for a 17-10 lead at half on Jackson Burckley’s field goal.

“I thought out defense was exceptional,” Bennett said. “The only athletes we saw to duplicate what Bergen was like was Missoula Sentinel, and that was such a snowy game…. both those big plays we were right there, and he’d spin away and be gone.

“But after that, after they got 17, our defense was brilliant. That drive at the end of the half was huge, because they had the ball to start the second half. That helped us stay in there and eventually tie it up.”

Glacier knotted it 17-17 on Rendina’s 1-yard scoring run – his 28th rushing TD this season – on the second snap of the fourth quarter. It capped a 14-play, 74-yard, Rendina-heavy drive.

The score stayed there through regulation.

Rendina managed 74 yards on 24 carries, after getting just six touches the first half. Bennett noted the absence of tight end Luke Bilau, who was out with a concussion; Diede tweaked a troublesome knee in the second half, though he still played defense.

“They just loaded the box and challenged us to throw,” Bennett said of the Broncs. “And their defense on the perimeter was really good. There was always an extra guy that we couldn’t block and that made it tough sledding.”

Burckley, who had 86 receiving yards, hit a 22-yard field goal to cap Senior’s overtime possession (Montana overtime is four downs, first-and-goal from the 10).

Rendina gained a couple yards to start Glacier’s possession, before Allen lost a few trying to bounce a keeper outside. Then he hit Casey Peiffer from the 11, down to the 3.

“Peif made a nice move and I thought he might get in,” Bennett said. “He made the corner miss and the safety (Bergen) came over and got enough of him.

“Then, shoot, Patrick’s one of the best kickers in the state and everybody knows he’s going to knock that in. There’s a lot of plays in that game, it doesn’t ome down to one guy or one play.”

Allen completed 18 of 31 passes for 163 yards. Peiffer had four catches for 47 yards.

Bergen ran for 153 yards for the Broncs, who outgained Glacier 361-282.

Glacier 7 3 0 7 0 - 17

Senior 14 3 0 0 3 - 20

S – Junior Bergen 50 run (Jackson Burckley kick), 4:47-1Q

G – Ethan Diede 9 pass from JT Allen (Patrick Rohrbach kick), 3:08-1Q

S – Bergen 52 run (Burckley kick), :15-1Q

G – Rohrbach 26 FG, 10:12-2Q

S – Burckley 26 FG, 6:24-2Q

G – Jake Rendina 1 run (Rohrbach kick), 11:27-4Q

S – Burckley 22 FG, OT

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Glacier (39-119) – Rendina 24-74, Allen 10-22, Casey Peiffer 2-12, Jake Turner 2-11, Team 1-0. Senior (39-236) – Bergen 17-153, Jacob Miller 21-84, Bubba Bergen 1-minus 1.

PASSING: Glacier – Allen 18-31-1 for 163 yards, Connor Sullivan 1-2-0 for 0 yards. Senior - Berger 10-17-0 for 125 yards, Michael Ohlin 1-1-0 for 19 yards.

RECEIVING: Glacier – Peiffer 4-47, Diede 4-36, Mason Naomi 2-11, George Herne 2-8, Rendina 2-4, Turner 1-38, Tyler Hausmann 1-10, Sullivan 1-5, Devon Wallack 1-4. Senior – Burckley 4-86, Malikye Simpson 4-30, Zeke Ramirez 1-19, Ohlin 1-6, Miller 1-3.