Unbeaten Pack gets week started on road against Hellgate

The Flathead Braves didn’t have the best time a week ago playing Helena Capital, and the task doesn’t get easier Friday with unbeaten Helena High making a visit to Legend Stadium.

The fourth week of Class AA football gets started today with Glacier’s game against Missoula Hellgate, at MCPS Stadium, at 7 p.m.

Here’s a quick look at those games as well as a Western A showdown Friday in Columbia Falls between the 4-1 Wildcats and the 5-0 Hamilton Broncs.

Glacier at Hellgate

A week ago Glacier (3-0) coach Grady Bennett took stock of his subdued team after an uneven first half against Missoula Big Sky, and reminded them they were ahead, 8-6.

A dominant third quarter followed on both offense and defense of what became a 36-18 victory. Bennett would like to see that expanded out to all four 12-minute blocks.

“The goal now is play like that, because we’re a pretty good team when we put it all together,” he said.

Quarterback JT Allen was at his best in the third quarter after two first-half interceptions. Jake Rendina, the top rusher in Class AA, broke loose several times on the way to 233 yards.

“Both of JT’s interceptions were good reads and good decisions,” Bennett said. “He just had bad technique and sailed both throws. It was just about him needing to relax and get over his front foot and have good technique.

“He did a great job the second half.”

The Knights (1-2) have a talented trio in quarterback Dante Maiuri, running back Jacob Sweatland and AA’s leading receiver, Ian Finch.

“Last year as sophomores they were effective against us,” Bennett said of Sweatland and Finch. “They’re as good as anyone in the state, really, individually. Very, very good players.”

Maiuri, a Washington transfer, was injured last week against Helena and replaced by Ryan Wolstad – who is also Hellgate’s top tackler.

“Wolstad came in and he did a nice job – really quick, athletic. The first two drives they drove right down against Helena’s good defense,” Bennett said.

The veteran coach singled out Glacier defensive end Ethan Diede and linebacker AJ Wood for their play last week. Wood also stood out on special teams. Wood (25 tackles), Ben Stotts and Diede all have over 20 stops.

“Ethan Diede, for the first year playing defense, is doing really well,” Bennett said. “If our defense continues to get better every week, we’ll have a chance to do some damage.”

Helena at Flathead

The Bengals (3-0) have a renowned defensive front led by Zach Carson and his five sacks, and an accurate quarterback in Kaden Huot. But it doesn’t end there.

“They’re good on all three levels on defense,” Flathead coach Matt Upham said. “Their secondary is one of the best in the state and their linebacker corps is maybe the best we’ll see. And the front is really good, too.

“It’s an opportunity to get better, though.”

Flathead’s 41-0 loss at Capital featured a new starting quarterback in Jackson Walker, in for Charlie Hinchey for “undisclosed reasons.” The sophomore threw for 39 yards.

“He did some good things,” Upham said. “He does good things with his legs, made some good adjustments and had some good audibles.

“We need to get him more accurate – we had some shots down the field that we kind of underthrew. But that comes with more experience.”

Flathead (0-3) is leaning heavy on senior Alec Thomas, who has 58 carries (for 217 yards) at running back and also sits sixth in Class AA in tackles (29) from his linebacker spot. That’s up there with Helena’s top linebacker, Zachary Evans (31).

Upham had new faces in the lineup last week aside from Walker, including safety Dylan Zink, a junior.

“I thought he did some really good things,” Upham said. “He made some first-start mistakes but overall he really helped our defense quite a bit.”

The secondary will be tested by Chase McGurran, who has caught half of Huot’s eight touchdown passes (against one interception). Raef Miller is another big target at receiver; Ethan Maxness is the Bengals’ top ball carrier.

Hamilton at Columbia Falls

The Western A basically comes down to this: Six teams have separated themselves from the pack – split between the Northwest and Southwest – and four will make the postseason.

Columbia Falls, Libby and Whitefish are vying with Hamilton, Frenchtown and Dillon.

Libby plays all three of those teams, beginning with Dillon next week at home.

Hamilton comes to Columbia Falls wanting to prove it’s a helmet above the rest. The matchup includes and is not limited to: quarterback Tyson Rostad, running back Ben Rooney and receiver Jaiden Klemundt for Hamilton against Wildcat counterparts Mason Peters, Rowdy White and Cade Morgan.

Rostad is following his brother Carson to the University of Montana football program.

Whitefish, which plays host to Corvallis Friday, is at Hamilton next week and draws Dillon the week after. Columbia Falls heads on the road next week to Frenchtown.