Glacier heads back to Butte seeking better outcome
The Glacier Wolfpack’s last visit to Naranche Stadium didn’t end well: A fourth-quarter interception and a safety set the stage for Butte’s 20-17 win on Oct. 8.
Now comes the rematch, this time in the Class AA quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and the (7-3) Pack has to figure things will go better this time around — because they couldn’t have gone much worse a month ago.
“We lost by three and we let it get away in the fourth quarter,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “And we had 19 penalties. You look at that alone — how many times we had first-and-15, first-and-20, it was hard to get Jake Rendina going — and just cleaning that up makes a huge difference. It tells us this time can be better, it can be different.”
Rendina is back atop the AA rushing ranks with 1,112 yards. He gained 95 last week in Glacier’s 21-14 playoff win over Billings Senior, while Butte (6-3) practiced through a bye week.
He managed 75 yards on 16 carries in the first matchup with Butte, and the Bulldogs held him out of the end zone. That’s notable because the senior has 21 touchdowns this season and 49 over the past two. In fact in 2020 Rendina gashed Butte for 184 yards and four scores in a 33-17 Glacier win.
This year’s Wolfpack is more balanced than the 2020 version, with junior quarterback Gage Sliter throwing for 2,038 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Jake Turner came back from a shoulder injury to catch his eighth touchdown last week. He has 44 catches for 621 yards and fellow senior Connor Sullivan has 39 for 683.
Butte, though, has its particular set of skill players.
Cameron Gurnsey is the top receiver target; his 60 catches (for 809 yards) are second in AA. Quarterback Jace Stenson, a junior, scored two touchdowns in the last matchup. His second gave Butte its first lead, 18-17, with 10:12 left.
“They definitely have weapons,” Bennett said of the Bulldogs. “But I think No. 1, they play hard. I think they’re the scrappiest, toughest-playing team in the state. They battle you. They don’t have the best size or whatever, but Coach Arie Grey has them playing well.”
Tight end Dylan Singer missed one game then returned to wear the Wolfpack on both sides of the ball on Oct. 8.
“Prime example,” Bennett said. “The kid never left the field. Ran routes all game on offense and then played really well at defensive end.”
Bennett also notices linebacker Keegen Muffich and defensive tackle Cooper Konda.
Glacier is led defensively by linebacker Wyatt Thomason, safety Levi Frost, linebacker Royce Conklin and defensive end Erik Junk. Thomason has a team-high 80 tackles and he, Justin Timlick and Isaac Keim have four sacks each. Only Aiden Krause (five) has more.
Frost and Sullivan have four picks each. Sullivan has broken up 14 passes and is one of three Glacier players to return kickoffs for a score. Turner and Kash Goicoechea are the others.
The Pack’s special teams took a hit, though, when Patrick Rohrbach suffered a groin injury early in the regular-season finale against Missoula Hellgate. He sounds doubtful for Naranche, where he boomed a 51-yard field goal on Oct. 8.
There’s a football axiom that it’s tough to beat the same team twice, but Bennett knows a victory starts with cleaner play and includes execution and toughness.
“I felt like they outplayed the first game,” Bennett said. “They kind of out-toughed us, out-fought us. If you want to change the outcome, that can’t be the case this time.”
NOTES: Rendina quietly passed Drew Turner for the career rushing record at Glacier; he has 3,489 yards, while Turner gained 3,466 from 2015-17. … One more TD pass and Sliter will be the seventh Glacier QB to have 20 in one season. Brady McChesney did it twice, throwing 80 total in 2013-14.