Adam Jones, Spartans end Wolfpack’s season

MISSOULA — The Wolfpack’s playoff run came to a screeching halt Friday night at MCPS Stadium, and playing the stopper was Missoula Sentinel’s Adam Jones.

Jones, a junior running back, ran for 165 yards and scored five touchdowns as unbeaten Sentinel took a 42-21 victory in the State AA football semifinals.

Glacier (8-4) came in having given the Spartans (10-0) their closest game of the season, a 29-21 verdict in September. That and the improved health of running back Jake Rendina had the Pack thinking upset. Instead Jones went wild, Rendina suffered a leg injury and the defending champion Spartans won their 20th straight.

“He reminds me of a Christian McCaffrey,” Sentinel coach Dane Oliver said of Jones, who had touchdown runs of 46, 6 and 59 yards and caught two TD passes from Zac Crews. “He’s great in the pass game and the run game. He’s a scat-back, but he also has great physicality.

“I thought the big boys got some push at times but he made us look pretty good all around.”

Glacier had some opportunities, including a promising drive right after Jones’ first touchdown burst. The Pack started near midfield after a strong kickoff return — Glacier’s special teams were mostly spot-on — and drove to first-and-goal at the 4.

That’s when Crews, who doubles as a defensive end, blew up an end-around for a 9-yard loss; the drive ended with Connor Sullivan getting tackled at the 2 on a fourth-down pass.

Glacier’s defense held up on Sentinel’s next two drives, including after Trevor Rausch picked off a pass at the Wolfpack 30-yard line.

But midway through the second quarter Crews, who ran for 112 yards, found Jones running a wheel route out of the back field for a 16-yard TD pass.

Glacier’s last gasp came after Luke Bilau snared a 22-yard Gage Sliter pass between two defenders, cutting the gap to 15-7 with 2:40 left in the half. It figured the Wolfpack could hold, then get the ball to start the third quarter and be back in business.

Crews guided the Spartans 75 yards instead, the last 14 coming on another pass to Jones curling uncovered out of the back field. Sentinel led 22-7 with 40 seconds left in the half.

“They’ve run it a few times, but I think Dane calls it at the right time,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “(Jones) is going to be tough for anybody to cover, even if they know he’s running it. But you get a backer to worry about Zac running the ball or somebody else, and then he slips out of the backfield — he’s tough to cover.

“Dane called it at the right time a few times, and yeah, Adam Jones had a big night.”

Things got worse when Glacier lost Rendina, who’s battled a bad ankle all season, before the half ended. He spent the second half leaning on crutches on the sideline.

“He’s gutted it out all year,” Bennett said of his record-setting back, who ran his season rushing total to 1,377 yards. “I thought he was close to being normal, but I’m not sure. He drug that leg around all year.”

Sentinel went up 29-7 on a 60-yard catch and run by Drew Klump midway through the third quarter, then saw Glacier’s Kash Goicoechea return the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to the 1.

Wyatt Thomason ran it on the next play to cut the deficit to 29-13, but Sentinel’s offense continued to cook. Especially Jones, who bounced out of a tackle and outran everyone on his 60-yard TD.

Down 42-13, Goicoechea had an 18-yard TD scamper with 1:37 left. Bilau and Sliter hooked up on a reverse option PAT pass to cap the scoring.

Sliter was 7-for-19 passing for 73 yards, and was intercepted twice. He ran for 48 yards, including a 37-yard burst on Glacier’s first scoring drive.

Thomason and Isaac Keim had 10 tackles each for Glacier’s defense. Safety Levi Frost and Sullivan, playing the corner, had eight and seven stops. Keim is a sophomore; the rest are seniors.

“It’s a special group of kids, I really love this group.” Bennett said of the senior class, which also includes Rendina, Bilau, receiver Tate Kauffman, linebacker Royce Conklin and kicker Patrick Rohrbach. “Our goal as coaches is to give them a great experience, but they gave us coaches a great experience. Just a great group of kids to coach. I’m going to miss them.”

Sentinel will play Billings West, which beat Helena 34-14 Friday, for the AA championship next Friday on this same field.

“Good luck to Sentinel,” Bennett said. “Keep it in the West.”

Glacier 0 7 6 8 - 21

Sentinel 8 14 7 13 - 42

S — Adam Jones 46 run (Tyler Christensen pass from Zac Crews), 8:26-1Q

S — Jones 16 pass from Crews (Quentin Schraeder kick), 5:27-2Q

G — Luke Bilau 22 pass from Gage Sliter (Rhett Measure kick), 2:46-2Q

S — Jones 14 pass from Crews (Schraeder kick), :40=2Q

S — Drew Klumph 60 pass from Zac Crews (Schraeder kick), 6:28-3Q

G — Wyatt Thomason 1 run (kick blocked), 6:09-3Q

S — Jones 6 run (run failed), 11:10-4Q

S — Jones 59 run (Schraeder kick), 6:01-4Q

G — Kash Goicoechea 18 run (Sliter pass from Bilau), 1:37-4Q

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Glacier (30-177) — Thomason 5-55, Sliter 5-48, Goicoechea 6-38, Jake Rendina 11-37, Bilau 1-4, Jake Turner 2-minus 5. Sentinel (47-284) — Jones 22-165, Crews 18-112, Brandon Rondeau 2-5, Drew Klumph 1-2, Riley Allen 1-2, Team 3-minus 2.

PASSING: Glacier — Sliter 7-19-2 for 73 yards; Bilau 0-1-0 for 0 yards. Sentinel — Crews 18-20-0 for 237 yards; Allen 0-1-0 for 0 yards.

RECEIVING: Glacier — Connor Sullivan 3-19, Bilau 1-22, Turner 1-16, Tate Kauffman 1-8, Rendina 1-8. Sentinel — Klumph 6-109, Jones 4-46, Joseph Weida 3-43, Easton Leadbetter 3-178, Charlie Kirgan 1-16, Connor Hangas 1-6.