AA football: Glacier heads to Butte for key battle
So much for a tidy finish to the Western AA football season.
Butte’s home loss to Helena Capital last week was less shocking for it being the Bulldogs’ first league loss than it was for the final score: 43-3, Bruins.
That was hard to predict; so would a season in which Glacier beat Capital, which then beat Butte a week later, after Butte beat Helena 34-20 on Sept 10 and before Helena handed Glacier a 48-24 loss this past Friday.
“The West is incredibly competitive,” said Glacier coach Grady Bennett, whose club kicks off with Butte at 7:30 p.m. today inside Naranche Stadium. “I think it’s one of the best years in a long time.”
Six teams from the West will make the AA playoffs, and it appears there are five teams in the running for a first-round playoff game, including unbeaten Sentinel.
Flathead, meanwhile, takes on the aforementioned Helena Bengals tonight at Legends Stadium.
Glacier at Butte
A pair of juniors spark the Butte offense: Quarterback Jace Stenson and receiver Cameron Gurnsey, whose 45 catches and 608 yards put him in range of a couple school records.
So what happened last Friday? The Bulldogs gave up some big plays, including an 80-yard scoring run by Tom Carter to start a 21-point third quarter.
“I think it just shows — and I told the team this in Helena — that the West is still competitive, and any given night the team that shows up and executes the best, plays the best, can do anything,” Bennett said.
The stinging loss doesn’t make Butte any less dangerous, and perhaps will do the opposite.
“They have a lot of perimeter speed, a lot of athletes,” Bennett said. “Similar to Helena, and Sentinel. And Capital. All these teams have a lot of talent. When you watch the film it's not a surprise that the Bulldogs got after Helena.”
Butte should have defensive end/tight end Dylan Snyder, who had five sacks before missing the Capital game with a knee injury. The Bulldogs lost safety to a dislocated shoulder against the Bruins, however.
Linebackers Keegen Muffich, Luke Anderson and Connor Konda are defensive leaders; Casey Kautzman has kicked a 51-yard field goal for Butte.
Glacier’s Jake Rendina continues to lead the West in rushing with 653 yards, though he was held to 39 last week. The senior has been playing through an ankle injury, and the Helena game marked just the second time in 14 outings he hadn’t scored a touchdown.
“He’s definitely not 100 percent,” Bennett noted. “But he’s a tough kid, a courageous kid. We had him checked and there’s nothing structurally wrong. But it’s tough — you’re trying to keep him healthy, or do you pull him for a game to get him healthier. And he wants to be out there helping.
“We’ll see how he’s feeling today and tomorrow.”
Bennett hoped for better field position, which was an issue in Helena, and more stops by a defense led by linebackers Wyatt Thomason and Royce Conklin.
Junior quarterback Gage Sliter continues to complete a high percentage of passes, and he has Connor Sullivan, Jake Turner, Luke Bilau and Tate Kauffman to throw to.
It was Turner that scored all of the Wolfpack’s TDs last week.
“Jake Turner was just fantastic,” Bennett said. “And Connor Sullivan took a shot to his knee and I was scared to death for him. He limped his way through the game and made plays, played very well. On a night we obviously struggled a little bit, those two played extremely well.”
Helena at Flathead
The Bengals come to town having a nice bounce-back win over Glacier, mainly on the arm and legs of Kaden Huot.
“Another pretty good quarterback coming to town,” Flathead coach Alex Cummings said. “He’s tough.”
Huot and linebacker/running back Marcus Evans are Montana Grizzlies commits, and Helena has plenty of talent besides. Flathead, searching for its first win, had a few moments against Missoula Sentinel in a 54-0 loss.
Dylan Zink forced a pair of fumbles and Kayden Berkey had a sack and fumble forced and recovered. The carries at running back went back to Joe Jones, but Cummings hopes Trevor Burke and Kaden Henshaw will shore things up there.
“I really would like to get them going,” he said. “Henshaw was out last week with that hamstring. It would be good to have those three back in the game.”
Quarterback Jackson Walker continues to have good moments within an inconsistent offense. Brody Thornsberry has been the main receiving target.
“Jackson makes some good plays on his feet,” Cummings said. “The biggest challenge is up front, protecting him. We have a good bunch of athletes at receiver. We need to do a good job of protection and Jackson needs to deliver the ball.”
Among the issues against Sentinel was the punt team: The Spartans blocked one punt for a touchdown and the Braves could not get out of their own end of the field.
“Flipping the field, taking care of the football, forcing turnovers,” Cummings said. “And we need to tackle better. Against a tough football team we need to be able to do those things this week.”