Wolfpack charge comes up short against Sentinel
MISSOULA — The defending State AA champs had just enough this time.
Missoula Sentinel got two touchdown passes from Zac Crews and two late scoring runs from Adam Jones to beat Glacier 29-21 in a Western AA football showdown Friday at MCPS Stadium.
Crews, who also ran for 108 yards, threw touchdown passes covering 37 and 21 yards, the last coming on a clock drive to end the first half and put the Spartans (4-0, 2-0 in the Western AA) up 15-14.
Glacier (3-1, 1-1 in league) led 14-8 on two Jake Rendina TD runs and 21-15 on Gage Sliter’s 8-yard scoring strike to Jake Turner at 4:35 of the third quarter.
The Spartans used an 80-yard drive to go ahead for good, Jones scoring from 1-yard out with 11;28 left in the game.
“It was a great football game,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “We did what we wanted to do: just come and play and be close in the fourth quarter and give ourselves a chance at the end. I think we found out we can beat a team that can contend. We talked all week about this game telling whether we were contenders or pretenders.”
A year ago on a snowy Legends Stadium field Sentinel rolled, 44-0. The Spartans piled up big yards — 410 of them — but couldn’t shake free. Jones’ final TD with 5:12 left still left Glacier with a chance to tie, before the Pack gave up the ball on downs.
“Credit to Sentinel, because they would answer back,” Bennett said. “They had just enough answers tonight to come out on top. I think we just hurt ourselves too many times with penalties and mistakes, to allow them to get that score and get the win.”
Offsides penalties helped Sentinel sustain drives, though the Spartans had more penalty yards (92-55).
“Two of them on fourth-and-shorts,” Bennett said. “I feel like on all three scoring drives, oir their last three, there was a key penalty, a discipline breakdown that allowed them to move the chains.
“But also, we’re a young team and I know those things are going to improve and get better. I’m excited. This team has a high ceiling. We just need to get better each week.”
Bennett singled out safety Levi Frost and linebackers Royce Conklin and Wyatt Thomason on defense. Rendina ran for 73 hard-earned yards on 23 carries, including a second-effort 13-yard TD run on fourth-and-1. Sliter threw for 140 yards.
“We can still get so much better,” Bennett said. “Because we have so many young players out there.”
Glacier brings Helena Capital into Legends Stadium for another showdown next Friday.
Glacier 0 14 7 0 - 21
Sentinel 8 7 0 14 - 29
S — Drew Klumph 37 pass from Zac Crews (Joseph Weida pass from Crews), 7:45-1Q
G — Jake Rendina 13 run (Patrick Rohrbach kick), 8:12-2Q
G — Rendina 2 run (Rohrbach kick), 3:06-2Q
S — Peyton Stevens 21 pass from Crews (Quentin Schraeder kick), :48-2Q
G — Jake Turner 8 pass from Gage Sliter (Rohrbach kick), 4:35-3Q
S — Adam Jones 1 run (Schraeder kick), 11:28-4Q
S — Jones 4 run (Schraeder kick), 5:12-4Q
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Glacier (28-76) — Rendina 23-72, Sliter 4-3, Wyatt Thomason 1-1. Sentinel (42-221) — Crews 16-108, Kellen Curtiss 8-73, Jones 15-36, Klumph 1-6, JJ Dolan 1-0, Team 1-minus 2.
PASSING: Glacier — Sliter 12-20-0 for 140 yards; Team 0-1-0 for 0 yards. Glacier — Crews 14-24-0 for 157 yards; Jones 1-1-0 for 32 yards.
RECEIVING: Glacier — Luke Bilau 4-50, Turner 3-55, Connor Sullivan 3-30, Tate Kauffman 1-6, Rendina 1-minus 1. Sentinel — Stevens 4-38, Klumph 3-52, Weida 2-34, Jones 2-19, Charlie Kirgan 2-6, Crews 1-32, Easton Leadbetter 1-8.