AA football: Glacier looks to bust Broncs again

A couple more of these meetings and we’ll have a rivalry.

Billings Senior and Glacier are squaring off for the third straight year in the Class AA football playoffs, and for the second straight time in a first-round (play-in) game.

The Wolfpack and Broncs kickoff at 7 p.m. inside Legends Stadium.

“It sure seems like we’ve matched up with this team a lot,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said of the Broncs. “It feels like whether it’s a play-in, the quarterfinals or the state championship like in 2016. We’re very familiar with this matchup.”

Senior leads the series 5-2, including a 20-17 overtime win in 2020. The Wolfpack won last year’s game 21-14 at Legends. Bennett says throw out the Broncs’ 3-6 record (Glacier is 6-3) this season and expect another tough battle.

“Chris Murdock, I think, is one of the best coaches in Class AA,” Bennett said of his opposite number, who has guided the Broncs since 2012. “He’s so solid, does a great job.

“His history and their (overall) record speaks for itself. I feel they’re much better than their record. We don’t ever care about their record, but in this case specifically we know they’re much better.”

Senior lost a nail-biter to Helena early on, 21-20, beat Great Falls CMR 31-28 and dropped a 36-28 decision to Butte. Last week the Broncs thumped Belgrade 40-13 to nail down a postseason berth.

Glacier lost to Helena 24-21, beat Butte 55-41 and early on hammered Belgrade 63-0 before edging CMR 42-35.

Junior Peyton Oakley is Senior’s quarterback, and the junior has thrown for 1,456 yards and run for another 382. He’s accounted for 16 of his team’s 24 touchdowns this season.

Another junior, Maclain Burckley, has 57 catches and handles kicking duties for the Broncs.

Running back Jalen Rosas, listed a 5-foot-6, is coming off his first 100-yard game: He ran 16 times for 130 yards against Belgrade. BB Bergen scored three touchdowns, one with a 68-yard fumble return, in the Butte loss.

“You have to play well and defeat them; they don’t beat themselves,” Bennett said. “They have good perimeter athletes, on offense and defense. A lot of talent, a lot of speed.”

Glacier counters with the state’s most prolific quarterback, Gage Sliter, who has thrown for 2,801 yards and 34 touchdowns. The Wolfpack offense is balanced by its three-pronged running attack of Kobe Dorcheus, Jackson Hensley and Kash Goicoechea.

Cohen Kastelitz, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the state’s top receivers with 37 catches for 824 yards and seven TDs.

“He’s really had a great year,” Bennett said of the junior. “He just plays so hard and competes so hard that he just ends up in the right spot to make plays. He’s been a great story.

“I think our depth, too, with all the weapons we have, helps. Shoot, we don’t have Evan Barnes out there because he’s so important at corner. I think that depth has helped Cohen because you can’t double him because we have too many other guys. Good problem to have.”

It was Barnes that caught a school-record four touchdown passes in the Pack’s win over CMR.

Playoff Saturday

Columbia Falls has a playoff rematch as well, with Miles City coming in Saturday at 11 a.m.

A year ago the Cowboys pulled out a 21-20 win on the Wildcats’ turf.

The Cowboys have Charlie Lang at quarterback, sophomore Andy Bundy (748 yards, 10 touchdowns) is a talented running back and Riley Cline averages 24 yards per catch, taking six of his 20 receptions for TDs.

Last year’s game was marked by a missed PAT and five second-half fumbles on the part of the Wildcats; this season they’re 6-2 with QB Cody Schweikert throwing for 21 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Schweikert’s 2,052 passing yards leads Class A, and he and Reggie Sapa have combined for 11 rushing TDs.

Class A’s top two rushers are on the road: Quarterback Fynn Ridgeway (1,147 yards, 16 TDs) and the Whitefish Bulldogs are at Havre Saturday while running back Cy Stevenson (1,246 yards, 14 TDs) and the Libby Loggers are at Laurel.

Havre, like Whitefish, has a dual-threat quarterback in Kale VanCampen. Tate Nelson is a threat at running back as well.

The run-first Locomotives are led by running back Owen Younger (434 yards; 6.4 a carry) and quarterback Gus Robertus (345 yards passing, 262 rushing).

In Class B, unbeaten Bigfork gets a home game against Manhattan while Eureka takes to the road to face Boulder.

Bigfork has reaped the benefits of an improved passing game led by Tristen Herd, who has 19 touchdown throws to go with 1,122 yards.

According to maxpreps.com, nobody in Class B has more than Isak Epperly’s six TD catches. And yes, the Vikings still run the ball: Joseph Farrier has 10 TDs and Bigfork averages 240 yards and 8.4 yards a carry on the ground.

In Manhattan the Vikings will have to deal with an offense that is part wing-T, part spread. Benn coached Tigers’ coach Wes Kragt in high school, at Huntley Project.

Eureka likes to run more, with Haiden Johnson (804 yards, six touchdowns), Tristan Butts (763, 7) and Remington Little (373, 5) leading the way. Butts has also thrown for 538 yards and seven scores.

Boulder counters with quarterback Luke Oxarart, who has thrown for 702 yards and run for 656, and running back Dylan Root (781 yards, 10 touchdowns on the ground).