Wolfpack cleans up at 77th Shrine Game
GLACIER WOLFPACK players, from left, Isaac Keim, Kash Goicoechea and Cohen Kastelitz pose with their Shrine Game MVP trophies. (photo courtesy of Rhonda Kastelitz)
The Glacier Wolfpack made an impact on the 77th East-West Shrine Game at Daylis Stadium in Billings Saturday night.
As in three Most Valuable Player awards.
Kash Goicoechea ran 12 times for 169 yards and two long touchdowns, Cohen Kastelitz had four catches for 53 yards and Isaac Keim was a beast on defense as the West claimed its fourth straight win in the all-star football series, 48-20.
Goicoechea garnered the Roger Silvernale Award for the game’s most outstanding player, while Keim – who like Goicoechea is headed to the Montana Grizzlies – was the West’s defensive MVP. Kastelitz, who’s headed to Montana Tech, was his team’s offensive MVP.
Whitefish’s Mason Kelch, another Montana Tech signee and Kastelitz’s cousin, hit 5 of 6 PAT kicks for the West.
The winners seized momentum when Goicoechea tore off a 57-yard touchdown run on the game’s sixth snap. With his team holding a 21-0 lead, the Griz legacy took a pitch 70 yards for another score with 10 seconds left in the first half.
Watching was Keim, who in addition to playing defensive end and D-tackle, handled the long-snapping duties for the West.
“I saw him get in the flat and kind of break away and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, nobody’s catching him,’ ” Keim said. “I maybe ran onto the field before he scored. That’s my teammate, right? Next year as well, he’s my teammate. It was a great sight to see.”
Down 28-0 at halftime, the East closed the gap with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Billings Central’s Adam Balkenbush to Bozeman High’s Rocky Lencioni, and a 1-yard TD run from Red Lodge’s Thomas Buchanan.
The East then forced a punt, but Three Forks safety Colten Hayder made his second interception of the game for the West, at his own 3-yard line.
Soon his team was up three TDs: Missoula Sentinel’s Danny Sirmon followed an 82-yard burst from Big Sky’s Joey Sandberg with a 15-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter.
Billings Senior’s Maclain Burckley then caught a 5-yard scoring pass from Buchanan with 4:40 left in the game, but the East’s final two possessions ended in pick-6s: Hamilton’s Lucas Lant took one 40 yards for a TD, and Florence’s Tyler Abbott took another 92 yards for the game’s final points. Both interceptions came in the final 42 seconds.
The West roster was peppered with Flathead Valley athletes: Glacier’s Alex Hausmann played defensive back (and was co-leader in tackles with four); Flathead High’s Braden Capser played outside linebacker; Bigfork’s Elijah Thorness played tight end; Thorness and the Columbia Falls duo of Tristan Crane and Hunter Goodman helped the West rush for a Shrine Game-record 337 yards.
In addition, Eureka’s Tristan Butts played receiver for the West and Libby’s Jace DeShazer played inside linebacker.
Butts had two catches for 21 yards.
The annual series includes a week-long camp in which often, former combatants are roommates. The game raises funds for the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Spokane.
“It’s really great to know that’s more than a game,” said Keim, who roomed with Helena High’s Carter Kraft.
“We had a great, great week of camp,” Goicoechea told montanasports.com. “And this is just awesome to see all the work we put in come together.”
Sandberg had 94 rushing yards on just four carries, including a 4-yard scoring run. Kraft was 5 of 11 passing for 39 yards and had a 3-yard TD run. Dillon’s Kee Christiansen threw for 97 yards on 10 of 21 passing. He was intercepted once.
Buchanan and Balkenbush combined for 324 passing yards for the East but were picked off a total of four times. The East had six turnovers, to two for the West.
Lencioni, who had nine catches for 137 yards, was the East’s offensive MVP. Great Falls CMR defensive back River Wasson was his team’s defensive MVP.
West 14 14 0 20 - 48
East 0 0 14 6 - 20
W – Kash Goicoechea 57 run (Mason Kelch kick), 12:02-1Q
W – Joey Sandberg 4 run (Kelch kick), 5:33-1Q
W – Carter Kraft 3 run (Kelch kick), 6:15-2Q
W – Goicoechea 70 run (Kelch kick), :10-2Q
E – Rocky Lencioni 42 pass from Adam Balkenbush (Maclain Burckley kick), 13:36-3Q
E – Thomas Buchanan 1 run (Burckley kick), 2:19-3Q
W – Danny Sirmon 15 run (Kee Christiansen kick), 10:50-4Q
E – Burckley 5 pass from Buchanan (kick failed), 4:40-4Q
W – Lucas Lant 40 interception return (Kelch kick), :42-4Q
W – Tyler Abbott 92 interception return (kick failed), :28-4Q