Prep football: Glacier set for senior night tilt with Big Sky, Flathead heads to Capital

The Wolfpack are back on the home sideline. 

Following a 56-0 “road” victory over Crosstown rival Flathead, Glacier returns to Legends Stadium for another Thursday evening matchup with Missoula Big Sky. 

The Wolfpack will honor their senior class ahead of the game as they look to move to a perfect 4-0 at home. 

“It's an incredible privilege as a coach to know kids as freshmen and take the journey with them,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “I can't speak enough of their character, they come from great families, they’re great kids, they’re great to coach.” 

Flathead also has a short week as the Braves head to Helena and take on the 6-1 Capital Bruins Thursday. 

Big Sky at Glacier 

After an off week against Capital, the Wolfpack’s high-powered offense returned to form against the Braves. Now they face a stingy Big Sky defense that has allowed 14 or fewer points in five of their seven games this season. 

“One thing about coach (Matt) Johnsons teams is that they are always going to battle,” Bennett said. “We need to execute, when our execution is high, I feel like we are hard to stop.” 

The Wolfpack have executed well in most games this season both in the running and passing game. 

Kobe Dorcheus leads Glacier on the ground with 135.7 yards per game and 15 touchdowns. Through the air, junior quarterback Jackson Presley is completing 63 percent of his passes and has 16 touchdowns — four going to senior receiver Bridger Smith. 

Bennett pointed out Eagles quarterback Avery Omlid and receiver/defensive back Mason Fulford as players to watch, but noted the team is more than just those two players. 

“Athletically they have some good skill kids who play both sides, they have a lot of talent,” Bennett said. 

Omlid has 12 touchdowns on the season, eight passing and four on the ground. Fulford caught two of his touchdown throws, along with juniors Brady Williams and Cormack Batt catching two each. 

Flathead at Capital 

This week was a refresher for the Braves as they look to correct what went wrong against Glacier a week ago. 

“We worked on a lot of day one stuff, we went back to the basics,” Flathead coach Caleb Aland said. “It was obvious we needed to work on it. 

“Until we start doing the little things right, it doesn't matter who we play, but until then the focus has to be on ourselves,” Aland said. 

One positive that Aland did find was that the Braves didn’t turn the ball over a lot, an issue that plagued the team early in the season. 

Another difficult opponent looms on Thursday for Flathead, but Aland says his focus is on the Braves executing. 

“We got to do a better job up front, giving the QB time to throw,” Aland said. “We have got to get the pass game going to open the run game. Protection is a point of emphasis, sometimes we had the right call and just didn't protect long enough.” 

Quarterback Eli Coopman led the Braves rushing game a week ago against the Wolfpack with 12 carries for 34 yards. He also threw for 66 yards on nine completions. 

Aland pointed to Capital quarterback Merek Mihelish as a player that the Braves defense need to try and limit. 

“Their quarterback is a stud, he runs their offense really well and is a good leader,” Aland said. “He will pick you apart if you let him.” 

Mihelish has thrown 21 touchdowns this season and run for six more; he is the Bruins leading rusher at 82.7 yards per game.  

Aland also noted Capital two-way lineman Vaughn Wirkus as a difference maker for the Bruins.