Class AA Football Preview: No. 4 Glacier clashes with No. 1 Capital

by The Daily Inter Lake
| October 16, 2009 2:00 AM

TODAY: No. 4 Glacier Wolfpack (5-2) at No. 1 Helena Capital (7-0)

KICKOFF: 7 p.m. at Vigilante Stadium

LAST WEEK FOR HELENA CAPITAL: The three-time defending state champion Bruins beat Billings West 22-8 and extended their win streak to 28 games while clinching a playoff spot at the same time. Capital's star player Matt Miller had an 83-yard touchdown run and finished with 186 combined yards.

LAST WEEK FOR GLACIER: The Wolfpack won its third-straight, a 34-7 victory against Great Falls. In the last four games, the Wolfpack has allowed only 10 total points in the second half. Glacier's reborn defense had four turnovers against Great Falls, led by senior Freddie Blodnick's two interceptions. Boyce Ballard also grabbed an interception for the second-straight week and BJ Corpron and Garrett Conners each had one sack apiece. Joe Osborne had a fumble recovery. On offense, Taylor Hart had another two-touchdown day and hiked his season total to 13, which puts him third in AA behind Bozeman's TJ Leep (14) and Capital's Miller (15).

LAST YEAR'S MEETING: For the second year in a row, Capital put up more than 60 points against Glacier, winning 61-27 at home. Capital tallied 614 yards of offense. The year before, Capital dropped Glacier 63-0.

KING OF THE HILL: "It's a great challenge for our program," Glacier coach Grady Bennett said of tonight's game. "Obviously Capital sits at the top of the mountain that we're trying to climb. We've climbed up quite a ways and it's a chance to see where we're at and to measure how far we've come."

WIN STREAKS ARE BOUND TO BREAK: The bull's-eye might be getting a little heavy on the backs of the Bruins. The past three weeks, Capital has faced two ranked opponents that came just short of snapping the historic win streak. Capital survived a scare against No. 2 Great Falls C.M.Russell two weeks back after pulling out a 28-26 victory. The week before, rival No. 3 Helena High almost snuck up, but the Bruins held on to win 26-16.

MOMENTUM: Both Capital and Glacier have momentum on their side, but there's a difference between the two. One is long-standing while the other is newly established - which one runs out of steam first remains to be seen.

"It's going to be a fun test," Bennett said. "I think we're all really looking forward to it. It's one of those games where nobody's going to pick us. There's no pressure on us. We can go let everything hang out and give it our best shot and let the chips fall where they may."