Jake Rendina rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns as No. 4 Kalispell Glacier pulled away from Helena Capital in the second half, winning 21-7.
Looking to maintain their spot among the best in the Western AA, the Wolfpack got after Capital quarterback Joey Michelotti on Friday night. Glacier held Michelotti to just 130 yards through the air and picked him off twice. Luke Sullivan was limited to 51 yards on the ground on 13 carries and Hayden Opitz caught five passes for 52 yards for the Bruins.
Tied at 7-7 mid-way through the third quarter, Glacier appeared to miss a field goal, but after a Capital penalty, was set up with first down at the 11-yard line. One play later, Rendina found pay dirt on his first of two touchdowns, a score that would prove to be the go-ahead tally.
“On the series when we roughed the snapper…they just ran Rendina on a little power stuff and got him into the end zone,” Capital head coach Kyle Mihelish said. “We’ve gotta be able to attack pullers and we gotta be able to tackle and do those things on the perimeter. I think we’re a far better team than what we showed tonight.”
Three minutes later, and following a Capital punt, Glacier’s Connor Sullivan ran the kick inside the 10-yard line, helping set up Rendina’s second score, this time a nine-yard touchdown carry.
Right before the half, it appeared as if Capital had seized control of the game. Deadlocked at 7-7, and with one minute before the break, the Bruins picked off Wolfpack quarterback Gage Sliter. With enough time on the clock for a possible score, Michelotti fired a pass into the end zone, where it was picked off, keeping the contest knotted at 7-7.
“Glacier made more plays than we did. We left a lot of plays on the field,” Mihelish said. “We have plenty of opportunities. We could’ve gone up 14-7 at half and we turned the ball over. Holding penalties in the second half killed us. We had three series in a row that were like 3rd and 30. It was like the tale of two halves. Though the kids came out and competed. We just didn’t do enough to compete with Glacier.”
Rendina finished with 106 yards on the ground and two second-half touchdowns. Sliter was 10-for-15 for 102 yards through the air, including a 60-yard catch and run from Sullivan that opened the scoring in the first quarter.
With the win, Kalispell improves to 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. Capital falls to 3-2 with the loss and 2-1 in conference tilts.
Glacier is scheduled to be back in action on Friday against Helena. Capital will travel to Butte. Both kick offs are scheduled for 7 p.m.