Prep Football Game Preview 10/24

We come to the final week of the 2018 Class AA prep football regular season were we have seen teams pick up their first win in a few seasons, a power house be knocked off, and few teams work their way up to were they have not been in a while in the rankings. This weeks Prep Football Game Preview has playoff implications as the Glacier Wolfpack make the trip south to play the Hellgate Knights on Thursday night.

For the 4-5 Glacier Wolfpack it has been a roller coaster of a season that has found them in the sixth place spot tied with five others teams, including the 10th ranked Sentinel Spartans. The Wolfpack started their season dropping their first three games in an opening schedule were they faced two of the top five teams in Class AA football.

Glacier comes into the game off a 34-14 win over Big Sky, and are riding a three game win streak since they fell to Sentinel. Watch out for Glaciers offense as they have averaged 34 points per game in their last five games, but their defense has struggled through that stretch allowing an average of 27 points per game.

In the 2018 Hellgate football season we have seen the Knights find their first win in a few season, and get back to back wins to add to their up hill road to rebuilding the program. Hidden in the joy victory is that the Hellgate has the ability to put points on the board, showing the rest of AA football Knights football is on the rise.

The Knights have found success on the offensive side of the ball scoring an average of 20 points per game with an offensive line that gives Hellgate quarterback Rollie Worster time to work his magic. An area that Glacier can take advantage of Hellgate is on the defensive side of the field, a struggle that will come with time as numbers increase in the program.

The Skinny

Thursday night’s game is one that will start a domino effect that will begin to give us a look at what the playoff picture will look like with five teams sitting at 4-5. Glacier will need to play within themselves and not buy into who they are playing, meaning the Wolfpack will have to continue with their game plan and not look ahead. For Hellgate they have an opportunity to help their crosstown brothers in the Sentinel Spartans by shaking up Class AA football with a win over Glacier.

If the Knights want to finish the regular season with a victory Hellgate will need to rely on their leader in Worster on the offensive side of the ball to put points on the board while finding a way to give their front seven some relief on defense. It is a simple game plan for Glacier in order to control their destiny in the postseason by running the ball in order to keep Hellgates offense off the field.