Football survives tough second quarter to rout Harlem, 55-14

Heavy snow and poor travel conditions kept the Glasgow football team from playing its game against Harlem on Wednesday, but there wasn't much holding the Scotties back once the game got started on Monday.

Come game time on Monday the weather was still nasty. After all of the warmth and sunshine during the weekend, Monday night was overcast and a cold rain made playing conditions slippery.

It wasn't evident at first. The Scotties methodically drove down the field and scored on their first drive of the game, giving the ball to Aaron Hartsock for a 1-yard touchdown with only a little less than two minutes elapsed from the game.

But things got a bit more complicated before the Scotties could touch the ball again. Hartsock, a team leader on both sides of the ball, went down with a leg injury on Harlem's first offensive drive that put him out for the remainder of the game.

On offense the Scotties seemed fine as Chaz Gordon and Tucker Holstein filled in for Hartsock at tailback and flourished. The Scotties, who were testing out their running game in the spread formation, got a boost from Gordon. The speedy sophomore made an immediate impact in the game, running for 7- and 56-yard touchdowns in the first quarter.

After Zach Remus scored on a punt return, giving the Scotties a 27-0 lead early in the second quarter, the defensive side of the ball seemed to relax a little. The Wildcats scored on a 24-yard fade route to Jeremy Horn and got great field position their next possession when the snap for a Glasgow punt went through the legs of Drew Croy and the Wildcats recovered on the Glasgow 25-yard line. Harlem back Travis First Raised broke about five tackles on a 14-yard romp into the end zone, bringing the Wildcats to within a few scores at the half with the score at 27-14.

However, once the second half began, the Scotties seemed to find their motivation as they thoroughly buried the Wildcats in the third quarter with defense and special teams.

Parker Miller got his third touchdown of the season, intercepting a screen pass and running it 18 yards for the score. After touchdowns by Gordon and Kirk Capdeville, the Scotties blocked a Wildcat punt and junior Kevin Hill took the ball in for a score, putting the Scotties in the lead 55-14 and allowing the backups to run the clock out in the fourth quarter.

The Scotties rushing attack ended with 328 yards in the game, with Gordon racking up 154 yards on 10 carries. Capdeville had a good night as well, running for 95 yards on only five carries.

“With the weather conditions it was really difficult to throw,” head coach Dan Dale said. “I thought we did a great job establishing our running attack out of the spread. We've got to start working a little more on our short passing. Plentywood is going to be pretty good, but we have to go take care of business and keep moving forward to get ready for the playoffs.”

Plentywood enters the game with only a 3-4 record, including a 1-2 conference record, but the Wildcats will be celebrating their senior night, so emotions will be running high.

In the Scotties favor, senior Patrick Billingsley, who has been inactive the last two weeks, has been cleared to play in Friday's game against the Wildcats.