GHS Defeats Shelby 35-6, Now 4-0

After a scoreless first quarter, the Scotties cruised to a 35-6 victory in a road game over Shelby on Sept 19. Dealing 1B Shelby's first loss, Glasgow is the only 2B team that boasts a 4-0 record now.

Racking up a whopping total of 475 yards, Glasgow showcased its most offensively charged game this season, perhaps the most in recent years. Ground and aerial attacks were fairly balanced at 211 and 253 yards, respectively. Credit must be given to the young Shelby team for playing with solid defense.

The Coyotes are a mixture of new and veteran players. Quarterback Aaron White is a freshman who preferred to move the ball with short passes. The Coyotes' lone touchdown came at the start of the fourth quarter, a 13-yard pass from White to Chris Heptner. Stats are not available for the Coyotes.

Scottie sophomore Benji Phillips made an impressive 51-yard run touchdown halfway through the fourth quarter. After a handoff from backup QB Kevin Schindler, Phillips started along the right sideline, sliced through three Shelby tacklers with a cut back move, then charged up the middle and landed wide open in the end zone.

"Benji maneuvers with agility and speed. He has great potential to be one of our upcoming running backs," said Scottie head coach Greg Liebelt.

The Jason Thibault-Chase Fossum connection remained effective, scoring three touchdowns out of five for the Scotties.

Even though the Scotties held Shelby to only one touchdown, coach Liebelt was not impressed by their defensive performance.

"We are disappointed that the players didn't play strong defense overall," he said. "They played too soft on passing defense, and gave up too many yardage. We want them to know that we expect one hundred percent defense effort regardless who our opponent is."

Glasgow scored its first touchdown three minutes into the second quarter, when quarterback Thibault connected with wide receiver Fossum for a 31-yard pass.

With only 50 seconds before the end of the first half, the Scotties executed what Liebelt called a "2-minute offense" in which receivers ran out of bounds, and then Thibault repeatedly spiked the ball to buy more time for one of his five receivers to get set in the end zone.

While Shelby also spread out their coverage, with six seconds remaining Fossum again got himself open at the right corner for an 11-yard touchdown. Glasgow was up, 14-0, at half time.

Glasgow controlled most of the third quarter, moving the ball well. It resulted in their third TD, a 5-yard carry by Thibault. The Coyotes did knock on the Scottie end zone for the first time, with an incomplete pass from White to his brother Tyler, a senior tight end.

A high punt and several Glasgow penalties gave Shelby the opportunity to score their first and only TD early in the fourth quarter. With PAT kick blocked, Glasgow was up 21-6. A two-possession game was still a close game.

Two back-to-back scores by Glasgow later squashed any comeback hope that Shelby might have had. A long reception, 55 yards by Fossum again, followed by Phillips's long rumble – the Scotties left the Coyotes in the dust.

Shelby committed five penalties and zero turnover. Glasgow had one fumble and seven penalties. Shelby's penalties proved costly, however, shrinking big offensive gains several times.

Sitting at 4-0 and anticipating zero in the loss column for the near future, the Scottie team is no doubt in a positive state. Is it hard to keep the players from feeling complacent?

"Not at all," said Liebelt. "We keep our kids humble. Every week we focus on fixing mistakes, and keep improving. We study films to identify mistakes, we get after the kids, and they keep practicing. We have a long way to go, but the team is excited to see where our potential and hard work will take us."

The Associated Press Top 10 Montana high school power poll released on Sept. 18 has the Scotties ranked No. 2 in Class B, closely behind 1B Fairfield and ahead of 3B Huntley Project. Glasgow won't see Fairfield in the regular season, but a showdown deep into the playoffs is almost expected.

The Scotties will host their first conference game at home this Friday, Sept. 26, vs. the Harlem/Turner Wildcats. Although the Wildcats are winless so far this season, Liebelt expects the Scotties to stay disciplined and play their full ability. He also hopes to give younger players lots of game time.

Game Stats

Total Offense: 475 yards.

Passing: Jason Thibault 16-28-253 (3 TDs). Kevin Schindler 1-1-11.

Rushing: Total 35-211 yards. Tanner Roness 8-34, Dallas Capdeville 7-26, Jason Thibault 6-49, Parker Kulczyk 4-18, Benji Phillips 6-77, Kevin Schindler 3-3, Hunter Losleben 1-4.

Receptions: Chase Fossum 6-143 (3 TDs), Zach Miller 2-15, Tanner Roness 2-15, Jake Page 2-25, Dallas Capdeville 5-66.

Tackles: Tanner Roness 14, Zach Miller 4, Dallas Capdeville 6, Andrew Fransen 5 (1 sack), Chase Fossum 7, Jason Thibault 6.