Glasgow Says No to Baker

The Glasgow Scottie football team took their fans for a wild ride Friday against the Baker Spartans. The Scotties left the field with another notch in their win column in a game that felt a lot tighter than the final 24-14 score may have indicated.

Head coach Patrick Barnett said, "Either team could have won." He enthused that the game was a fun one to coach and praised both teams for playing hard all the way through. Each team needed to play hard as the third game of the season for the Scotties proved to be the most demanding so far.

Senior running back Kyler Hallock, who tallied 160 rushing yards offensively and six tackles, understatedly said, "It was little more physical than our games so far." Barnett was slightly more verbose, "It was an extremely physical game. It was very well coached on both sides. It was a battle."

Baker showed early in the game that they came to Glasgow prepared to play, putting up the game's first points when they sacked Glasgow quarterback Mason Donaldson in the end zone for a safety early in the first quarter. The Scotties took the play in stride though, battling back to take the lead with 1:18 to play in the same quarter when Donaldson connected with wide receiver Mo Fast for a 66-yard touchdown reception. Running back Tatum Hansen found a wide open hole in the Spartans' defense to run the pigskin right up the middle for the extra two points and an 8-0 Glasgow lead.

Hansen, with a taste for the end zone, increased Glasgow's lead early in the second with a two yard run. Donaldson found Fast again with a short toss to add the extra two points, building the Scotties lead to 16-2. Baker cut Glasgow's lead in half with 2:28 remaining in the half when Spartan quarterback Jaxson Tronstad connected with Guy Lesh for a 57-yard touchdown reception. The Scottie defense denied the two point attempt though, keeping the score at 16-8.

The third quarter proved to be a defensive show, as each team shut down the other. Baker lit up their side of the big board early in the fourth quarter when Lesh carried the ball two yards for another Spartan touchdown. Glasgow prevented Baker from tying the game on the Spartans two point attempt.

Glasgow secured their win with only 2:12 left on the clock when Hallock left everyone in his wake on a 43-yard run for Glasgow's third touchdown of the game. Donaldson hit running back Nik Burke in the end zone for the extra two and a 24-14 lead. Unsurprisingly, the touchdown was Hallock's favorite moment of the game. Also appreciating the effort in the final quarter was Fast. "I would say the funnest part fo the game was just coming together as a team in the fourth quarter and pulling out the win.

Coach Barnett attributed his side's win to a team effort, while acknowledging Baker's play as well. He called out Lesh, who left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury, for his offensive capability and tight end Garett Lesh for his play. Donaldson also felt teamwork was key to the win, saying, "I feel like the Baker game was a team win because everyone game 100%."

Barnett noted small improvements are making the difference for the Scotties as they adjust to challenges this season. As illnesses make their way through the school systems, the head coach has had to shift his players about to fill positions but noted the boys made the most of the situation. Fast added, "The team learned that it's going to take every player on the field to win. It's never going to be an individual effort."

Defensive coordinator Sam Tedrow was proud of his players' efforts in the game noting one of his highlights was Hansen stepping to play nose guard. Tedrow credited the sophomore with "making some big plays in those last few drives of the game, including a tackle for loss and penetrating their line on the two point try causing it to fail" while keeping the Scotties up by two points. The defensive plays late in the game allowed the home team to eventually go up by 10 and take the win.

Donaldson echoed Tedrow, "I also feel like the defense stepped up big in the red zone and that was huge for us."

Linebacker Ethan Nickels led the Scotties in tackles with 10 total, including a tackle for loss. He was followed by Trey Johnson who had eight tackles including the Scotties only sack of the game and two tackles for los, and Gage Siefert also with eight tackles. Hallock had six total tackles including two tackles for loss.

Offensively, the Scotties amassed 302 total yards, with 225 rushing and 77 passing. Baker had 327 total yards in the game, 209 rushing and 118 passing. Donaldson was credited with all 77 passing yards for Glasgow, while Fast had the 77 yards receiving. Hallock led all players in rushing yards with 160 on 24 carries. Hansen had 15 carries for 46 yards and John Lawson added four yards on two carries.

The Scotties travel Colstrip this Friday, Sept. 17, to take on the Colts. The Scotties have won nine of the teams' 17 tilts over the years. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and the game will be carried live on both the NFHS Network and KLTZ/KLAN.