Scotties Drop First Game 28-8

The 2023 Scottie football season kicked off Aug. 26 with Glasgow hosting the Shepherd Mustangs. Glasgow dropped the opener 28-8 after Shepherd scored three times in the final quarter. "The team played well, but Shepherd played better," said head coach and defensive coordinator Patrick Barnett.

The Mustangs scored first on a 19-yard run at 2:48 in the first quarter. Their PAT attempt failed. Glasgow took the lead in the second at 6:28 on a 24-yard pass from quarterback Khye Gamas to Wyatt Babb. Babb punched through the Shepherd defense to tack on the 2-point conversion.

Shepherd regained their lead early in the fourth, scoring at 11:56 and tacking on the 2-point conversion. They added another touchdown and a field goal at 4:38 for a 21-8 lead. The Mustangs sealed the victory with a 10-yard TD run and field goal with 1:49 remaining on the clock.

Assistant coach and offensive coordinator Sam Tedrow said, "Props to a big and physical Shepherd team. Tough front on both sides of the ball. Proud of our guys for taking that on until the very end. Even though not the outcome we were hoping for, definitely some bright spots."

Glasgow put up 207 total yards, taking 15 yards on offsides. Gamas was 11 for 24 on passes, gaining 143 yards total or 5.96 yards per attempt, with one touchdown and one interception. He put up 47 yards rushing on seven carries, averaging 6.71 yards per carry. Toryn Richards added 46 yards on 14 carries, 3.29 yards average, before leaving the game in the fourth quarter due to injury. Liam Chapman lost 8 yards on three carries.

Babb led in receiving with 75 yards on three catches with one touchdown, before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury. Cade Hudyma added on 20 yards on one catch, Rex Monson 25 yards on two catches, Kade Strommen 8 yards on one catch, Coy Nelson 8 yards on three catches and Nic Solorzano 7 yards on one catch.

"We had some key guys go down at a pivotal tme and our younger guys stepped up. Khye really progressed offensively and made some great decisions down the stretch. Some really good learning opportunities with film this week. Looking forward to the grown this team is going too have moving forward," Tedrow said.

Defensively, the Scotties gave up 327 yards, 314 rushing (5.41 yards per carry) and 13 passing (6.5 yards per catch). Connor Hudyma led the defense with 11 total tackles, five unassisted. Andrew Linder added 8 total tackles with six unassisted, a tackle for loss, a sack and a block. Vaughn Miller had seven total tackles, five unassisted, with one tackle for loss. Gamas and Strommen both had six total tackles with Gamas having three unassisted and Strommen's all solo. Kohl Kittleson added five unassisted tackles with a tackle for loss. Babb had five total tackles, four unassisted; Chapman, Dillon Hughes, Myles Yoakam and Jaydeen Hanshew four total tackles; Richards and Nelson three, and Solorzano two tackles. Gamas and Tavin Boland each came up with a fumble recovery.

Barnett said, "Defensively, we had to grind out the game and get some stops on fourth down t oturn the ball over on downs. The team got Shepherd to punt a few times, as their strategy was to kill the game clock and have possession of the ball more than we did. We played hard for most of the game. Then Shepherd scored on us three times in the fourth quarter." He planned to return to work on Monday watching films, working on techniques, and conditioning. "We are moving on to Huntley Project."

Glasgow takes on the Red Devils at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, in Huntley Project. The JV team hosts the Malta Mustangs Monday, Sept. 4, at 5 p.m.