Red Devils Burn Scotties In Season Opener, 39-0

In its season opener against Dawson County, the Glasgow football team looked every bit the young, inexperienced team its been pegged to be this season.
Untimely penalties, missed assignments, missed tackles and poor form all bit the Scotties in Glendive, as they were hit early and often in a 39-0 loss to the Red Devils. The loss ended a three-game win streak the Scotties held over the Class A team, the last defeat coming on the road in 2006, when Glasgow lost 20-14 after surrendering a second half touchdown.
It was the first half that killed the Scotties in this year's matchup, as the Red Devils stressed the run, catching the Scotties' young defense off guard.
“(Glendive) changed something out there,” head coach Dan Dale said. “They (normally) come out in different formations,  throwing the ball and they didn't do that. I think they were trying to come out with a different mindset and it worked well for them.”
The Red Devils got the ball first and set the tone for the game out of the gate. They scored a touchdown on their first possession, running the ball 15 times, converting on four third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion. The only time the Red Devils looked like they could be stopped on the drive was when their running back fumbled on the 5-yard-line, only to watch the ball roll out of bounds. One play later, Glendive pounded the ball into the endzone.
Though Glasgow forced a three-and-out on the next drive, the Devils had no problem moving the ball on the next drive.
On their own 15, Glendive ran for a first down on a quarterback draw, then handed the ball off to their fullback. With a 48-yard run up the middle and a 24-yard run off tackle, Glendive was on the 1-yard line and needed only one more plunge from Cooper Kelly to score their second touchdown of the game.
The next drive, Glendive ran three more times for a first down before finally getting off their first pass attempt, a 5-yard hitch route to the right. However, after running on the first 26 plays from scrimmage, it took just two more plays for Glendive to score its first passing touchdown. On another 5-yard throw, the Glendive receiver caught the pass, as three Glasgow defenders missed a tackle on him, then took the ball 64 yards for a touchdown, eventually giving the Red Devils a 21-0 halftime lead.
Glasgow didn't do much more in the second half. Glendive scored three more touchdowns, two early in the third quarter, still relying heavily on the run. Missing the extra point on all three scores, the Red Devils won handily, 39-0.
Though the loss was tough, Dale said there were a lot of good things that came out of the game, though they were probably tough to notice on the field. Quarterback Justin Pattison made some good throws after getting rid of the initial jitters. Though there were a lot of mistakes, most of them were correctable, something the team will be working constantly on to get right for Friday's homecoming game against Shelby.
“We know what we need to do,” Dale said. “It may not get changed overnight, but we're gonna try to change it as fast as we can.”
Part of the change will be fixing the running game. After weeks of practicing against only themselves, the offensive and defensive lines weren't as fundamentally sound as they needed to be in the opener. With senior fullback Tucker Holstein iffy for Friday, and an already limited stable of running backs, the team will need to block better and hold blocks longer on the offensive line for the team to succeed.
“We came off the ball, stood up and didn't move our feet,” Dale said. “We got called for some holding penalties. Fundamentally, we didn't fire out low and keep our feet moving and working. We just stood up and we're kind of lazy. You do that and you'll get pushed back and you're not going to be able to run the ball that well. So that's something that we're really gonna work on.”
Dale said the team had the same problem on the defensive line, which led to all the easy gains for Glendive.
“That's a basic fundamental that we're always talking to the kids about, but now they realize that we're gonna have to make a conscious effort to stay low and be active.”
Shelby won its first game of the year, 45-0, against Three Forks, and will be looking to avenge a 35-7 loss to Glasgow from last season.
For its part, Glasgow will be looking to shore up its young team in time to win on homecoming night. They'll get some help with the return of three players, Kevin Hill, Marcus Svingen and freshman Vann Frost, all of which should help up front.
“I looked out on the field and I saw five sophomores and anywhere from one to two freshmen on the field,” Dale said. “In a varsity ball game, that's tough. We're inexperienced and that's a lot of the cause of what took place. But, we're gonna work to get better.”