Scotties top Florence 15-7 in defensive battle

The Glasgow football team got one step closer to its goal of winning the state championship by defeating Florence-Carlton 15-7 on Saturday at Scottie Field.

The Scotties again relied on their defense to pull them through a tough game and set up a tough match against undefeated defending champions Huntley Project in the semifinals this Saturday in Glasgow.

Glasgow started the game against Florence strong, capitalizing early in the first quarter on its strong passing game. The Scotties moved the ball methodically down the field with bubble screens and inside streaks before a Kirk Capdeville was able to capitalize on a 15-yard sweep up the right side for a touchdown.

The Scotty defense was active the whole game, and they had to be as both offenses flubbed around after the first quarter.

Florence got its first score two plays after an interception brought them down to the Glasgow 5-yard line. Falcon quarterback Spencer Burns ran in three yards for the touchdown that tied the score at 7-7.

But the Falcons were having troubles of their own on offense. Unable to get anything going, Florence opted to punt the ball late in the second quarter, but weren't able to contain the Scotty rush. Glasgow blocked the punt but in the scrap to land on the ball for a touchdown, the ball squeaked out of the back of the endzone and the Scotties were awarded a safety, giving them a 9-7 lead as they headed into halftime.

In the third quarter the wind started to pick up, and it affected both offenses immensely.

With both teams struggling to run the ball, and the defenses stacking the line of scrimmage, coaches on both sides took to the air. However, the air more often than not guided the football towards the defense in the quarter. Five interceptions were thrown in the third quarter, two by Glasgow quarterback Dylan Hughes and three by Burns to Tucker Holstein, Hughes and Chase Younkin on the Scotty defense.

With the game still only separated by two points, the play in the fourth quarter was just as tight early on. The Scotties recovered a fumble on a punt when a Falcon returner mishandled the catch in the swirling wind. But the Scotties couldn't capitalize because they fumbled themselves just one play later.

It wasn't until only a few minutes remained that the Scotties broke free and spread the lead. On the same inside streak that was working all game when being thrown to the right to Chaz Gordon, Hughes found Capdeville wwide open on the left. With the safeties cheating to Gordon's side, Capdeville beat the corner that was covering him and was off 40 yards for a touchdown, spreading the lead to 15-7 and allowing the Scotties to run out the clock.

“It was ugly, but our kids came up with some big plays when we needed it most,” head coach Dan Dale said. “They stayed really positive no matter what the situation. Our defense once again played a real solid ball game.”

The defense will have to show up again as the Scotties take on Huntley Project this week at home. The Red Devils are undefeated this season and are coming off a game against Baker where they only allowed 138 yards of total offense in the game, beating the Spartans 45-6 in Worden.

The Scotties have an uphill battle in the game but are riding a 15-game winning streak at Scottie Field and will be defending that record in the semifinals, the first time in 10 years Glasgow has made it this deep in the playoffs.

“The coaches are doing a great job and the kids are playing good, hard-nosed Scotty football,” Dale said. “We're going to see a lot of pressure by the defense. I really believe we just got to take it to them. We've got work to do, just do your job.”