Scotties Drop Season Opener vs Visiting Colstrip

Saturday night's season-opening tilt between Glasgow and their Class B rivals, the Colstrip Colts, awoke a youthful Scotties squad to the rigors of varsity competition; the visitors squelched their opponents' will over forty-eight suffocating minutes in a 40-13 drubbing.

Granted, the victim put up a fight - the Scotties scored the game's first touchdown, and stymied the Colts' early advances with aplomb - but their predatorial foes' larger size and superior strength eventually seized the day. 

Under a hazy evening sky dimmed further by the oppressive, stagnating smoke, a nomadic remnant of fierce, western wildfires, Glasgow stormed from its locker room in the bowels of the gymnasium onto the turf. The team was clad in crisp, new uniforms - white and red stripes running the length of the thighs, SCOTTIES emblazoned in bold white print across red chests. Cache Younkin, the starting running back, linebacker, placekicker, and punter who had been doubtful for the game after injuring himself the previous week while on horseback riding and sitting out the contact drills in practice in the days leading up to kickoff, was green-lit for participation. 

Though the team suited up just three of its already-meager total of five seniors due to their not having attended the MHSA-mandated minimum of twelve preseason practices, though everything from the girth of their opponents' torsos and their own personnel turnover from 2014's quarterfinalist team signaled the visitor's advantage, Glasgow hearts are not so easily deterred from purposive striving.

That, or the smoke cover temporarily shrouded the team from the irrationality of physical intimidation.

After halting the Colts' first drive on fourth down, the Scotties took over at their own ten-yard line. With Younkin in the backfield and fellow junior Trent Herbert quarterbacking the offense, the unit worked the ball across midfield via a succession of pitches, dives, options, and sweeps. The team was held, however, at the Colts' 37, and elected to punt, rather than challenge Colstrip on a 4th-and-5. " We were never really able to control the edges," admitted head coach Greg Liebelt. "If we're not able to run to the outside, we need to be able to throw it [there]."

The decision to kick, however reached, proved beneficial. A block in the back penalty on the return spotted the ball on the Colts' 4-yard line, and ensuing offensive holding and false start calls shunted the visitors inside their own 1. After a timeout, Colstrip fumbled, and Glasgow recovered in the end zone. A Younkin PAT made it 7-0, and the scoreline held as the clock waned to the end of quarter one.

The dawn of the second quarter awoke a heretofore unseen acuity in the Colts. Though both teams' drives were diced and disrupted by flag-happy officiating - especially those of the visitors, who seemed to shoot themselves in the foot with mindless, sloppy penalties every-other play - the Colts, unlike their hosts, skirted the quagmire created by these decisions with a panoply of gut-busting runs and long passes. They scored twice in the quarter's first five minutes, and never looked back.

Glasgow, meanwhile, spun its wheels in the muck. The formerly-upbeat team, perhaps cowed by the crunching tackles and unforgiving hits laid on them by the Colstrip defenders, hesitated in turning the corner on edge runs, instead waiting for the play to develop and being swarmed while searching for a non-existent hole through which to slice upfield. Colstrip pushed across the goal line twice more before the half's conclusion; the Scotties headed for the dressing room trailing 27-7, the smoggy sky hanging above and amid them, ever-daunting. 

"It was a tough second quarter," said Liebelt. "The guys got tired, started getting a little down. You can say it for any game, but take away that quarter, and we're right in the mix."

The second half brought the same initial hope as half one. "The biggest positive from the game," said Liebelt, "is that the guys came out in the second half and played really hard and competitively."

The Scotties swapped in Darrin Wersal at quarterback, and the sophomore led his fighting terriers through enemy territory to paydirt. The extra point missed, but as Colstrip's kicker had also failed on one of his extra point attempts, the lead was cut to fourteen. "With two QBs," said Liebelt, "neither of whom have seen varsity level competition in their careers, it was a good opportunity to get an assessment of what Darrin can do as well."

But the great comeback was not to be. After holding Colstrip scoreless in the third, Glasgow took over at its own 20 to begin quarter four, following a Colts punt. On the first play of the drive, Wersal was intercepted. The visitors had first down at the Scottie 24, and soon laid the game to rest, osmosing through the defensive line and into open field, stopping only upon reaching the ten-yard-deep haven of champions. The scoreline tipped further, 34-13.

Colstrip scored another touchdown before wrapping up its account at Scottie Pride Drive. The game finished with the red-and-white's offense on the field; as the horn sounded atop the scoreboard, Wersal's final pass fell incomplete behind a crossed-up receiver.

The stands emptied, and 3,000 Glasgow faithful drove, walked, or crawled home to escape the lingering fumes of the conflagration. Evidence of the Scotties' heroic practice regimen, honed throughout the summer and during preseason two-a-days, was left lacking, at least for one weekend.

"What we'll do this week," said Liebelt, "is focus our efforts on the areas we know we had trouble with [against Colstrip]. It's hard to sustain a drive versus anyone without being able to complete passes."

"There were some positives to take away from the contest," he continued, "but also a lot of areas we know we need to keep working on. We need to look hard at what happened and anticipate next week's matchup."

Glasgow hosts Class A Glendive Friday, Sept. 4. Liebelt looks forward to welcoming the absentee members of his squad back into the fold for the clash, a group which includes two-way starters Chase Williams and Taylor Padden. Herbert will remain under center.

"It'll be challenging," said the coach, "but we'll be ready."