AA football champ Senior features fresh faces
Glacier football will start its season with a familiar opponent at 7 tonight, playing a championship rematch against Billings Senior in what is one of the state’s most anticipated matchups of the opening weekend.
A lot has changed since last November and Billings Gazette sports reporter Kyle Hansen helped fill us in on what’s new with the defending state champs.
What should Glacier expect from Senior in the season opener?
KH: I think the biggest thing Glacier should expect from Senior is a lot of new faces. The Broncs graduated 22 seniors from last year’s team, including plenty of starters. A lot of kids who were role or second-string guys last season will get their shot. Glacier is a great early season test to see how these new players fit in.
Who are some specific players to watch out for?
KH: Gabe Sulser, Nolan Askelson and Blake Allred are the three that come to mind here. Askelson was an all-state linebacker a year ago, and this year will take over Nate Dick’s role at quarterback to start. He’s a Bobcat commit. Sulser is arguably the best player in the state and is a do-everything type of athlete for Senior this year. He was an all-state receiver, corner and kick returner a year ago and is heading to Montana on a full scholarship. He’s been starting for Senior since he was a freshman. Allred was one of the heroes a year ago in the title game after getting a pick-6 just before halftime. He’s back to engineer the defense as a linebacker and will see some time at running back. Other key returners include senior receivers Ben LaBeau, Colton Eliason, Carter Garsjo, two-way junior lineman Garrison Poetzl, senior lineman Marcos Mota and senior safety Micah Ans.
What are Senior’s
expectations and goals headed into this season?
KH: I think Senior’s expectations and goals are right up at the top, as they were the past two seasons. That is what makes this matchup so compelling early on because I believe that Senior, Glacier and Helena Capital are the early favorites to win the AA. So this is a good test for Senior and Glacier to see how they stack up right away. They lost some key players but they returned plenty of key components as well. Last year it seemed to be Senior versus the field and this year the league looks to be a lot tougher to call, which will make for a fun fall season.
Where do you expect Senior to be most improved this year, and where should we expect some drop-off?
KH: This is an interesting question. Because they graduated so many starters a lot of players will kind of be thrown into the fire here to begin the season. The biggest improvements I would say will probably be in their skills positions department. A lot of the players I mentioned earlier saw significant playing time as the season progressed and even in the postseason. So while Gabe is the clear primary target at receiver, I think Senior has a lot of weapons coming back who know what it’s like to play in big games against good teams. Askelson was the starting running back last year, and if they choose to move him in the backfield at some point that certainly will not hurt them. They return a lot of talent at those positions. They returned a lot of linebackers as well, so that position will only get better. On the flip side, losing (Gatorade Player of the Year) Nate Dick after he started for three years at QB hurts. Askelson saw quite a few reps last year and played well. He’s a good option at quarterback but Nate was a stat stuffer and those are always tough shoes to fill. They lost a lot of starters on the offensive and defensive lines as well. Plenty of younger kids will get some playing time there so there could be some growing pains in that department early on. The secondary will also see some turnover after they lost Keaton Anderson (Montana State), Jake Orvis (Montana Tech) and Max Clarke (Montana Tech).