The Glacier Wolfpack reclaimed its status among Montana’s elite AA football teams with a 7-3 win over No. 1 Bozeman at Legends Stadium Friday.

Glacier (3-2) was considered a state title contender entering the season, but lost two of its first three games and dropped out of the top five in the AP poll. It bounced back with a lopsided win over winless Missoula Hellgate in week four, before knocking off previously unbeaten Bozeman (4-1) with a stifling defensive effort.

“Before this game, we were written off,” Glacier running back Kellyn Faraone said.

“We needed to win this game to show we’re back and we’re ready. This is the momentum we needed to get the season going.”

Glacier coach Grady Bennett agreed.

“It puts us back in the mix,” he said.

“If Bozeman would’ve won, it would’ve separated from everyone else and we’d be 2-3 and we’d really be scrambling.”

Bozeman entered the game second in Class AA in total defense, while Glacier ranked first, so the 7-3 scoreline wasn’t surprising to Glacier linebacker Todd Ogden.

“I knew it was going to be a defensive battle,” Ogden said.

Glacier’s offense struggled to move the ball, but its defense came up big time and again, stopping two fourth-down attempts, intercepting five passes and holding the Hawks to 76 rushing yards on 29 attempts.

“In 21 years of coaching, I’m not sure I’ve seen a better performance by a defense,” Bennett said.

“Everything you want to see a defense do, our kids did.”

Bozeman had several chances to make up its four-point deficit late in the game, but the Glacier defense refused to break.

The Hawks drove to the Glacier 4-yard line early in the fourth quarter when Ogden intercepted Bozeman quarterback Will Weyer’s pass along the right sideline.

Bozeman drove into Glacier territory again on its ensuing drive before Reid Siderius intercepted a Weyer pass in the end zone.

The Hawks’ next drive ended with an interception by Dawson Day with 2 minutes and 35 seconds remaining, but the Glacier offense couldn’t come up with the first down it needed to run out the clock, giving Bozeman one more chance with 53.9 seconds left.

Weyer dropped back to pass from his own 47-yard line and threw a deep ball over the middle, but Glacier defensive back Rial Gunlikson stepped in front of the Bozeman receiver and picked the ball off to ice the game.

Glacier’s defense seemed like it was a step ahead of Bozeman all night, something Ogden, who finished with one interception and numerous deflections, attributed to simply reading the offense.

“Just reading the quarterback and looking where the running back went,” Ogden said. “Just trying to get there a step before them.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Bozeman drove 69 yards to set up a first and goal on the Glacier 9-yard line, but was forced to settle for a 25-yard field goal.

Glacier failed to come up with an answer and headed to the locker room trailing 3-0 at the half.

The Wolfpack opened the second half with a 64-yard scoring drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Ogden, who subbed into the game as a wildcat quarterback.

Typically a pass-heavy team, Glacier’s offense relied on its running game against the stingy Bozeman defense, which held its opponents to 2.1 yards per carry in its first four games. The Wolfpack ran 32 times for 111 yards while quarterback Taylor Hulslander completed just 43 percent of his passes for 99 yards.

“It’s something that we have to do,” Bennett said of running the ball.

“We can’t put the pressure on Taylor to win every game for us.”

Faraone, who led Glacier with 50 rushing yards on 14 carries, credited his offensive line with getting a good push against Bozeman’s defensive front.

“It all starts with the offensive line,” Faraone said.

“Those five guys stayed on their blocks, pushed back and gave us the yards we needed to get going.”

Both of Glacier’s losses, week two against Great Falls C.M. Russell and week three against Helena High, were by less than seven points, and Bennett said the Wolfpack learned from those games and has emerged a better team.

“We lost a couple close games we thought we shouldn’t have lost,” Bennett said.

“But I really believe our kids learned a ton from those games.”

Glacier will look to extend its winning streak to three games Friday when it hosts crosstown rival Flathead (0-5).

Bozeman 0 3 0 0 — 3

Glacier 0 0 7 0 — 7

Second quarter

BOZ — Hunter Andriolo 25 field goal, 3:42

Third quarter

GLA — Todd Ogden 1 run (Kyle Griffith kick), 7:44

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Bozeman Glacier

First downs 16 11

Total yards 268 210

Rushes-yards 29-76 32-111

Passing yards 192 99

Comp-Att-Int 16-34-5 10-24-1

Punts 2-38.5 5-35.2

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 8-55 10-84

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Individual Statistics

RUSHING — Bozeman: Hunter Gappmayer 24-70, Will Weyer 5-6. Glacier: Kellyn Faraone 14-50, Noah James 6-28, Logan Jones 5-17, Kyle Griffith 1-9, Todd Ogden 3-8, Taylor Huslander 3-(-1).

PASSING — Bozeman: Will Weyer 16-34-192-5. Glacier: Taylor Huslander 10-23-99-1, Kyle Griffith 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — Bozeman: Will Dissly 8-130, Grant Collins 1-24, John D’Agostino 1-13, Keavon Buckley 2-7, Hunter Gappmayer 2-7, Ty Shellenberg 1-6, Will Weyer 1-5. Glacier: Kyle Griffith 4-44, James Cutler 2-23, Logan Jones 1-15, Nic Cramer 1-7, Kellyn Faraone 1-7, Noah James 1-3.