If there was any worry about how good Glacier can be, the Wolfpack tried to wipe it away on Friday, thumping Billings West 43-7 in its Class AA season football opener at Legends Stadium.

Glacier scored 23 points in the second quarter and unveiled a new, potent offense with big-play ability. After shaking off the early-game jitters, new starting quarterback Brady McChesney threw for 209 yards and four touchdowns and the Wolfpack put up nearly 400 yards of offense.

“Once (Brady) got rolling and got settled down, he was great,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “I give him a lot of credit. After three picks he never got rattled, he just kept letting them go.”

His favorite target of the night was fellow junior Sam McCamley, who lit up the Bears defense for 148 yards and three touchdowns on three catches. The highlight of the night was a 99-yard streak from McChesney to McCamley, who caught the pass in stride up the left sideline and out ran the West defense for a touchdown.

“I really thought that our perimeter this year could be very exciting with the athletes we can put out there,” Bennett said.

“We lost an incredible group of seniors, but this group is different. A little bit more speed, a little more explosion. Last year, we didn’t have many deep balls at all. Tonight, we knew every play we had that deep threat. It’s exciting.”

That play, and the rest of the big offensive night, was set up by the run. Senior running back Noah James had 13 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns. The Wolfpack accounted for 182 rushing yards in total, mixing it up with power runs from James and misdirection on read options and sweeps.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever had an offensive line that was this hungry and this ready to go,” James said. “They made it easy for me. I give all the credit to them.”

That offensive explosion was matched by Glacier’s defensive dominance. Despite losing loads of talent off last year’s top ranked defense, the Wolfpack held West to 95 total yards in the game and -15 on the ground.

“This team just hasn’t accepted what other people have said (about the program),” Bennett said. “They’ve just said, we’re going to be better (than last year). One of the things we’ve said is defeat the doubt, all of these people doubting them.”

West scored first, capitalizing on their second interception of the first quarter to drive 63 yards for a touchdown. Glacier didn’t take much time to respond, scoring four plays later on James’ first score of the game.

However, for all the good that came from the blowout, the most glaring blemish on the night for the ’Pack was penalties. Glacier committed nine penalties for 70 yards, including twice getting called for sideline interference.

“That’s just something we have to work on,” Bennett said. “At times we have stretches where I think we’re getting it. And other times we go right back into that. That’s something we have to work on.”

The Wolfpack heads on the road next week to play Great Falls C.M. Russell. The Rustlers lost at Missoula Sentinel on Friday, 49-28.

Billings West 7 0 0 0 — 7

Glacier 6 23 14 0 — 43

First Quarter

WST — Brandyn Van Zee 17 pass from Wilson Brott (Grant Linde kick), 2:20

GLA — Noah James 6 run (bad snap), 0:52

Second Quarter

GLA — Evan Epperly 27 pass from Brady McChesney (McChesney kick), 10:03

GLA — AJ Robinson blocked punt for safety, 8:17

GLA — Sam McCamley 34 pass from McChesney (McChesney kick), 6:42

GLA — McCamley 14 pass from McChesney (McChesney kick), 1:31

Third Quarter

GLA — McCamley 99 pass from McChesney (McChesney kick), 9:35

GLA — James 5 run (McChesney kick), 1:06

West Glacier

First downs 6 7

Total yards 95 391

Rushes-yards 24-(-15) 31-182

Passing yards 110 209

Comp-Att-Int 15-28-0 11-18-3

Penalties-yards 4-12 9-70

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — West: Wilson Brott 5-(-5), Casey Klabbe 1-(-2), Logan Laird 10-8, Bjorn Bornes 1-(-28), Noah Howley 4-3, Cody McCombs 2-7, Zach Wolff 1-2. Glacier: Brady McChesney 4-23, Todd Ogden 2-9, Noah James 13-109, Logan Jones 5-5, Evan Epperly 2-24, Kaden Schoenthal 2-7, Brett Thomas 2-4, Leif Ericksen 1-1.

PASSING — West: Wilson Brott 15-28-110-0. Glacier: Brady McChesney 11-18-209-3.

RECEIVING — West: Logan Laird 5-13, Jeremy Keller 1-8, Parker Bernhardt 1-2, Brandyn Van Zee 1-17, Brock Bolin 1-6, Tom Donahue 3-42, Mitch Brott 1-6, Jayson Leinwand 1-4, Connor Lorenz 1-12. Glacier: Noah James 1-12, Logan Jones 4-13, Evan Epperly 1-27, Kaden Schoenthal 1-(-1), Kevin Malloy 1-10, Sam McCamley 3-148.