Glacier football (9-1) locked up a top seed in the playoffs, the best record in school history and a fifth straight win over its crosstown rivals on Friday night, beating Flathead 56-7 at Legends Stadium.

The Wolfpack offense rolled early, scoring touchdowns on six of eight drives in the first half. Senior running back Noah James was nearly unstoppable, scoring three touchdowns and picking up 81 yards on 12 carries, and quarterback Brady McChesney threw for 226 yards and three scores.

Flathead (3-7) tried to keep up, capitalizing on a Glacier fumble to score on their first drive of the second quarter, but missed on a few choice opportunities to get back in the contest. A surprise onside kick wasn’t converted and they missed on a few deep balls that could have led to touchdowns. The Braves ran with an offensive lineman and threw a pair of halfback passes, none of which resulted in points.

The defense also forced and recovered three fumbles, but it wasn’t enough to stem the Glacier offense.

“The kids played hard,” Flathead coach Russell McCarvel said. “We were able to make a couple plays on defense but we weren’t able to turn that into points on the board.

“We tried to let her fly tonight. We ran everything we could. As many formations and plays we could possibly run.”

Glacier recovered from its troubles holding on to the ball, scoring on their first two possessions of the fourth quarter. James ran untouched 32 yards for his fourth touchdown of the night and Sam McCamley caught his second touchdown on a 79 yard pitch and catch from McChesney to cap the night’s scoring.

James finished with 146 yards on 19 carries and McChesney threw for 340. Evan Epperly led the Wolfpack in receiving, hauling in five passes for 147 yards.

Flathead quarterback Easton Johnson led the Braves in passing, rushing and receiving. He threw for 65 yards, ran for 80 and had a 25 yard catch that set up a Braves scoring chance.

“I didn’t like the turnovers, but we had some big plays and good drives,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said.

“You have to give (Flathead) credit for battling, you can tell they’ve made a lot of improvement.”

Glacier secured the second seed in the Class AA playoffs, where it will host seventh seed Butte (6-4) next week at Legends. The two teams met for a shootout earlier this season, with the Wolfpack leaving the Mining City with a 58-41 win. The 9-1 finish is also the best regular season record for a Kalispell team in at least four decades.

“We’re (heading into the playoffs) healthy, which is amazing” Bennett said. “I feel like we’re playing very well. The focus is always to get better and I feel like we are.”

Glacier 21 21 0 14 — 56

Flathead 0 7 0 0 — 7

First quarter

G — Sam McCamley 7 catch from Brady McChesney (Epperly run), 7:26

G — Noah James 9 run (kick blocked), 4:53

G — Devin Cochran 45 pass from McChesney (Brandon Purdy kick), 1:58

Second quarter

F — Easton Johnson 1 run (Connor Mayberry kick), 7:49

G — James 14 run (Purdy kick), 6:59

G — James 9 run (Purdy kick), 3:24

G — Evan Epperly 45 pass from McChesney (Purdy kick), 1:43

Fourth quarter

G — James 32 run (Stellan Ryan-Coats kick), 11:36

G — McCamley 79 pass from McChesney (Ryan-Coats kick), 7:29

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Glcr Flthd

First downs 12 11

Rushes-yards 31-201 44-110

Passing 338 90

Comp-Att-Int 14-21-0 16-31-3

Fumbles-lost 3-3 1-0

Penalties-yards 5-30 7-35

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Glacier, Brady McChesney 4-21, Jake Willich 1-3, Noah James 19-146, Logan Jones 4-27, Evan Epperly 1-(-2), Casey Kostecki 1-4, Alex Stewart 1-2. Flathead, Easton Johnson 28-70, Dalton Manning 1-8, Sean McComb 1-2, Brad Larkins 8-3, Dallas Grimes 1-0, Jess Beaman 1-22, Beyton Bryce 2-5, Adam Bradley 1-1.

PASSING — Glacier, Brady McChesney 13-20-340-0, Jake Willich 1-1-(-2)-0. Flathead, Easton Johnson 15-29-65-3, Jess Beaman 1-2-25-0.

RECEIVING — Glacier, Noah James 2-35, Logan Jones 2-15, Evan Epperly 5-147, Devin Cochran 1-45, Sam McCamley 3-98, Alex Stewart 1-(-2). Flathead, Brad Larkins 1-(-1), Easton Johnson 1-25, Walker Malmin 3-24, Dillon Thomas 5-13, Gavyn Wilson 1-4, Maverick Escalante 4 -24, Jess Beaman 1-1.