MISSOULA — Staring down a shootout at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Glacier (6-1) found itself with the quickest hand, outgunning Sentinel (4-3) 59-41 in a high-scoring Class AA football game on Friday night on the campus of the University of Montana.

The Wolfpack ran for 300 yards and passed for nearly 400 more in the fast-paced contest. Senior running back Noah James ran for 169 yards and four touchdowns and two receivers caught for at least 130 yards in the highest scoring game for Glacier this season.

“I was really proud of how our offense responded, especially early on, when they popped us in the mouth,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “Our guys responded, took that initial blow and went into halftime.”

Sentinel was firing on all cylinders early, taking chunks of field in its fast-paced up-tempo offense. Running backs Logan Ganieany and Jaydn Wilson each cut through the vaunted Glacier run defense, setting up a play-action game that caught the Wolfpack off guard.

The Spartans scored an early field goal and intercepted Glacier on its first drive, setting up a touchdown on a halfback pass to quarterback Kade Paffhausen on the next play, giving the home squad a 10-0 lead in front of a raucous homecoming crowd.

Glacier responded quickly to tie it up, kicking a field goal of its own followed by an interception and a quick touchdown to Logan Jones, who had a big night in the screen game, taking his first catch of the game 35 yards for a touchdown.

Jones finished with 139 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

The teams traded touchdowns until Glacier was finally able to get a stop, stalling the Spartans at the 11-yard line to force a field goal try. The 18-yard attempt sailed left and left Glacier in the driver’s seat, with the ball in its hands.

Two plays later, quarterback Brady McChesney found Evan Epperly deep down the right sideline for a 76-yard score, one of five catches for 130 yards for the senior, giving Glacier its first lead of the night just seconds before halftime.

“We just wanted to keep the foot on the pedal and not let up,” McChesney said. “We knew it was going to be a tight one, maybe a shootout. Our offense kept hitting on all cylinders.”

The Glacier offense took off in the second half, scoring touchdowns on five of its seven possessions, the last one only stopped by the final whistle. Jones had touchdowns of 48 and 38 yards and James ripped off a 74 yard run for a score as the Wolfpack showed its offensive firepower.

“We get so many contributions from so many people,” Bennett said. “We had some big plays across the board … I thought we converted in big-time situations when we needed to.

“We had way too many penalties tonight, that’s an issue. But, the kids stayed with it and converted. I can’t say enough about that, the kids played through a lot of adversity tonight.”

Glacier 10 14 21 14 — 59

Sentinel 17 3 8 13 — 41

S – Gabe Peppenger 35 FG, 8:25-1Q

S – Kade Paffhausen 14 pass from Jackson King (Peppenger kick), 6:48-1Q

G – Brandon Purdy 19 FG, 5:44-1Q

G – Logan Jones 35 pass from Brady McChesney (Purdy kick), 1:08-1Q

S – Jaydn Wilson 46 run (Peppenger kick), :16-1Q

G – Noah James 4 run (Purdy kick), 7:10-2Q

G – Evan Epperly 76 pass from McChesney (Purdy kick), 1:59-2Q

S – Peppenger 31 FG, :10-2Q

G – James 4 run (Purdy kick), 9:46-3Q

G – Jones 48 pass from McChesney, 5:23-3Q

S – Logan Ganieany 1 run (Chris Laporte pass from Paffhausen), 2:31-3Q

G – James 74 run (Purdy kick), 1:23-3Q

G – James 3 run (Purdy kick), 9:24-4Q

S – Jeff Krstulich 4 run (pass failed), 8:17-4Q

G – Jones 38 pass from McChesney (Purdy kick), 5:45-4Q

S – Austin Violette 14 pass from Paffhausen (Peppenger kick), 4;23-4Q

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Glacier (41-300) – Noah James 23-169, Brady McChesney 8-99, Logan Jones 5-22, Evan Epperly 2-13, Todd Ogden 1-6, Team 2-minus 9. Sentinel (35-122) – Jaydn Wilson 11-70, Logan Ganieany 16-46, Austin Violette 1-10, Jeff Krstulich 2-6, Kade Paffhausen 4-3, Team 1-minus 15.

PASSING: Glacier – McChesney 21-27-3 for 397 yards. Sentinel – Paffhausen 24-41-1 for 346 yards; Jackson King 1-1-0 for 14 yards.

RECEIVING: Glacier – Jones 7-139, Epperly 5-130, Sam McCamley 3-55, Kevin Malloy 3-45, James 3-38. Sentinel – Violette 7-118, Chris Laporte 4-30, Justin Smith 3-71, Zach Mustard 2-43, Krstulich 2-29, Ganieany 2-13, King 1-26, Paffhausen 1-14, Zah Burckhard 1-8, Kagen Khameneh 1-6, Wilson 1-2.