As the Glacier Wolfpack football team gears up to host Kalispell’s first state championship game in 34 years on Friday, some boosters are concerned about the poor attendance at last week’s semifinal game.

Greg Harris, a Flathead High School graduate and Wolfpack dad who was on Kalispell’s last state football championship team in 1970, said the few dozen students who showed up for Glacier’s semifinal shellacking of Missoula Big Sky last Friday weren’t indicative of the football-loving Flathead Valley.

“I don’t think the stands were even half full if you put all the fans together,” he said. “I believe there is a division between the two [Kalispell] schools. Parents like myself were divided, and I get that, but when a team moves on to the next level, the other team can come out and show support.”

Harris is advocating that all Kalispell fans — whether Flathead or Glacier supporters — get together to support Kalispell’s team in the state title game.

Mark Dennehy, the activities director for Glacier High School, also said game attendance this season has been lower than expected.

“I would have thought we’d have more people this year with the success our team has been having,” he said. “But we are competing with a lot of things for attention. There’s a variety of entertainment today that there wasn’t in the past.”

Dennehy said the frigid weather may have had an impact on ticket sales, and last week the state volleyball tournament could have drawn some students and parents away from the football stadium.

Legends Stadium, where Glacier and Flathead play home games, can seat around 3,400 fans. Dennehy said Glacier games average just over 1,000 paying fans and there are about 300 Glacier students who have season-long activity tickets. That adds up to barely half-full stadiums.

Those fans who have attended have watched the Wolfpack roll to a 12-0 record this season with the closest game an 18-point win over C.M. Russell, Friday’s opponent in the Class AA championship game.

During their undefeated season, the Wolfpack have racked up an average of 50 points a game while holding opponents to an average of 14 points per game.

For Harris, who has become one of the biggest boosters for School District 5 football (Glacier and Flathead) it was unnatural at first to root for a different Kalispell school. 

He was all-state for the Braves in 1970 and went on to play for the Montana Grizzlies and eventually the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers. His sons Tiger and Josh graduated from Flathead and competed in the Shrine Game. Another son, Caleb, graduated in 2012 from Glacier. 

Andrew Harris, the last son, plays defensive end for the Glacier Wolfpack.

Greg Harris said he believes the lack of football attendance falls less on students and more on school faculty and the community.

“It starts with the faculty and the parents and then the students will come,” he said. “It’s beneficial to the school district and it’s beneficial to our communities.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday at Legends Stadium for the championship game, the first title game to be played in Kalispell in 34 years. In 1980, the Flathead Braves fell to C.M. Russell 25-0 in the Class AA title game at what was then Rawson Field.

It has been longer — 44 years — since a Kalispell team won a state football crown. In 1970, Flathead clinched the championship with a 9-0-1 record. There was no playoff system that year, so the last time Kalispell won a title game was in 1959 when Flathead defeated Butte 39-0 on a frosty day in Butte’s Naranche Stadium.

Glacier, in its second straight appearance in the Class AA finale, is chasing its first football championship. The Wolfpack lost 24-14 at Bozeman in the 2013 title game.

Flathead last played in a title game in 2000 in Helena, a 35-6 loss to Helena Capital.

In its long history, Flathead has won six state gridiron titles. The first was in 1939, then it won back-to-back titles in 1950-51 and 1958-59 followed by the 1970 championship.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.