Glacier and Helena High have eight wins between them, and will combine for the marquee Class AA football game of the week in Helena – with apologies to the venerable Hellgate-Sentinel game down at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

At Legends Stadium, Flathead will look for its first win against a Butte team that is coming off its first victory, at Helena Capital, last week.

The Valley has many other important games, including Columbia Falls at Corvallis, Dillon at Libby and Whitefish heading down to the Bitterroot to play unbeaten Hamilton tonight.

Polson, meanwhile, was able to keep its Homecoming game by subbing in a new opponent: Stevensville had to cancel because of a COVID-19 quarantine, so Western B Bigfork – which had its game with Anaconda canceled for the same reason – will make the 35-mile trip.

Here’s a brief look at the football games:

Glacier at Helena

The Wolfpack’s 4-0 start can be traced to an opportunistic defense, some strong special teams play and the legs of junior running back Jake Rendina, who has 18 rushing touchdowns.

Helena’s unbeaten beginning is a testament to the Bengals being good... just about everywhere.

“I think roster-wise, them and Sentinel have the most talent in all phases,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “Most of the time you look at film for some weakness. But Helena is one of those teams that is really talented and balanced and it’s just hard to find any.”

On offense Kaden Huot has been outstanding at quarterback, with 13 touchdown passes against just two interceptions. Ethan Maxness is averaging 5.8 yards a carry at running back. Dexter Tedesco, Raef Miller and Chase McGurran rank 3-4-5 in the Western AA in receiving, behind the Hellgate duo of Ian Finch and Leo Filardi.

We know what Hellgate did through the air last week against Glacier (450 yards).

“Traditionally they have a very good offensive line,” Bennett said. “They’re very well-coached there. We know we’re going to have to be able to stop both.”

Complicating matters is Helena’s size – Bennett allows his team is usually at a disadvantage in that area.

“We’re maybe as small as we’ve been in a long time,” he said, but then he referenced Rendina’s praise of his blockers: They may be small, but they’re tough.

“We’re the toughest, we fight the hardest,” Bennett said. “They know they’re not the biggest so they know they have to get leverage and have great technique and make up for it. And of course, Jake can make up for a lot of mistakes.”

Defensively, Helena has been very good: Bennett notes standout linebackers Zachary and Marcus Evans and defensive linemen Zach Carson (league-high five sacks), Forrest Suero and Jack Marcille.

“We couldn’t handle them last year (a 20-6 Helena win),” Bennett said. “So that will be the challenge.”

Bennett noted that Cole Johnson helped Glacier stabilize things in the secondary last week – his interception of a pass intended for Finch being a pivotal play in the fourth quarter of a 54-38 win. He also noted quarterback JT Allen’s play in the last six quarters: the senior was accurate and poised on third down.

“I thought he played a very effective game. The team we have this year, we’re going to run the ball a lot more,” Bennett noted. “Jake is going to get 5 or 6 yards a pop. So JT just needs to do his part and keep the chains moving.”

Butte at Flathead

The Bulldogs seemed to be having a down year before a 20-13 win at Helena Capital last week – the same Capital team that beat Flathead 41-0 the week before.

So the task is tall for the 0-4 Braves, who had the ball inside Bengals’ territory plenty last week in what became a 40-0 loss. Coach Matt Upham’s team played two quarterbacks against Helena, senior Charlie Hinchey and sophomore Jackson Walker.

Hinchey will start tonight.

“He’s back and he’s good to go,” Upham said.

The bad news is neither QB shepherded Flathead to the end zone last week, though there were chances.

“Last week we had some short fields and just didn’t move the ball very well,” Upham said. “We’d give our team some good field positions defensively, and got a fake punt... We just have to finish drives. That’s the message this week.”

Butte (1-3) is led by quarterback Blake Drakos, whose favorite targets so far are sophomore Cameron Gurnsey and Jake Olsen, a 6-foot-7 tight end who recently committed to the University of Montana. The running attack is led by brothers Gavin and Christian Vetter.

“They play really hard,” Upham said. “Their defensive line is extremely physical. Their linebacker corps is fast -- they get to the football.”

Alec Thomas continues to lead the rushing attack for the Braves, though Kaden Henshaw, who also missed a couple games, had some nice runs late against Helena. Jackson Barrett and Tommy Wells have had big gains in the receiving corps.

Thomas, also a linebacker, and safety Ryan Nelson continued to lead the Braves’ defense. Thomas is fourth in the Western and tackles with 39 and owns a sack. Nelson has 29 stops.

“I know the score didn’t look good but it was a good game for us defensively,” Upham said. “I thought the defensive line played close to a perfect game -- Elijah (Owens) and Kayden (Berkey) played their best games Friday night.”

Elsewhere

The Bigfork-Polson game has firepower: Nobody in Montana has thrown for more yards than Polson’s Jarrett Wilson (2,021) and no one has run for more yards than Bigfork running back Cormac Benn (1,071)… Whitefish lost to run-heavy Libby (21-10) to begin the season and now heads to Hamilton, which is run-first. Ben Rooney leads the Broncs’ attack, but the Bulldogs counter with high-flying quarterback Fynn Ridgeway and top rusher Jack Alton - who has more yards than Rooney on the ground. … Dillon beat Libby 28-12 a year ago in a matchup in Dillon. … One player for Columbia Falls to watch for tonight is Corvallis QB Bryce Mayn. … Browning canceled its game with Butte Central so the Maroons picked up Saturday’s matchup at Livingston.