The Flathead Braves’ 2023 football opener didn’t go as planned and doesn’t look great on paper, but second-year coach Caleb Aland came away encouraged.

Flathead has a chance to square its record when it plays another 0-1 team, Belgrade, Friday at Legends Stadium. Glacier (1-0) is on the road at Billings Senior (0-1), and so the Braves take center stage.

Belgrade at Flathead

A 33-0 loss at C.M. Russell wasn’t how the Braves wanted to start, and Aland voiced a common refrain from 2022: “Kind of shot ourselves in the foot pretty good.”

“We turned the ball over three times inside the 6-yard line,” he said. “We had a fumble at the half-yard line, and had a touchdown called back which turned into a turnover on downs, and then we had an interception.”

Twenty-one points in the first half would have put more pressure on the Rustlers, certainly. As it was, CMR scored twice on special teams, including a 56-yard punt return.

“Defensively, man, they played lights out,” Aland said of his squad. “We gave up three or four explosive plays, but really got after it.”

Offense was a struggle: Flathead went 0 for 15 on third-down conversions. Quarterbacks Brett Pesola and Kaleb Sims split the snaps, and each completed eight passes for 91 yards, with two interceptions.

“I wanted to see who managed the game better,” Aland said. “They both did some good things. Obviously turnovers were an issue. But there was a lot of pressure in the backfield. Overall I was played with how they managed the game and how they kept bouncing back up.”

While Pesola will likely start against Belgrade, both junior QBs will continue to play. Either has a fine target in senior Brody Thornsberry, who caught five passes for 95 yards in Great Falls.

“He played his tail off,” Aland said. “He did a really good job in the pass game, offensively and defensively. Two catches he made were not on great throws, where he came back and made the play. Seeing him go out there have a good game like he did was a treat.”

Thornsberry and sophomore Nolan Campbell each intercepted a CMR pass; Campbell had a team-high 10 stops.

They’ll lead a defense that might face some wing-T action Friday — that’s what the Panthers showed in their 31-7 loss to Missoula Big Sky. Belgrade threw just 12 passes but ran 53 times for 191 yards. Sophomore quarterback Hunter Rask ran for 48 yards; Brady Aschim and Kaysen Konkol combined for another 124 rushing yards.

Aland also noted Belgrade showed a unique, almost prevent-type defense that differs from last season. Preparation is one thing, but getting into the flow of what the Braves do best is just as important.

“Our (Orange-Black) scrimmage got canceled by smoke,” Aland noted. “(Great Falls) was the first time really that we played live ball, so I was pretty pleased in a lot of ways. But there’s room for growth in other areas.”

Glacier at Senior

Wolfpack coach Grady Bennett also saw big possibilities for his team upon reviewing film of the season opener. The good news is that it was after a 44-0 win over Great Falls High.

“The exciting thing for me as a coach is we looked good in most respects,” Bennett said. “But my gosh, we’re just scratching the surface. There were so many things we could fix, and did fix, this week. We could be so much better and that’s what we told the guys this week.”

Sophomore quarterback Jackson Presley was as sharp as advertised, completing passes to eight different targets. Kobe Dorcheus and Kash Goicoechea combined for 136 rushing yards.

The defense came up with seven sacks, 2.5 by Aiden Krause.

A deep, talented group had a 7-hour bus ride to shake off before taking on the Broncs, who swamped Missoula Hellgate 44-15 in their opener.

Payton Oakley completed 11 of 13 passes for 166 yards for Senior; Maclain Burckley, who caught 60 passes a year ago, had four receptions for 64 yards against Hellgate.

“McClain Burckley is a big kid (6-foot-2), and just a solid kid,” Bennett said. “He kicks it for them as well. He’s definitely a weapon for them, and any time you have a quarterback back, that’s a huge bonus for a team.”

Glacier has experience all over the field, and Bennett was especially pleased with center TJ Gannon and tight end-defensive end Isaac Keim.

He also has high regard for Senior coach Chris Murdock, who took over the Broncs in 2012 and has guided them to three straight title games from 2015-17, winning two, right after Bennett’s Wolfpack won the 2014 championship.

“We’re going to have to take whatever the defense gives up,” he said. “And Coach Murdock is a good coach, a good defensive coordinator. He brings a lot of pressure, that’s something we’ll have to deal with. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”