Packing a wallop

JON ALLEN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 hour, 36 minutes AGO

Glacier wide receiver Liam Palmer (6) catches a 42-yard touchdown reception at the end of the second quarter against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead quarterback Leum Saisbury (2) drops back to pass in the second quarter against Glacier at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier quarterback Cash Keim (9) completes an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Cooper Pelc in the second quarter against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 18. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier linebacker Kruz Robinson (7) sacks Flathead quarterback Dillon Wink (18) for a safety in the fourth quarter at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier defensive back Cooper Pelc (1) intercepts a pass in the first half against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier running back Trey Ramey (3) breaks a 79-yard run in the second quarter against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead quarterback Leum Saisbury (2) rolls out to pass in the third quarter against Glacier at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier quarterback Cash Keim (9) completes pass to wide receiver Cooper Pelc in the first quarter against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 18. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Flathead defensive back Madden Carrier (7) defends a pass to Glacier wide receiver Ryne Gillette (2) in the first quarter at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier wide receiver Cooper Pelc (1) catches a pass in the first quarter against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier running back Kyle West (11) picks up yardage on a reception in the fourth quarter against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier wide receiver Liam Palmer (6) scores a touchdown on a 20-yard reception in the second quarter against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

When you rush for 310 yards, it’s normally a good day.

And Glacier had a great day as Trey Ramey ran wild and the Wolfpack downed Crosstown rival Flathead 51-7 in the 20th meeting of the two teams Thursday at Legends Stadium.

Ramey ran the ball 13 times for 237 yards, including a 79-yarder that was a shoestring tackle away from going the length of the field. He still scored two touchdowns on the ground.

The Wolfpack (7-1, 6-0 in Western AA games) also found a trio of passing scores, two to Liam Palmer and one to Cooper Pelc.

“(Palmer) is tough. He has courage,” Glacier coach Grady Bennett said. “When you run the hurdles and you learn those things and you bring that to the football field, he is such a competitor. He has gotten more of a chance at wide receiver with Dylan (Banzet) being hurt, and he is really stepping up.”

Palmer’s 42-yard grab on the final play of the first half felt like an early dagger that put Glacier ahead 35-0.

“I got off the ball and shook the corner, then I had to go get it. It had to be my ball,” Palmer said.

Flathead (3-5, 1-5) was without quarterback Bear Barker, who is battling an injury to his throwing shoulder. Leum Saisbury — who is normally a running back and just returned from missing two games with an injury — started at quarterback.

“I am really proud of our defense, and even our coaches. Knowing that he is the leading running back at the time in the backfield with another good running back, we could have gone to a four-down or five-down front and packed the box,” Bennett said. “We could have packed the box, but we stayed with what we do and a three-down front and I think it is going to serve us well down the road.”

“For us, not having our quarterback and having to institute a new offense in a couple of days, it’s tough,” Flathead coach Mac Roche said. “Hats off to them, they executed and played a good ball game.”

Ramey started strong on Glacier’s first offensive possession as he ripped off a 23-yard run before going 34 yards to score the game’s first touchdown.

Next Wolfpack drive, it was Eli Imperato’s turn as the senior doubled the advantage from 11 yards out to make it 14-0.

Palmer caught his first touchdown early in the second quarter, a 20-yard catch-and-run on the play after Ramey’s 79-yard dash. Flathead had pinned Glacier at its 1-yard line on a punt.

Keim and Pelc connected with five minutes left in the first half to make it 28-0 with an 8-yard touchdown pass. Then Keim found Palmer on the deep post to cap off a dominant first half.

Ramey added his second rushing score of the game late in the third quarter, before the Glacier defense forced a safety to extend the lead to 44-0.

Kyle West then showed off his sprinter speed to go 21 yards and find Glacier’s final touchdown of the game.

Flathead broke the shutout bid with two minutes left as Silus Marquart connected with Liam Rech from 5 yards away to make it 51-7.

Glacier heads on the road to close out the regular season with Missoula Big Sky (7-1, 5-1); the winner of that matchup will claim the Western AA title and No. 1 seed for the playoffs.

Flathead remains home to battle Missoula Sentinel, trying to close out their season on a high note. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.

Glacier 14 21 7 9 - 51

Flathead 0 0 0 7 - 7

G — Trey Ramey 34 run (Ty Sherrill kick), 9:48 1Q

G — Eli Imperato 11 run (Sherrill kick), 4:19 1Q

G — Liam Palmer 20 pass from Cash Keim (Sherrill kick), 11:26 2Q

G — Cooper Pelc 8 pass from Keim (Sherrill kick), 5:06 2Q

G — Palmer 42 pass from Keim (Sherrill kick), :01 2Q

G — Ramey 7 run (Sherrill kick), 2:34 3Q

G — Safety, 11:42 4Q

G — Kyle West 21 run (Sherrill kick), 8:35 4Q

F — Liam Rech 5 pass from Silus Marquart (Brett Chivers kick), 2:05 4Q

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Glacier (26-310) — Trey Ramey 13-237, Eli Imperato 5-48, Kyle West 3-28, Cooper Pelc 1-4, Team 2-minus 2, Cash Keim 2-minus 4. Flathead (34-82) — Brett Chivers 10-39, Leum Saisbury 12-38, Ean Matlock 6-25, Dillon Wink 6-minus 18.

PASSING: Glacier — Cash Keim 8-15-0 for 120 yards, Latham Leeper 1-1-0 for 35 yards. Flathead — Silus Marquart 2-3-0 for 24 yards, Leum Saisbury 1-8-1 for 8 yards.

RECEIVING: Glacier — Cooper Pelc 3-35, Liam Palmer 2-62, Kyle West 2-36, Trey Ramey 2-22. Flathead — Robbie Wells 1-19, Kellan Manning 1-8, Liam Rech 1-5.