Going into Tuesday’s Crosstown matchup at Legends Stadium, both the Flathead and Glacier flag football programs have put in the time on the road. 

Glacier especially: The Pack are coming off a trip to San Diego for the first Maxpreps Flag Football Showdown, an 18-team tournament that brought several top programs to one spot on Sept. 11-12. 

Going up against these more experienced teams was tough: Glacier lost all three of its games by scores of 20-0 (West Park, Calif.), 32-7 (Mission Hills, Calif.) and 36-0 (Torrey Pines, Nevada).  

“We definitely had our moments,” Glacier coach Mark Kessler said. “The score was 6-0 in the first game and they scored on two 40-yard passes on third and long when a defender pulled their flag as they threw it.  

“Offensively we moved the ball but scored on just one of eight possessions in the red zone.” 

The lone touchdown belonged to Remi Osler, on a pass from quarterback Mikenzie Buaer. 

Flathead had a similar issue against Hellgate; the Bravettes piled up 287 yards of offense but scored just once, and only after the Knights had gone up 22-0. 

“Two really long scoring plays,” Flathead coach Jess Hensley said. “Once we settled in, our defense shut down Hellgate the second half — but it was just too far to come back.” 

Flathad did beat Sentinel 13-7, with Gracie May Kilmer connecting with receiver Aubrie Lindsey on the game-winning TD pass. Lily Parris led the defense with nine tackles, including three sacks.  

“She was just a beast,” Hensley said. “She’s a wrecking ball in the backfield.” 

Glacier is now 4-4 overall and 4-1 in Western AA competition; the loss came 6-0 to Helena Capital.  

Flathead is 4-1 overall and 3-1 in league. 

“First of all, Flathead’s always going to give us issues,” Kessler said. “They’re well-coached and good athletes. For us, it’s kind of taking care of the football, staying away from turnovers and playing an aggressive style defensively that can lead to big things for us.” 

“I think we’re very evenly matched,” Hensley said. “We’ve been working on the fundamentals and on not letting games get too big for us. We have the talent, but that is only half the sport. You have to have the right mentality, because it is Crosstown, and it is Senior Night. Our goal is to show up and play the game we know we can.” 

It’s the first action in a week for Flathead and longer than that for Glacier, but Kessler was happy to have the practice time: He felt his Pack had spent more time in games than they had in drills. 

“Last week we finally got a full week of practice,” he said. “And we excited about the direction we’re going.”