Points have not been hard to come by for the Arlington and Glacier Peak offenses this season.
When the Grizzlies and Eagles meet in the Wesco 3A championship Friday, the game will feature the two most explosive offenses in Wesco 3A, with Arlington averaging about 38 points per game and the Glacier Peak offense scoring almost 43 points per contest.
“I think it has a lot to do with the way we practice and the reps in practice,” Glacier Peak head coach Rory Rosenbach said. “We get a lot of reps in practice and we’re able to watch film and learn. We felt like we had a lot of pieces back. A lot of key contributors were back on offense. You have to hope guys progress and for us that happened.”
The Grizzlies feature a two-headed attack at quarterback which has found success this season. Freshman Ayden Ziomas (66 of 97 for 1,160 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions) and senior Devyn Rainbow (45 of 77 for 580 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions) give Glacier Peak (6-0 league, 7-1 overall) the option to go with the quarterback who “has the hot hand.”
“This is the first year where we’ve really felt like we had multiple guys that could be successful (at quarterback),” Rosenbach said. “We had three or four guys and we ended up cross training the younger guys to receivers and defense. It’s kind of whoever has the hot hand at the time and who’s progressing.”
Rosenbach says the quarterback competition hasn’t caused problems or confusion for the Glacier Peak team.
“It hasn’t been. I’m sure it could have,” Rosenbach said. “We’ve got talented skill kids so for us, at QB, you don’t have to be the Marcus Mariota end-all that does everything. You just have to make good decisions and be accurate. That makes it nice.”
The Glacier Peak quarterbacks benefit from senior wideout Justin Guffey, who has 29 catches for 520 yards and three scores. Junior Colton Bunt adds 23 receptions for 447 yards and five scores for the Grizzlies.
Running back Aubrey Carter (99 carries for 623 yards and seven touchdowns) helps balance out the Glacier Peak offensive attack.
“They’re going to make some plays,” Arlington head coach Greg Dailer said. “We’ve had a high rate of success the last few weeks and I don’t know if we can maintain that. They have some really exceptional athletes. They’re going to make some plays. We just have to limit the number of plays.”
Like the Grizzlies, Arlington has found success through the air this season. The Eagles started the year with a spread offense designed to find running lanes, but modified it a couple weeks in, freeing senior quarterback Andrew Kalahar to air it out.
Kalahar has responded with 2,141 yards passing (going 174 of 265) with 23 touchdowns.
“We switched to a new offensive system. We weren’t sure how it was going to work out,” Dailer said with a laugh. “But I’m glad it did. We knew we had a really cerebral quarterback that’s really accurate with the football. … We just got away from our spread-option reads and started getting into more spread offense. It just fits our personnel well.”
Senior receivers Donavan Sellgren (51 receptions for 667 yards and 11 touchdowns) and Kyle Bayer (48 catches for 659 yards and nine scores) have also benefitted from the new system. Sellgren, who was convinced by his teammates to play high school football prior to last season, has become a strong target for Kalahar.
“He was kind of getting a feel for it last year,” Dailer said. “He played some defensive back and a little wide receiver. He put in some work in the offseason and has turned himself into quite the receiver.”
Junior Devon Nutter keeps the Eagles balanced. The running back has 547 yards and seven touchdowns on 86 carries.
“Their running back plays a whole lot bigger than 167 (pounds) or whatever he’s listed at,” Rosenbach said. “They’re really good. The more film I watch the more impressed I am with what they’re doing. … As you watch the season progress you see them clean things up and be so crisp offensively. There are less plays, but there’s more production. They’ve found what they’re really good at and they’re taking off. We’ll certainly have our hands full with that offense.”
With the offenses set to shine, defense could be key for Arlington and Glacier Peak. The Grizzlies allow a Wesco 3A-low 13 points per game, while the Eagles give up an average of 24.
“It helps that the defense does a good job getting the ball back to our offense,” Dailer said. “I think Glacier Peak will probably say the same thing. They’re really good on defense.”
“Their defense is really underrated,” Rosenbach said. “That front three is really good. We’re going to have our hands full for sure. For us it’s going to be limit big plays and tackle in space on defense. They’re pretty explosive. They’ll dink you with five-, six-yard plays and then they’ll pop you for a big one.”
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