June 19 – The Glacier Wolfpack made an impact in the 77th East-West Shrine Game at Daylis Stadium in Billings on Saturday night.
As in three Most Valuable Player awards.
Kash Goicoechea rushed 12 times for 169 yards and two long touchdowns, Cohen Kastelitz had four catches for 53 yards and Isaac Keim was a beast on defense as the West earned its fourth straight victory in the football all-star series, 48-20.
Goicoechea won the Roger Silvernale Award for player of the game, while Keim – who like Goicoechea is headed to the Montana Grizzlies – was the West’s defensive MVP. Kastelitz, who is headed to Montana Tech, was his team’s offensive MVP.
Whitefish’s Mason Kelch, another Montana Tech signee and Kastelitz’s cousin, hit 5 of 6 PAT kicks for West.
The winners got a boost when Goicoechea threw a 57-yard touchdown on the sixth snap of the game. With his team leading 21-0, the Griz legacy went 70 yards for another score with 10 seconds left in the first half.
Watching was Keim, who in addition to playing defensive end and D-tackle, handled long-term duties for the West.
“I saw him go into the apartment and run away and I thought, ‘Oh my God, no one’s catching him,’” Keim said. “Maybe I ran onto the field before he scored. That’s my teammate, right? Next year too, he’ll be my teammate. It was a great sight to see.”
Trailing 28-0 at halftime, the East closed the gap with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Billings Central’s Adam Balkenbush to Bozeman High’s Rocky Lencioni, and a 1-yard TD run from Red Lodge’s Thomas Buchanan.
The East then forced a punt, but Three Forks safety Colten Hayder threw his second interception of the game for the West, at his own 3-yard line.
Soon his team was up to three TDs: Missoula Sentinel’s Danny Sirmon followed an 82-yard blast from Big Sky’s Joey Sandberg with a 15-yard score early in the fourth quarter.
Billings Senior’s Maclain Burckley caught a 5-yard pass from Buchanan with 4:40 left in the game, but the East’s final two possessions ended in pick-6s: Hamilton’s Lucas Lant had a 40-yarder for a TD, and Tyler Abbott of Florence. took another 92 yards for the game’s final points. Both interceptions came in the final 42 seconds.
The West roster was filled with Flathead Valley athletes: Glacier’s Alex Hausmann played defensive back (and was co-leader in tackles with four); Flathead High’s Braden Capser played outside linebacker; Bigfork’s Elijah Thorness played tight end; Thorness and the Columbia Falls duo of Tristan Crane and Hunter Goodman helped the West rush for a Shrine Game record 337 yards.
Additionally, Eureka’s Tristan Butts played receiver for West and Libby’s Jace DeShazer played inside linebacker.
Butts had two catches for 21 yards.
The annual series includes a week-long camp where former combatants are often roommates. The game raises funds for Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Spokane.
“It’s really great to know this is more than a game,” said Keim, who worked with Helena High’s Carter Kraft.
“We had a great week of camp,” said Goicoechea montanasports.com. “And it’s just amazing to see all the work we’ve done come together.”
Sandberg had 94 rushing yards on just four carries, including a 4-yard scoring run. Kraft was 5 of 11 passing for 39 yards and had a 3-yard TD run. Dillon’s Kee Christiansen threw for 97 yards on 10-of-21 passing. He was intercepted once.
Buchanan and Balkenbush combined for 324 passing yards for East, but were picked off a total of four times. The East had six turnovers, compared to two for the West.
Lencioni, who had nine receptions for 137 yards, was the East’s offensive MVP. Great Falls CMR defensive back River Wasson was his team’s defensive MVP.
West 14 14 0 20 — 48
East 0 0 14 6 — 20
W – Kash Goicoechea 57 run (Mason Kelch kick), 12:02-1Q
W – Joey Sandberg 4 run (Kelch kick), 5:33-1Q
W – Carter Kraft 3 run (Kelch kick), 6:15-2Q
W – Goicoechea 70 run (Kelch kick), :10-2Q
E – Rocky Lencioni 42 pass from Adam Balkenbush (shot from Maclain Burckley), 13:36-3Q
E – Thomas Buchanan 1 run (Burckley kick), 2:19-3Q
W – Danny Sirmon 15 run (Kee Christiansen kick), 10:50-4Q
E – Burckley 5 pass from Buchanan (missed shot), 4:40-4Q
W – Lucas Lant 40 interception return (Kelch kick), :42-4Q
W – Tyler Abbott 92 interception return (kick failed), :28-4Q
