Pirates' football season ends 46 seconds too soon

The Polson Pirates' bid for another shot at a semifinal playoff game came up a few seconds short, as Belgrade scored the go-ahead touchdown with 46 seconds left in the game to take a 21-14 win in Saturday's game.

Belgrade jumped out to a 7-0 lead in less than a minute after runningback Ben Ward took the ball 70 yards for a TD on the opening play of the game. But the Pirates defense bounced back, with John Rausch making two big tackles in the backfield to rally his team and hold the Panthers on their next possession.

Bryce Picard then tied it up with a 43-yard touchdown run on Polson's next possession, with Colton Woods adding the extra point. On their next possession, Woods caught a big pass up the middle to put the team in Panthers territory, and Picard added a big run himself, but it was called back on a holding penalty.

No matter. Andy Nelson got a touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter, and another PAT by Woods made it 14-7. Polson had a 4th and 15 from the 22-yard line with 2:20 left in the half, but were unable to score before halftime.

Penalties hurt the team early in the second half, and Picard had a couple of long runs called back because of it, but the team bounced back until Belgrade got an interception early in the third. However, the Pirate defense held the Panthers on 4th and 3, and the third quarter ended with the score still 14-7.

But Belgrade wasn't done. With a 1st and goal situation, the Panthers got two delay of game calls against them, and coupled with the Pirates defense, found themselves in a 4th and 14 situation. But a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ward made it 14-13. The team actually set up a for a PAT to tie it, but an unsportsmanlike conduct and false start call — all before the kick — pushed them out of range, especially since they were kicking into the wind.

The Panthers were forced to go for two, and the lead, but Gabe Caye caught the ball to break up the play. With a 14-13 lead and 10:15 left in the game, Polson took over, but went four and out. However, a great punt by Woods, who had the wind at his back, put the ball on the 5-yard line for what would be the Panthers last drive.

Using Ward and a series of two, three and four-yard runs, Belgrade drove about 70 yards down the field. With a 3rd and 7 on the Pirates 26-yard line and just over two minutes to go, the Panthers picked up a pass interference call on the five-yard line after a Polson defender made incidental contact.

Incidental contact calls are at the referee's discretion, but the contact did cause the Panther receiver, Ward, to get tripped up, and with that, Belgrade had a 1st and goal on the five-yard line. Two plays later Belgrade QB Derek Erickson scooted into the end zone untouched on a fake that fooled almost everyone but Woods, who couldn't reach him in time.

The two-point conversion made it 21-14 with 46 seconds left, and a last-second Hail Mary pass by Polson QB Craig Bagnell fell short. For the second year in a row, the team came up one touchdown short on a play at the end of the game.

"We were playing a good football team and we had to make things happen. We did in the first half but not the second half," said head coach Scott Wilson. "But those kids did everything I asked them to."

Wilson said he was pleased overall with the performance, even though the team lost. He gave credit to the players for not giving up after Belgrade's demoralizing 70-yard romp to open the game.

"We responded to that opening play for a touchdown. We could have let them run away with it, but we didn't," Wilson said.

Wilson said he had to respect the fact that Belgrade could drive 95 yards on their last possession to get the win.

"It came down to the last couple of drives. If a high school football team can go 95 yards in 18 plays …," he said.

Of the starting seniors, Polson will lose Woods, Nelson, Aaron Jones and Caye, but Wilson said he's optimistic for next year, especially when he considers how well the team did this year after losing more than a dozen players to graduation last year.

"Those kids deserve a lot of credit. They did more than anyone expected of them. We had a lot of kids who didn't have a lot of varsity experience, and we made it a lot farther than anyone thought we would," Wilson said.