Pirates open with 37-6 romp

The Polson Pirates opened the season with authority with a 37-6 win over Hamilton last Friday night behind a breakout performance by Ted Morigeau, who led the team with three touchdowns.

The Pirates offense included a one-two-three punch combination of Morigeau, Bryce Picard and Pat Dellwo, all of whom benefited from a strong performance by the offensive line.

Morigeau had a fumble recovery and a sack, while Picard added two touchdowns and, along with Dellwo, also had a sack.

"I was pleased as far as our first game goes. We have to cut back on the penalties, but I was pleased with how we did overall," said head coach Scott Wilson.

Morigeau finished the night with 87 yards on six carries, while Picard had 89 yards on nine carries, and two catches for 18 yards. Dellwo was the workhorse, carrying the ball 13 times for 41 yards.

But offense wasn't the only story. The Pirate defense held the Broncs to just a touchdown scored late in the game, and forced a couple of fumbles and included an interception by Eric Locke in the second half.

Morigeau forced a fumble at the 9:22 mark in the first quarter, but Hamilton recovered. On the next possession, Picard had a 25-yard run to get the team to the 7-yard line, and Morigeau rumbled in on a sweep outside to make it 6-0 with 3:05 left in the quarter.

Dellwo forced another fumble on the Broncs' next possession, and Billy Johnson recovered. Picard then took the ball up the middle for a 5-yard run for the TD.

The Pirates went for two to make up for a missed PAT on the first score, and John Rausch made a diving catch while keeping his feet inbounds in the back of the endzone to make it 14-0 with 30 seconds left in the first period.

Joe Andrews set the defensive tone for the second quarter with a beauty of a hit on a Hamilton player in the ensuing kickoff, and Morigeau recovered a bad snap minutes later, racing 25 yards for the TD with 11:21 left in the half. His PAT made it 21-0.

Picard's sack at the 8:30 mark forced Hamilton to punt, and Dellwo got a key first down on 4th and 1 with 5:30 left, which set up a 53-yard run by Morigeau with 3:02 left in the half to make it 27-0.

Wilson gave credit to his offensive line — Kalvin Patterson, Jeremy Basler, Rob DiGiallonardo, Will Gordon and Anthony Golden — for the success of the running game.

"If we rush for 276 yards they must be doing something right," he said.

Quarterback Craig Bagnell was 3-for-8 with 21 yards passing, but mostly relied on his stable of runningbacks to get the job done.

"Offensively, we were a little out of synch sometimes, but we have lots of new faces out there in terms of receivers. That will take a little time to adjust to," Wilson said.

A field goal by Morigeau with a few seconds left in the half made it 30-0, and Picard's touchdown run in the third put the icing on the cake. Johnson had another fumble recovery with 4:33 left in the third to solidify the defense.

Wilson was pleased at the fact that Dellwo, Morigeau and Picard can run the ball at will, leaving the defense guessing as to who will be the go-to guy on any given play.

"We felt that we really needed to utilize all three of our backs this year. All three of those kids are talented runners," he said.

Wilson said his seniors were the key to doing so well on opening night.

The team will travel to Stevi this Friday for the final non-conference game. Stevi likes to spread the field, and has a QB with a good arm, Wilson said, and a tailback that averages 15-20 carries per game.

The Pirates' next home game won't be until Sept. 15. They will start conference play against Libby next week in Libby.