Pirates bounce back with win over Columbia Falls

The Polson Pirates bounced back with a conference win over Columbia Falls last week, 26-6, behind a solid effort on both sides of the ball in cold, rainy conditions that tested both teams' ball-handling skills.

The key to the game was containing Wildcat tailback Josh Wilson, and while Wilson did well in the first half, the Pirate defense held him to negative yardage in the second half.

"The biggest game plan for us was to gang-tackle and rally to the football. It's hard to tackle a good back like Wilson, one on one, but we were able to hold him in the second half," said head coach Scott Wilson.

The defensive effort gave the team some breathing room, but the game was close all the way up until the fourth quarter when Polson pulled away from a 12-6 lead.

Quarterback Craig Bagnell had another good night of passing, despite the nasty weather conditions, throwing 14 completions on 25 attempts for 177 yards and one touchdown, while giving up one interception.

"Craig had a great night, all things considered," Wilson said. "I was very pleased with how well Craig threw the ball, and how well the receivers did, in those types of conditions."

Bagnell had some good help though, as John Rausch and Conlin Benson teamed up for 101 of his passing yards. Rausch had a dandy catch of about 25 yards at the end of the first quarter which set up a touchdown run by Pat Dellwo from inside the 10 with 34 seconds left in the first frame.

Dellwo finished the night with 14 carries for 69 yards, while Ted Morigeau had two touchdowns on 14 carries for 73 yards.

The Pirates were only up 6-0 when the defense held the Wildcats scoreless on first and goal inside the five yardline — a huge boost for the team.

"To be able to do that in terms of holding them there was big," Wilson said "Their only touchdown came off our mistake, a fumble in the end zone. Our defense did really well."

But Polson only had a six-point lead until Billy Johnson caught a touchdown pass with 49 seconds left in the half to make it 12-0 at halftime.

Columbia Falls recovered the fumble for a touchdown in the third quarter, but couldn't score despite threatening to several times.

Morigeau's two touchdowns solidified the Pirate's win in the fourth quarter, with runs of six and nine yards, and the Pirates were able to score a two-point conversion off a pass to Dellwo after the third touchdown.

The team got a big boost from Benson, too, in the second quarter with a big catch for about a 25-yard gain to set up Johnson's touchdown later in the drive.

The Wildcat's Wilson had a breakaway run in the second quarter for what looked like sure touchdown, but he was caught from behind by Morigeau, and the team held them scoreless.

Wilson had 81 yards rushing in the first half, but was held to negative yardage in the second half by the Pirate D.

"To be able to hold a back of that caliber was good. Overall, the kids executed really well," coach Wilson said.

The Pirates have much-needed break with a bye this week, as the team is fighting injuries. They will face Bigfork on Sept. 29 in Bigfork.

"We have some injuries here and there, but hopefully we will be at full strength when we go against Bigfork," Wilson said.