Fouty performs well as Polson hammers Bigfork

Zach Urness — Leader Staff

Twas a dark and stormy night for a high-seas battle between the Pirates and the Vikings, and, with running backs Cody Doyle and Tim Rausch ramming like cannon balls through the hull of the Viking defense, Polson rumbled to a 27-7 homecoming victory.

Facing a sidelined starting quarterback and rain-soaked conditions, the Pirates offensive strategy was simple: run the ball. And they did—46 times to be exact—for a whopping 282 yards on the ground, 155 of which came from Doyle and 89 came from Rausch, who also scored two touchdowns. It all helped Polson square their conference record at 1-1 and to 3-2 overall.

“I was pleased with how well we ran the ball,” said head coach Scott Wilson. “It was important in the original game plan to establish the run, but when I saw the forecast for a downpour that kind of changed our mode and we decided to just keep attacking them on the ground.”

Sophomore Trae Fouty filled in at quarterback for Craig Bagnell, who was injured in the he previous game against Libby. Wilson said that while Bagnell had been cleared to play, he decided to keep him out against Bigfork.

“I just thought it would be best to sit him this week so he’d be good and ready for this week,” explained Wilson.

It was a tough assignment for the first start of Fouty’s career—facing the always pressurized atmosphere of a homecoming game and a field wetter than a backyard slip-and-slide—but the young man performed well. He controlled the offense, scoring two touchdowns, one on a 15-yard run and another on a 15-yard pass to Ryan Kelley in the back of the end zone, both of which came in the second quarter.

“I was very pleased with how he ran the offense,” said Wilson of Fouty. “He kept his composure in a tough spot for his first varsity start.”

The Pirates established the run early as both Doyle and Rausch battered their way down-field on Polson’s first possession, culminating with a six-yard touchdown run by Tim Rausch.

Rausch scored again late in the first quarter on a run from inside the five-yard line, which came on the heels of a 24-yard run from Doyle. Polson recovered a Bigfork fumble to begin the second quarter and Fouty scored on a quarterback sneak right through the middle of the defense to take a 21-0 lead.

The Polson offense continued to pound Bigfork, and with under two minutes to play Fouty took to the air and hit John Rausch on back-to-back passes that went for 29 yards. Fouty capped the drive by lofting up a pass 15-yards to the back of the end zone, where Kelley made a diving catch with under 35 seconds left on the clock, giving Polson a 27-0 lead heading into the half.

Fouty finished the game 3 of 10 passing for 44 yards and had 31 yards rushing.

But for all the offensive success the Pirates had in the first half, it was really the defense that came to the forefront against the Vikings. The Polson D, which had given up an average of 25 points per game, shutout Bigfork through the first three quarters and only gave up 125 yards of total offense.

“We had a lot of good defensive efforts by the kids,” said Wilson. “We were pretty balanced.”

The Pirate defense was led by Ryley Duford, who had six tackles, two sacks and recovered a fumble. Brock Picard added 10 tackles and John Rausch posted an interception. John Rausch also went 3-for-4 on PATs and had two catches for 28 yards. Top wideout Ryan Kelley only had one catch, but it went for the 15-yard touchdown.

“I thought we did well in the passing game,” said Wilson. “But it can be pretty tough to throw in those kind of conditions.”

Bigfork scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard run, but the game was already well in hand by that point.

The Pirates’ next game will take them to Columbia Falls this Friday for a showdown against one of the top rushing teams in the Northwest. The Wildcats lead the conference with 224 rushing yards per game and will look to take advantage of their home field.

“They like to attack the perimeter,” said Wilson of the Cats. “They have some runners with very good speed that we’ll need to contain.”

The game should be a close one as both teams are 1-1 in the conference, with both of their losses coming to Libby, and are 3-2 overall.

“It will be important to balance our offense,” added Wilson. “We need to be successful running and passing—not just one or the other.”