A sure-fire first round pick

Zach Urness

Leader Staff

CORVALLIS — Were there a fantasy football league for Montana high school athletics, Cody Doyle would be a sure-fire first round pick.

The Polson running back scored four touchdowns during Polson's 37-14 romp over Corvallis last Friday, bringing his total to six on the season and helping Polson improve to 2-1 on the season.

"He's our go-to-guy inside the 10," said head coach Scott Wilson of Doyle. "We really controlled the line up front and that allowed guys like Cody and Tim (Rausch) to have good games."

The Pirates looked strong in all areas against the Blue Devils, demolishing them in every phase of the game and taking a 37-0 lead before Corvallis scored two touchdowns in the game's closing minutes.

"We had a great defensive effort," noted Wilson. "We had a lot of guys in on every tackle. I was very pleased with our team pursuit."

Doyle found the end-zone twice on one-yard runs in the first quarter, giving the Pirates a 16-0 lead after quarterback Craig Bagnell converted on two-point conversions both times. Doyle scored yet again from one yard out in the second quarter, giving Polson a 23-0 lead heading into half-time.

The Pirate offense continued to click on all cylinders in the second half, as a Bagnell screen pass to Tim Rausch went for a 70-yard TD on the first drive.

Rausch, who finished the game with 96 yards on the ground, ripped off a 30-yard run later in the third quarter to put Polson inside the Corvallis five yard line, setting the stage for a touchdown by Doyle, who rammed in his fourth score of the night, giving Polson a 37-0 lead and allowing some younger players an opportunity during the fourth quarter.

"We came into the game with two goals — to start the game fast and actually finish drives," said Wilson.

The importance of these aspects were obvious considering the Pirates' first two games of the season. After a great start against Stevensville to open the season, Polson missed many offensive chances and needed a late rally to secure the win. In their second game against Dillon, Polson was blown out in the first quarter and never had much chance to dig themselves out of the hole.

"We didn't finish against Stevi and came out flat against Dillon," said Wilson. "So we focused on improving on those areas."

Mission accomplished.

Much to the delight of the home crowd, Corvallis finally got on the board with 7:14 left in the game, but by that point the game was clearly over.

Bagnell, who finished a very efficient game going 13-for-15 though the air for 210 yards, was replaced by Trae Fouty in the final seven minutes to give the sophomore some valuable varsity experience.

Ryan Kelley led the receivers with six catches for 71 yards and Chris Alfiero had four catches for 39 yards.

The Pirates also got a big boost with the return of John Rausch from a groin injury, who punted and played defense against Corvallis.

"John is one of our better players so it was nice to have him available to punt and play defense," said Wilson. "We didn't have him playing receiver because we wanted to work on his timing a little bit before the conference season began."

The timing of the win was also important, Wilson pointed out, because the Pirates will head into their bye-week with a nice dose of confidence and will prepare to take on Libby in the conference opener Sept. 21 at home.

"I think that it was a good confidence builder," said Wilson. "Playing well and having that confidence heading into the conference season is a big deal for us."

When asked about his team's chances in the conference section of the schedule, Wilson was cautiously optimistic.

"There are some very good teams this year and everyone, I think, is pretty evenly matched," said Wilson. "I think that it will depend on who plays with the most confidence."