Pirates dammed up

POLSON — A 44-9 defeat at the hands of Dillon was not the way the Polson Pirates football team wanted to open 2013, but it’s the way it happened.

Not even 10 months removed from a 28-7 loss to Dillon in the Class A semifinals on the same field, the Beavers returned to the south shore with more of the same stifling defense that the Pirates saw in November.

“They came out and were physical, and they got after us,” Polson coach Scott Wilson said.

That physicality led to five Pirate turnovers—four interceptions and a lost fumble—and saw Dillon jump out to a 28-0 lead before Brady Hislop’s 24-yard field goal put Polson on the board late in the second quarter.

“I thought our defense really came to play,” Rick Nordahl, the Beavers’ first-year head coach said. “We have a lot of kids back on the defensive side of the football, so we’re counting on them early in the year.”

Score by Quarter

Dillon 21 14 6 3 — 44

Polson 0 3 0 6 — 9

Scoring Summary

D — Koslosky 31 run (Paffhausen kick)

D — Riebe 8 run (Paffhausen kick)

D — Scott 9 run (Paffhausen kick)

D — Simkins 14 pass from Ferris (Paffhausen kick)

P — Hislop 24 FG

D — Riebe 5 run (Paffhausen kick)

D — Scott 63 interception return (kick failed)

D — Paffhausen 30 FG

P — Wilson 8 pass from Weltz (pass failed)

Wilson identified some different looks from the Beaver defense as another reason for early offensive struggles.

“They threw a coverage a little bit different from what they had in the past,” he said. “They tried to take [top Pirate wide receiver] Cedrick [Smith] out of the game.”

Nordahl’s defense gave the Beavers offense a lot more cushion than they needed. Dillon’s ground game, powered by Colton Riebe and Troy Scott, provided more than enough offensive production.

“Our offensive line is pretty inexperienced…but they gelled tonight,” Nordahl said. “That was nice.”

Wilson was encouraged by the way his team responded after getting punched in the mouth at the game’s start.

“We had a couple series where we did start getting a little more physical before they started putting their backups in,” he said. “One thing I am happy about is that everything we talked about, they seemed to respond pretty well.”

Those adjustments culminated with a trash-time touchdown for Polson, an 8-yard flick from Andrew Weltz to freshman Tanner Wilson that capped off a nice Polson drive late in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, that was one of the only offensive series that looked fluid.

“We just didn’t sustain anything and we’ve got to be able to do that to give our defense a chance,” Scott Wilson said.

Now the Pirates must shift their attention to this week’s opponent, Corvallis, who was blown out by Frenchtown in their first contest.

“We’ve just got to put this behind us,” Wilson said. “I haven’t seen anything on Corvallis. We haven’t played them in a few years. We just have to make sure and take care of the things we can take care of.”

The most important thing to take care of is the football. Wilson said the key for his offense to be more successful is cutting down on turnovers.