Warriors fall short: Arlee loses to Chinook in championship game, finishes 11-1

After the trophy presentation, the Warriors could have run off the field. They could have thrown their helmets and kicked equipment. Instead, they walked off the field and formed a greeting line, just like every game, to shake the hands of all of their fans that made the six-hour drive to cheer them on.

Pretty impressive for a group of high school kids that just lost the state championship.

The 11-0 Arlee Warriors made the long trip to take on the also undefeated Chinook Sugarbeeters for the Class C Eight-Man championship game, playing in their first title game in 29 years.

Things started off good for the Warriors, who scored the first touchdown of the game on a 34-yard Isaac Desjarlais touchdown run. Chinook then drove down the field into the red zone, but fumbled the ball on a bad snap, and Arlee recovered. That turnover wouldn’t lead to any points, and both teams exchanged punts. Early in the second after stopping Arlee on a fourth down, Chinook immediately fumbled the ball again. The Warriors recovered the ball, but went three and out. Their punt on fourth down would be partially blocked, going only 20 yards. With great field position, Chinook’s Ian McIntosh broke through for a ten-yard touchdown run, then completed a pass to put Chinook up 8-6 early on in the second quarter. On the next possession, Arlee drove down the field and Pat BigSam threw a floater to Isaac Desjarlais in the back of the end zone to put the Warriors back on top. However, after having a two-point conversion called back for a penalty and not converting the second time, Arlee held only a four point lead.

Chinook came storming back on the next possession, driving down the field using mostly running plays. They would score on a 13-yard run with just over six minutes to go in the half, making the score 16-12 after a two-point conversion. Arlee struggled to get their offense going in the later part of the second quarter, and would punt again. That punt would be partially blocked again; the third partially blocked punt of the game. With great field position,

Chinook punched in another touchdown with two and a half minutes left in the half. Arlee had to punt again with just over a minute to play, but then recovered a third fumble on the next play after a nice hit on Chinook’s quarterback. The Warriors drove down the field looking to score once more before half, but were stopped on a fourth down with 27 seconds left. Chinook decided to take a shot down the field on first down, but Harold Yocum intercepted the pass, and that would do it for the first half. That interception would be Harold Yocum’s third interception in three games, and Chinook’s fourth turnover of the first half.

With a score of 22-12 at half, Arlee came out in the third looking to get some momentum. BigSam took the opening kickoff at the 15-yard line and ran it back all the way to Chinook’s 17-yard line. It looked as though the Warriors may have gotten some momentum, but the run was called back for a holding penalty.

The Warriors were plagued by penalty flags all game, while Chinook had just two.

Arlee was able to recover from the penalty and made a nice drive down the field. BigSam converted on a big fourth down and it looked like Arlee was in business for another score. That drive would fall short after a fumble on the 10-yard line.

Later on in the quarter, the Warriors had Chinook facing a fourth and long from the 22-yard line. McIntosh, the Chinook quarterback, dropped back and threw a bullet across the middle, hitting his favorite receiver of the day, Kenny Pruttis, for a touchdown.

Shortly after, the Warriors offense was stopped again, and this time BigSam would be punting out of his own end zone. After a Chinook player got his hand on the ball, it would travel only about 18 yards, and the Beeters were back in scoring position. However, the Arlee defense held up this time, stopping them on another fourth down play.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Arlee made a quarterback switch from BigSam to Tyler Tanner. Shortly after, Tanner sent a ball deep down the sideline, where BigSam made a great catch, fighting off a Chinook defender. Shortly after, Tanner threw to BigSam again, this time for an eight-yard touchdown. Tanner then ran in the two-point conversion, and the score was 30-20. Coach Todd Yocum said the switch was made to see if BigSam could make some catches. “He might have the best hands in the state,” he said. With another player like Tanner who can throw the ball so well, it made sense to give BigSam a chance to make a few plays down the field, which he did.

It seemed for a moment that the Warriors may have gained back the momentum. However, on the ensuing kickoff, Chinook ran the ball back all the way down to the 10-yard line. Arlee stood the Beeters up on a few plays, but then McIntosh went back to Pruttis for a touchdown in the middle of the end zone, putting them up 38-20.

On the next series, Tanner was picked off, and the Beeters would score again a few plays later. Arlee struggled to get any offense going after that. After a fumble by Arlee with three minutes to go in the game, Chinook had the game under control.

While the final score was 44-20, it never seemed that the game was out of Arlee’s reach until the second half of the fourth quarter. With Chinook’s four turnovers in the first half, it was clear they weren’t invincible.

In prior games, Arlee had been deadly throwing the ball across the middle and down the sideline. Those passes didn’t seem to happen on Saturday. Chinook, who had both more players and size, swarmed BigSam, leaving him little time to throw the ball. Another issue was field position. Chinook, with a bigger line, was getting their hands on almost every punt, leading to good position for the Beeters on almost every drive.

Coach Todd Yocum said he was proud of the way the guys ended the season. “They played their hearts out. There was no lack of effort,” he said. One of those guys who was impressive was Rory Bird, a 6’5” 225 pound sophomore who hadn’t been able to play all year. He had a staff infection, and wasn’t eligible to play until the first playoff game. On Saturday, he came out strong, making some big plays and trying to get the crowd pumped up. “He was hungry,” Yocum said, “He stood on the sidelines in his pads all year, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to play.”

In the end, Yocum said it came down to the big plays. “In the past few weeks, we’ve made the big plays when we needed to. On Saturday, they made those plays. They are a great team.”

While the season is over, the Warriors don’t have any reason to hang their heads. There weren’t many people who thought they would be playing at the end of November. “It was just a great season. The kids overachieved. Our goal was always to take one game at a time, and that’s what we did. It’s always tough to lose, but we ended the season with class.”

Arlee - 6 6 0 8 - 20

Chinook- 0 22 8 14 - 44

ARL – Isaac Desjarlais 36 run (pass failed) 10:23

CHN – Ian McIntosh 10 run (Jake Norby pass from McIntosh) 10:17

ARL – Desjarlais 15 pass from Patrick BigSam (pass failed) 8:35

CHN – Bell 13 run (McIntosh run) 6:14

CHN – Kenny Pruttis 9 pass from McIntosh (pass failed) 2:35

CHN – Pruttis 23 pass from McIntosh (Bell run) 4:47

ARL – BigSam 8 pass from Tyler Tanner (Tanner run) 11:01

CHN – Pruttis 11 pass from McIntosh (Norby pass from McIntosh) 9:00

CHN – McIntosh 2 run (run failed) 7:14