Pirates look to clinch conference with win over Cats
<p>THE POLSON Pirates QB Tanner Wilson drops back to pass during some practice drills earlier in the season. Wilson, and his Pirates teammates, will be playing for a conference title against Columbia Falls Friday at Polson. </p>
POLSON — The Polson Pirates football coach Scott Wilson said his team had its first “statement game” of the season with a 43-7 victory over Butte Central Friday at Butte Central High School Stadium.
The Pirates, whose sole loss came at the hands of the top-ranked perennial powerhouse Dillon 38-6 on Sept. 16, have outscored their opponents with a combined 114-7 en route to a third-consecutive straight victory.
“I think in terms of how the outcome went, we needed to pick it up and I think the Butte Central game was a statement game for us,” Wilson said. “Butte Central will be one of those playoff teams once it all shakes out, and we will go to their place and play really well. Our offensive line and defensive line controlled the football for most of the game and were able to create some turnovers. It will be good momentum (headed into our game against Columbia Falls) and of course, now we will be playing for the conference championship.”
The Polson Pirates will play for the right to win the conference championship and their opponent will be the No. 1 ranked team in the state, the Columbia Falls Wildcats. Columbia Falls got their distinction by defeating Dillon 28-21 in the Sept. 30 contest. The Pirates will host Columbia Falls Friday at Polson High Stadium.
In the victory against Butte Central, Tanner Wilson had three touchdown runs including a 10-yard run, a 28-yard run, and a 14-yard scamper all resulting in scores. Wilson also had two touchdown passes to Matthew Rensvold of 26 yards and 10 yards in the team’s dominance over the Maroons. Colton Cote added a fourth quarter 12-yard run to conclude the scoring for both teams.
“I really like how we’ve been playing offensively, but we still don’t have that one game where everything has been clicking for us,” Wilson said. “I must give credit to our offensive line for opening up such great holes, our backs ran hard, and we didn’t throw the ball that great. We just got great protection and offensively, we’ve been firing on all cylinders on our pass protection. Both phases of our offense are in sync and balanced.”
The Pirates will be entering the game undersized, according Wilson.
“This will be another one of those games where we will not be able to give up the big plays and we are going to keep everything in front of us,” Wilson said. “We will have to control the ball, and keep some of the things that have been nice, which has been our scoring and efficiency the last few weeks. I think, when you are undersized, you have to make sure the emphasis is to just win more battles off the ball. The bigger guys you have to get position on them and we will work hard on this all week. If we are going to win, we are going to have to win the battles up front.”
Columbia Falls’ Coach Jaxon Schweikert said his team was able to defeat Dillon because they weren’t “intimidated.”
“We have really good players that weren’t intimidated by Dillon,” Schweikert said. “We played smart when we started off the game trailing 14-0 in the hole and we mostly committed errors. That is the main characteristic of our guys is that we settled down and played football.”
Schweikert said he felt regardless of who wins the game, both teams should make the playoffs.
“We are both really good teams and both teams are good enough to win the state title this year,” Schweikert said. “I think both teams could come through on either side of the bracket when it gets down to make it or break it for either team. Both teams really want to win the conference and play their best football.”
Schweikert said this game is a “must win” for both teams that have state championship aspirations.
“I think either us or Polson are both going to make the playoffs and the playoffs is a whole new season,” Schweikert said. “Whoever wins this game will probably get a bye in the first round of the playoffs, and the other will have to be a road warrior. It’s a whole new deal when the playoffs start. Everyone is 0-0 and the big thing is just to get there. It’s always nice to have a bye in the playoffs.”
PIRATE STAT PACK
Polson 43, Butte Central 7