Chiefs lose control of destiny in playoffs
<p>The Mission Valley Bulldogs will look to get its first victory in their season-finale against cross-town rival Ronan. The Chiefs will be playing for a playoff spot and need help. The Chiefs have to defeat Mission and hope that Anaconda defeats Deer Lodge by less than 37 points to qualify for the playoffs. If Anaconda defeats Deer Lodge by more than 37 points the Copperheads will qualify for the playoffs. If Deer Lodge wins they will qualify regardless of how many points they win by. </p>
ST. IGNATIUS — The Ronan High School football team is no longer in control of its own destiny after a 30-25 loss Friday at Mission High School football Stadium.
As the Chiefs prepare to head into their season finale against crosstown rival Mission Friday night at Ronan, they must keep an eye on their phone to see if they will be able to qualify for the playoffs, according to Coach Matt Detwiler.
“We play against Mission and we are not in control anymore,” Detwiler said. “If Deer Lodge beats Anaconda, Deer Lodge would get in. If Anaconda beats Deer Lodge by less than 37, we are in, but if Anaconda beats Deer Lodge by more than 37 points they would make the playoffs.”
Detwiler knows that all of those playoff possibilities will be all for not if the Chiefs fall to Mission in the season finale.
Despite the Bulldogs’ struggles, Detwiler said he isn’t looking past them in this rivalry game. When Detwiler was in school, he said the rivalry game used to be Ronan and Polson until the Chiefs dropped down from Class A to Class B.
“This is my third year around it and this is a big rivalry game at the end of every season,” Detwiler said. “That used to be like us and Polson when I was in high school. With Mission supporting their season and having a huge rivalry game at the end of the season, it will help that fact.”
Detwiler said he felt this game is for “bragging rights,” whether they qualify for the playoffs or not.
“This game is for bragging rights for sure,” Detwiler said. “These kids will play each other in basketball or wrestling or track or whatever, and the bragging rights will be huge for these kids. Mission has good athletes and they come out and perform. They will come out and we have to come out and perform well or we won’t win this game. That is for sure.”
Despite the Bulldogs’ losing streak, Bosley said he felt his young team is beginning to improve.
“Regardless of that, all together it’s a huge game up there and we will be ready to go for Ronan every year,” Bosley said. “All of our kids grow up playing against each other. They play sports against each other from an early age from baseball to all the way to little dribblers. They are related, and they have family and friends in each of the towns. That intensifies the competition. If we can play the spoiler, that would be big for us.”
Bosley’s team had a lot of tackles in the 46-0 loss to Loyola last Friday. Benton Adams finished with 11 tackles, Miles Anderson had eight tackles, Wasey McClure also finished with six tackles.
Bosley claims they haven’t beaten the Ronan Chiefs since the year 1987 and said he hopes his key young players continue to develop for the future.
“That is something that we conveyed to them is our expectations of them to not be freshmen,” Bosley said. “We viewed them (headed into this year) as sophomores and they stepped up and held their own. I am proud of where we have been in the last few years, and down the road, all of their varsity experience is going to pay off for us and be pretty crucial to our future success.”