Polson Pirates enjoy bye-week, prepare for second-round opponent
HAVRE— The Polson Pirates football team finished its season defeating Havre 47-14 Friday night in Havre.
“I think I really like how we are playing right now and I do think we have some momentum,” Pirates’ Coach Scott Wilson said. “It was good to see us come out and play well after such an emotional win the week before. I was impressed with the effort our guys put forth (against Columbia Falls) last Friday.”
The Pirates, who have secured a first-round bye in the playoffs, will await the winner of this Saturday’s contest between Billings Central, the No. 2 seeded team in the east, and Custer County, the wild card team in the east. The Pirates will host the winner of this contest next Saturday at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinals at Polson High School.
Wilson said the bye is a blessing for his Pirates’ team and he is using it to prepare for next week and get healthy.
“Having the bye will be a great thing for us because we don’t have any major injuries but kids have been nursing minor injuries the last two or three weeks,” Wilson said. “Having this bye gives us an opportunity to heal up and rest. It will be good for us. This week will be focused on a lot of technique work. We will make sure we stay focused and clear up some things that we need to get better at. We need to find out what happens next weekend and put together a game plan.”
Regardless of the Pirates’ opponent next week, Wilson said either team will “present a challenge.”
“They are both tradition-rich football schools,” Wilson said. “Both year in and year out, they are in the playoffs. They both have made the playoffs in the past ten years and both won state championships. They are well-coached teams and it’ll be a real test regardless of which team we end up playing.”
Wilson said he will travel to the game to watch both teams play and get a chance to scout them.
“Traditionally, they run completely different offenses and they both run a different look at defense,” Wilson said. “It is really hard for us to do a whole lot preparation-wise for both teams. Looking at both teams, we will introduce our kids to what we could possibly see out of both teams. That will keep us focused and still be able to have some good practices this week.”
Wilson said he has been “pleased” with his team’s balance on offense.
“I think we have been able to run and pass the ball well, and I think about the middle of the season we started running the ball very effectively,” Wilson said. “Our passing game has been able to take over because our kids are executing well and they kind of have the mentality that they can move the football earlier. We are still learning a few things and trying to get better. Hopefully we can keep this balance of run-pass going forward in the playoffs.”
Wilson, who estimates he has been in a situation where his team has received a bye four to five times in his coaching career, said he won’t “change his approach” to preparing for the bye week.
“I don’t think it will take away our momentum that you have to have,” Wilson said. “That is part of our job as coaches is to make sure to keep our players focused and practice hard. Having the bye is a nice thing at this point of the season. That gives us an advantage to heal some of those injuries and be at full strength the following weekend.”
Wilson and his Pirates’ staff will travel nearly 400 miles towards Billings to scout both teams in person this Saturday.
“The thing that is nice about being able to see teams live is a lot of time on film you don’t really get to see their game speed,’ Wilson said. “This is especially important when you are playing opponents you haven’t played before or know anything about. You get into the playoffs and the team speed is huge thing. We will have a much better idea of what (our opponents) team’s speed is.”
PIRATE STAT PACK
RUSH – Polson 40-246 (Cote 19-107, Rensvold 3-64, Wilson 10-33, Koby Garcia 2-19, Kyle Druyvestein 4-13, Colby Soderquist 2-10), Havre 22-112. PASS – Polson (Wilson 17-24-248-1), Havre (Stokes 6-16-39). REC – Polson 17-248 (Rensvold 11-183, Cadis Chowning 5-48, Wood 1-17), Havre 6-39. CAUSEFMBL – Druyvestein. FMBLRCV – Garcia. TKL/ASST (48t15a) – Burke 7t1a, Chowning 6t, Cameron Brown 5t, Rensvold 4t2a, Druyvestein 4t2a, Fritsch 4t2a, Haden Smith 3t3a, Wilson 3t, Kabe F-W 2t2a, Andrey Bauer 2t1a, Garcia 2t, Wood 2t, Jarod Farrier 2t, Corley 1t1a, Parker Toth 1t1a.