Warriors qualify for playoffs, play Plains for seeding

Arlee High School football coach Chuck Forgey didn’t have to give an inspirational speech to elevate his team’s level of play in their 52-6 victory over Victor Friday night at Arlee High School.

The Warriors, who lost to Victor 36-28 in the first game of the season, not only wanted to avenge their early loss to the Pirates but also extend their season. With the victory, the Warriors will host Plains to see who gets the higher seed headed into the Class C, 8-man state playoffs.

“I really didn’t have to say much to the kids to motivate them to beat someone that had beaten them this year,” Forgey said. “They were ready to go at the start of the game.”

Arlee defeated Victor with a game plan that worked continuously throughout the game. The Warriors’ run game worked so well that Forgey and his coaching staff didn’t feel the need to pass the ball much in the contest. Arlee ran the ball 46 times and passed the ball three times throughout the entire game.

One of Arlee’s three pass attempts went for a touchdown. In the first quarter, Lane Schall connected with Reese Domey for a 17-yard touchdown pass. Warriors’ RB Will Mesteth gave the Warriors an 8-0 advantage after the successful 2-point conversion attempt.

The Warriors continued to score points in bunches and by halftime had a commanding 38-0 advantage. Schall scored on a 20-yard run, Darshawn Bolen capped another successful drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, Mesteth scored on a 7-yard run, Bolen scored on a 20-yard run, Mesteth scored on a 16-yard run and Kanoa Dalazzolo finished the Warriors’ scoring avalanche with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Victor didn’t score until late in the fourth quarter when Eli Rosen scored their only touchdown on a 10-yard run.

Forgey had so much success running the football he just decided to do it the whole game.

“We feel like we are running the ball a lot better now,” Forgey said. “We lined up and ran the ball well. On the defensive side of the football, we changed our fronts and eliminated the long touchdown runs that we gave up in the first game against Victor. Our run game was working against Victor so we rode it the whole game.”

Forgey credits his offensive and defensive front for dictating the tempo of the game.

“Our interior linemen and our ends played really well, and our backs ran hard and blocked well,” Forgey said. “When you play a game like that and win the line of scrimmage, you control the clock and the flow of the game by driving the ball down the field with the run. We just ran right at them and it gets old after a while when you are on the defensive side of the ball. Running is something that we’ve done well all season. We were successful in executing our game plan so there was no need to change what we were doing.”

The Warriors will now play Plains to determine the seeding. Both teams have already qualified for the Class C, 8-man playoffs.

“Since they’ve come back to C, they’ve turned into another one of those neighborly rivalries such as Charlo and St. Ignatius,” Forgey said. “I am sure they don’t want to get beat again because they are highly motivated to play well and both teams want that third seed headed into the playoffs. We aren’t really sure where we are going to the third seed and the fourth seed. We have a little bit better draw then the higher seed and that provides us motivation there.”

The Warriors and the rest of Class C continue to sort everything in the Class C, 8-man playoffs.

“They are all tied with one loss and they beat each other,” Forgey said. “The two seed and the three seed are equally talented teams and one of the defending state champions. They are all very talented teams and the difference is in travel, obviously. Ennis is closer and we will be happy if we can win the third seed and go wherever they want to and line them up to play.”

Forgey said he felt the Warriors are executing well enough to be competitive against whomever they will play.

“The boys are executing things well and there are little things we are going to work on during the week,” Forgey said. “We are getting a little bit better. The boys are excited, are having a great time and excluding the forfeit, won four games in a row. They continue to get better every week. That should be a goal as a player is to get better every week and I feel like we are doing that. We keep rolling along and playing football how it should be played.”

Forgey knows Plains will be looking to extract revenge from its 38-14 loss two weeks ago.

“We are excited about the opportunity to play the seed game against Plains and they are a really good team,” Forgey said. “There are a lot of nice players that competed and at the end of this game, we will start and get ready for the next week.”