Warriors ready to face defending champs

The Arlee High School football team is entering this year’s Class C, 8-man playoffs taking a five-game win streak as they prepare to play the defending MHSA Class C, 8-man state football champion Ennis at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ennis High School.

As his team prepares to play the biggest game of its season and one of its toughest opponents in a difficult situation, Warriors coach Chuck Forgey said he has a basic philosophical approach to play the Titans: just do what has worked all season.

“You have to enter a game like this with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder,” Forgey said. “Most people that are in the stadium don’t think you have much of a chance to defeat the defending Class C, 8-man champion at their home. You are also playing Ennis, who feels they also have something to prove and because of this environment, our team (in order to be successful) has to come in and act like we own the place.”

Forgey said he wants his team to continue doing what has made the Warriors successful all season. Forgey doesn’t want to switch up formations or try new plays. He said he felt he will stick with what he and his team have won games with.

“We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing all season,” Forgey said. “We have to take the ball, run it and score on our play-action pass. We just have to line up and go toe to toe with them. That is what we are going to have to do in order to be successful.”

Forgey, whose team played one of what many experts consider one of the elite teams of Class C against the Charlo Vikings, said Ennis has a similar philosophical approach to winning games.

“For the most part, they are really similar to Charlo,” Forgey said. “They play very basic defensive formations and line up and say, ‘here are our athletes, beat them,’” Forgey said. “They run a very basic defensive zone. They have tremendous speed and we are going to have to stop their run. They are a very sound, very well coached team and they have the athletes to back up their accolades.”

One area the Titans are capable of beating several teams is by making big plays throughout the game. This can cause attrition for many of Ennis’s opponents and Forgey said they have to eliminate the big “home run type plays” or they will struggle.

“We have to go play our game and we have to get momentum rolling,” Forgey said. “When they are on offense, we have to eliminate the big plays and prevent their backs from getting 50, 60, or 70-yard runs. They are tremendously quick and they can get the ball out to the edge quick.”

Forgey said another way they can reduce the amount of big plays is sustaining long, successful drives that result in points. If Arlee is able to sustain long drives, they can control the clock and dictate the flow of the game.

“We have to do more of what we’ve been doing and we have to stay comfortable during the game,” Forgey said. “We are not going to panic when we get three yards on first down. We just need to come right back after that play and and get back after it. This will be a huge key for us is to control the ball, do what we are comfortable doing and rally to the ball when we are on defense.”

In a playoff atmosphere Forgey said he felt it was crucial that several key components to Arlee’s defensive and offensive attack really elevate their level of play against a high-caliber opponent.

“Everyone has to do their job on every play,” Forgey stressed. “If we all do our assignments we will have success running the ball. We have to continue to prepare, play hard like we have all season, and get out there and lay it all out on the field.”

In Forgey’s first season as a head coach replacing the establish Todd Yocum, he didn’t modify much schematically. Yocum, who is still the Warriors’ defensive coordinator, has let Forgey put his stamp on Arlee football.

“I think the boys have taken to the scheme and I didn’t really change a whole lot on offense,” Forgey said. “We did some things different with our philosophy. Our boys have made less and less errors and blown less and less assignments. We are adapting very well when injuries happen.”

The Warriors are also taking this fundamental approach on the defensive side of the ball as well, Yocum said.

“We just have to continue to focus on playing their positions and using different techniques,” Forgey said. “At the start of the year, we didn’t have a lot of returning kids with a lot of varsity experience. Our seniors have played under a couple of different offensive coordinators and I am the third one in three years. They had to learn to play the way I liked to play. The kids have been under Yocum for the last couple of years and we did a few things different. We had individual kids learning and playing different positions but what we really put an emphasis on is being fundamental.”

It is a possibility that if Arlee and Charlo continue to win in a couple of weeks, they could potentially play each other for the right to qualify for the Class C, 8-man football championship. However, Forgey said he isn’t worried about that right now.

“You always have to be prepared for whoever you play,” Forgey said. “We can’t control any of that stuff. It would be nice to play each other again in a couple of weeks. However, we have a lot of business to take care of between now and then.”

The Warriors will be entering the game with a wave of momentum. Arlee will enter the game with a 5-game win streak and hope to maintain that momentum as they prepare to head into the first round of the playoffs. Forgey knows that his team has a long way to go if they are going to compete for a Class C, 8-man title. If the Warriors can knock off the Class C, 8-man defending state champions it would be a good start.

Technically the Warriors have a six-game win streak defeating Mission, Plains twice, Hot Springs (bye week), Victor and Troy headed into this contest against what many consider one of the best Class C, 8-man football teams in the state of Montana.