Warriors dominante Twin Bridges, get ready for Charlo

Arlee High School football coach Chuck Forgey didn’t modify his team’s game plan after they lost the season-opening home debut 36-28 to Victor.

The Warriors didn’t alter their plans but their end result changed with Arlee defeating Twin Bridges 50-8 in Friday night’s road victory.

The win will give the Warriors some sustainable momentum as they prepare to clash with their conference rival Charlo Fridaynight at Charlo. Last year, Charlo finished second in Class-C, 8-man football.

“We didn’t do much different than we did the first week,” Forgey said. “We just were able to take advantage of opportunities and we cleaned up a few things. (In football), there is no magic solution or potion or anything we did different (from week one to week two). We just cleaned some things up.”

Forgey said the most glaring difference he observed from week one to week two was his team’s execution on offense, defense and special teams.

“I just thought we came out and executed what we practiced,” Forgey said. “We still have a lot of things that we need to work on. There were a few more positives in this game then there were the last game. They are plenty confident and plenty ready to play. It’s just a matter of getting a little bit better than the week before and take advantage of the opportunities that were on the field.”

Forgey and his Arlee team don’t have much time to celebrate their victory over Twin Bridges because they will now play the defending conference champion Charlo Vikings Friday night.

Last year, the Vikings not only won the conference but also they came within inches of capturing last season’s football title. The success of the Mission football team this week has also created a potentially new competitive dynamic in the conference.

“In this conference, you have to play your best football every week,’ Forgey said. “You have to give a maximum effort and execute properly. If you don’t do those things, you are probably going to lose.”

In order to maintain a leg-up in the talent-rich conference, Forgey said he is going to focus on the fundamentals.

“We put up everything that we are going to have this year and we just have to work on the fundamentals,” Forgey said. “We still have to clean a lot up from the first two weeks and just keep working on the basics because in football you have to block, tackle, throw and run. If you don’t do that properly, you aren’t going to win. That is why you have to continue to work on the basics.”

Forgey said he showcased a tremendous amount of respect for this week’s opponent.

“I think (Charlo) is the team to beat in this conference,” Forgey said. “They were so close to winning the state championship and they have a lot of kids from that team back this year. They have been a rival with Arlee for years and it’s going to be a big game for both. However, they are the team to beat in the conference.”

Currently the Warriors are “relatively healthy” and have suffered the only loss of their running back Will Mesteth.

Forgey said he is “happy” with the way his team has competed.

“We are just going to go back to work, put our heads down and hopefully we are able to do it,” Forgey said. “Regardless of what is going on, we are going to focus on playing football on Friday night and it’s going to be fun. We will give it our best shot and have a good time.”

Forgey said he is “confident” his team will play well against Charlo.