Chiefs, Pirates ready to renew rivalry at Ronan's homecoming

Polson football coach Pat Danley and Ronan coach Matt Detwiler both are in must win situations as they prepare to face each other Friday night at Ronan High School.

The two teams, who have gone a combined 0-6 in their non-conference schedule, both are in need of a win. While both coaches downplayed the famed rivalry, focused on the fact that it is both teams’ first conference game of the season.

Danley’s Pirates are in search of their first conference victory of the season after falling 21-7 to Dillon, 37-14 to Corvallis and 48-6 to Hamilton. They need this conference victory in order to maintain sight of their big team goal: a conference championship.

“Regardless of our opponent being Ronan, this is our first conference game and we definitely need to get off on the right foot in the conference,” Danley said. “Probably the way things have rolled so far, the top two teams will make the playoffs. It will be difficult to finish first and second if you start off the conference game with an 0-1 record.”

Detwiler, who experienced the first wave of the rivalry when Ronan was in Class A when he attended their high school from 2006 to 2010, agreed with Danley that this game is more critical to the direction of the teams’ seasons.

“This game will have a huge outcome for both teams’ seasons,” Detwiler said. “This is a rivalry for both teams. We are both sitting with an 0-3 records and a victory will be beneficial and pivotal to one team and disastrous for one team.”

One characteristic Detwiler noticed between the two current Polson and Ronan teams is that he said they are mirror images of each other.

The Chiefs, like their Pirate counterparts, fell to Butte Central 38-7, Stevensville 27-8 and lost to the defending Class A champions Dillon 47-0.

“It was scary when our coaching staff started watching film. Watching Polson was like looking at our team in the mirror,” Detwiler said. “Both of us have the right pieces (to be successful). We just haven’t put a full game together. The pieces (for either team) just haven’t come together even though both teams have great athletes.”

Detwiler singled out two players that he thought really stood out on film including running back Kyle Druyvestein and new sophomore quarterback Bo Kelley.

The Chiefs, who committed to quarterback Brendon Blood since the start of the season, now are playing a sophomore quarterback like Polson. Eric Dolence, Blood’s younger brother, will take snaps for the Chiefs the rest of the season.

In Detwiler’s four years playing for the Chiefs from 2006 to 2010, Ronan never defeated Polson.

“They beat us each year and each of those was a rivalry game,” Detwiler recalled. “During my senior year, we had a pretty good shot to defeat Polson. It was a close game and Polson got a huge play right before the half. They were able to chase our running back down and punched the ball out of his hands. That is what happens with this rivalry and the records just go out the window at this point.”

Detwiler noticed one major difference between the games he played as a player and the current game. When Detwiler played, the Polson-Ronan game was always the last game of the season. This game will be more crucial for both teams’ playoff chances as they continue to improve.

“Whenever you played Polson in the last game of the regular season, you typically knew whether you were going to the playoffs or if you weren’t going to play in the playoffs,” Detwiler said. “This is setting everything up and this game means a lot more that just a rivalry game. It is huge for both teams to continue the ongoing season. We want to get a win to keep our season on track and that is what both teams need right now more than anything. I think the fact that it’s a rivalry game is just an added bonus.”

The other reason Danley downplayed the rivalry is because of the amount of time that has passed since the two teams have played each other in a significant game. The majority of the participants on the field were significantly younger the last time the two teams played in a meaningful game.

“I honestly think this game is bigger for the adults than the kids,” Danley said. “None of our kids have ever played Ronan in anything and to them, this is a rivalry from years ago. A couple of our coaches played in it and many times rivalry games are bigger for the coaches than the kids. Having said that, the kids realize it’s a rivalry game and hope to make it a rivalry in the future.”

The Pirates offensive and defensive plans were significantly altered after the injuries to Pirates Colton Cote and Colby Garcia.

“It hurt us to lose our two best running backs and not having them certainly hurts us in the defensive backfield,” Danley said. “Those were two big issues, especially when we’ve been playing really good teams. Despite the early losses, nothing has affected our ability to win the conference and get into a playoff position. That remains our goal even after we lost the first three games.”

Danley and his coaching staff will be watching more Chiefs’ film leading up to the game and they suspect the Chiefs’ QB, who is entering only his fourth week as a varsity starter, will be more confident in the pocket.

“Their quarterback has gotten a little bit better since the beginning of the season,” Danley said. “They’ve switched up a few things and obviously they can’t do the same things with that Blood kid in there. They’ve got some speed and play well defensively.”

Danley acknowledged the Chiefs, who played Stevi Monday and turned around to play Dillon on Friday, wasn’t an ideal situations for a team still getting acclimated to Class A.

“To turn around and play Dillon on a short week wasn’t the ideal situation and even against Stevensville, they gave up some big plays in terms of special teams play,” Danley said. “Special teams will play a pretty big role in this game. We gave up a kickoff against Hamilton and had problems with our field goal unit. Special teams will be a big part of the game for sure.”

Detwiler said his team has made some modifications from the last game to tailor their offense more to Dolence’s strengths.

“We changed our offense up a little bit, but there is an upside and a downside to that,” Detwiler said. “They have played the best they’ve played all of this year against Dillon.”

Detwiler said his defense continues to make strides as they continue to prepare for Polson.

“We’ve gotten good run defense up front and Dillon is no slouch when it comes to their lineman, but there were a lot of bright moments (against Dillon),” Detwiler said. “When we make a little mistake against another team, Dillon is the type of team that will turn that same mistake into a touchdown. We worked on trying to catch the ball with our chest instead of our hands. There was one portion of the game where Dillon got a pick six. His guy was just in the right spot, played off the block, and caught the ball. It’s the little things like that you can’t do against Dillon.”

Danley and Detwiler know this game is more than a rivalry. It’s more than Ronan’s homecoming. It’s about carrying on their season.

“Hopefully, we can get a win and our season on track,” Danley said. “A win is what both teams need right now more than anything. I think it’s being a rivalry is just an added bonus.”

Danley agreed with Detwiler’s assessment on the game.

“There will be a lot of fans from both teams. Obviously it’s a short trip and should be a pretty good atmosphere,” Danley said.

The two rivals will set to kickoff at 7 p.m. Friday night at Ronan High School. This game will conclude Ronan High’s homecoming week and festivities.