Warriors get ready for Bulldogs
Horsemen Jay VonHeeder assisted by Tanner Ovitt attempts to stop Lane Schall in Friday night’s game at Arlee High School. Arlee’s big victory set up an important game against Mission Friday night at Mission High School (Photo supplied Jessica Peterson)
Junior Jacob Peterson (50) Plains Horsemen makes a solid tackle against Arlee (Photo supplied Jessica Peterson)
The Arlee Warriors 36-14 victory over Plains was critical for the team in a multitude of ways.
The Warriors Northern Conference victory over the Horseman not only handed Plains their first lost of the season but also set up a now critical conference showdown with Mission at 7 p.m.Friday night at Mission High School.
The winner of the Mission-Arlee game will position themselves for a possible top-two finish in the Northern Conference and the playoff picture. The loser will need help to qualify for the playoffs, and most likely will have to win the remaining games on their schedule in order to have a chance to get in.
Warriors coach Chuck Forgey didn’t downplay the significance of the upcoming match with the Class C, 8-man upstart Bulldogs.
“Both of us need to win this game,” Forgey said. “It’s pretty vital for both of our chances to make the postseason. This game is a big deal no doubt.”
In the early portion of the game against Plains, Arlee jumped to a 16-0 halftime advantage. WR Greg Whitesell scored on a 31-yard pass from Lane Schall and the Warriors scored on a successful 2-point conversion when Schall found Chase Gardner to make the score 8-0.
In the second quarter, Schall and the Warriors resumed their successful passing attack. Schall connected with Chase Gardner on a 27-yard touchdown pass. Then Schall connected with Darshan Bolen, who scored to take a 16-0 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, Plains cut the deficit in half after an Orin Pryhyde 14-yard touchdown run followed by a successful 2-point conversion when Jay VonHeeder connected with Kyle Weeks.
For three quarters the Warriors and Horsemen played a closely contested ball game but Arlee’s 20-6 fourth quarter run was able to ice a critical victory.
Warriors player Rylan Crawford returned a 38-yard blocked punt for a touchdown that gave Arlee a comfortable 22-8 lead. Feeding off the momentum of the score from the blocked punt, Gardner caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Schall to give them a 30-8 lead after Will Mesteth’s successful 2-point conversion.
The Horseman answered back when Weeks connected with Tanner Ovitt for a 32-yard pass to cut the deficit to 30-14.
Bolen ended the competitive phase of the game with a 60-yard touchdown run to conclude the scoring for both teams.
Forgey said he felt his team continues to improve gradually each week.
“We actually lined up and ran the stuff we’ve been running all season,” Forgey said. “The boys lined up and executed on offense, and did a pretty good job on defense, too. We’ve gotten a little bit better each and every week. We’ve gotten a little bit better with our execution every week. We had a pretty good game but honestly, we still have some things to work on just like we have every week.”
Forgey said he felt defeating the undefeated Plains team was “critical,” to the lifeblood of the team’s season.
“Plains came into the season undefeated and we had to step up and proved that we belonged there,” Forgey said. “Winning this game was a big deal and now that is the past and we have to put our stuff together and prepare (for Mission) like this is the only game that matters.”