Polson-led Dream Team wins UM Co-Rec FB title
Dream Team won the 2018 University of Montana Intramural Co-Rec Flag Football championionship, beating BDE 46-22 to cap an undefeated 7-0 season. Pictured are team members, kneeling, Kayla McCampbell and Sami Worster; middle row, Marlee Congdon, Dylan Quinn, Jordan Quinn and Shawna Lenz; and back row, Kaelen Wall (dnp), Hayden Congdon, Haden Smith, Jacob Harrod, Hudson Smith and Payton Lefthand. (Photo courtesy of UM Intramural Sports)
Institutionally recruited, scholarship supplemented, coaching refined collegiate competition is not the only game in town for many university undergraduate students, where intramural sports play an influential role in many of their lives. On the last day of October, the University of Montana held its Intramural Co-Rec Flag Football championship in which a squad competing under the “Dream Team” rubric went undefeated to capture the title 46-22.
Mere citation of generic names tends not to convey much meaning to the average reader unless one takes the time to unpack who comprises a given roster. In this instance, of the 11 players among Dream Team, nine are Polson High graduates who played multiple prep sports, a half dozen of them earning all-state prep accolades, four of which were part of the Pirate football team.
The remaining players on the roster hail from Missoula schools, both of them garnering prep postseason recognition in one sport or another. The Dream Team roster is cited below along with many of their prep athletic accolades.
In defense of intramural sports, it merits mention that although a wide swath of skilled prep athletes often pursue other endeavors upon graduation from high school, had they felt so inclined, many could have competed competitively at the collegiate level in a university-sanctioned sport.
Played in wet, rainy weather conditions, Dream Team player Jacob Harrod reflected on culminating their undefeated season by winning the CoRec championship, “We executed on our short passing game and our defense showed up when it was needed,” he said.
Dream Team championship scoring (not in sequence):
QB Hayden Congdon (5 TD passes), Haden Smith 1TDrec, Jacob Harrod 1TDrec, Hudson Smith 2TDrec, Sami Worster 1TDrec, Jordan Quinn 1IntRet, 5ConvRec (*Dylan Quinn, *Marlee Congdon, *Hudson Smith, *Payton Lefthand, *Jacob Harrod). Asterisk (*) denotes IDs of conversion receivers derived from recollections not documented in posted game result summary.
Intramural flag football game results:
Dream Team 32, Rangers of Motion 20 (25Sep); Dream Team 54, S.I.S Squad 38 (02Oct); Dream Team 38, BDE 26
(09Oct); Dream Team 44, Rangers of Motion 32 (22Oct); Dream Team 44, S.I.S Squad 36 (23Oct); playoff: Dream Team 48, S.I.S. Squad 22 (31Oct); championship: Dream Team 46, BDE 22.
Payton Lefthand (BBB all-trny, a-s, 2x a-c: (1st-tm 2016-15, hm 2015-14)
Hudson Smith (FB off: a-s, a-c 1st-tm WR 2015; FB def: a-c hm CB 2013)
Haden Smith (FB 2x a-c 1st-tm DE)
Jacob Harrod (FB all-conf: 1st-tm P, 2nd-tm CB, hm WR 2015; BB Legion A a-s, a-c 2016)
Hayden Congdon (GLF a-s, 4x a-c; TN dbls a-s, 2x a-c)
Marlee Congdon (TN 2x a-s sgls 5th 2016, 6th 2015; NWA 3x a-c: champion sgls 2016, sgls 2nd 2015, dbls 2nd 2014)
Shawna Lenz (TN doubles: a-s 5th 2016, NWA 2x a-c 3rd 2016-15)
Jordan Quinn (TN doubles a-c 2nd 2011)
Dylan Quinn (GBB 2015-11; die hard NFL Steeler fan)
Kayla McCampbell (BigSky) GSC 2x a-s 2014-13, a-c 2012
Sami Worster (BigSky/Loyola) GBB 6B 2x a-c (1st-tm 2015-14, 2nd-tm 2013-14)
Kaelen Wall dnp (SB 2x a-c 1st-tm 2015-14, 14U ASA 2011 state champion)
ACRONYM KEY: a-s (all-state), a-c (all-conference), sgls (singles), dbls (doubles), GSC (girls soccer), GBB (girls basketball), TN (tennis), GLF (golf), FB (football), BB (baseball), BBB (boys basketball), off (offense), def. (defense), other abbrev. utilize standardized abbreviations.