Polson gets ready to face Broncs after being shut out by Corvallis Blue Devils

Polson’s High School football coach Pat Danley knows the football season isn’t won or lost in the first three games.

The Pirates are now 0-3 after they suffered a 48-0 loss at the hands of Corvallis Thursday night at Polson High School.

“We keep trying to tell our kids the season isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon,” Pirates’coach Pat Danley said. “We have six more games and we are certainly in position to win. It’s only a third of the way through the season and we have made some mistakes that we can still fix.”

Headed into the game, the Pirates’ coaching staff knew they would have to contain some of the Blue Devils’ top weapons, including quarterback Liang Liedle and RB Hunter Pinheiro.

“We knew we were going in and seeing some things he was capable of and trying to avoid,” Danley said. “They also had some speed on the outside. They can also hurt you on the ground and through the air. Our team dropped a couple of interceptions early on and that would have helped give us some momentum and make something happen.”

Danley knows his team, which is now 0-3 headed into the conference season, has to improve as they get ready to play Hamilton at 7 p.m. Friday at Hamilton High School.

“We have to get better,” Danley simply stated.

Against the Broncs, the Pirates have their collective hands full. Hamilton has outscored their opponents 141-62 in their first three games, all wins against Whitefish, defending MHSA Class A champion Columbia Falls and an improved Browning team.

“They’ve had a good quarterback, good receivers and they are favorites to win the whole thing,” Danley said. “It’s not just a great offensive line. They have a great quarterback and good receivers and they aren’t afraid to lay it on people. They got 14 points right off the bat (against Browning) and they put up 70. They aren’t going to be afraid to score a lot of points.”

The Broncs currently run out of a basic 4-3 defense.

“They again have a lot of size and speed on defense and a strong runners,” Danley said. “They are looking to throw the ball because they can really move and throw the ball.”

During the game against the Blue Devils, the Pirates suffered a significant number of injuries in their backfield including Hunter Fritsch, Esaie Kinsey and Ryker Wenderoth.

Wenderoath and Fritsch should be ready to go against the Broncs, but Kinsey’s status is still up in the air, according to Danley.

Danley said he felt the Pirates have played some good games in the past when they’ve traveled over to Hamilton.

“We’ve played some good games down there,” Danley said. “It is a good place to play football. They have a brand new stadium that is state of the art and being built at the end of the year.”

Danley mentioned that travelling during road games is different for the kids than playing at home.

“This is a whole different routine because it isn’t a full day of school for the kids,” Danley said. “We have to stay focused on our bus trip in order to have the opportunity to play to the best of our ability.”

Corvallis 48, Polson 0

The visiting Blue Devils conjured up 563 yards of total offense

Polson (0-3), Corvallis (3-0)

Corvallis 12 16 12 8 – 48

Polson 0 0 0 0 – 0

C – Jace Barcus 19 pass from Liang Liedle (run failed)*

C – Hunter Pinheiro 4 run (pass failed)

C – Pinheiro 3 run (J.Barcus pass from L.Liedle)*

C – Mason Murray 25 pass from L.Liedle (Pinheiro run)

C – Murray 26 pass from Jaymark Liedle (kick failed)

C – Pinheiro 2 run (kick failed)

C – Colton Nelson 2 run (Bryce Mayn pass from J.Liedle)*

RUSH – C68-354 (Pinhiero 32-141, L.Liedle 21-138), P20-2 (Hunter Fritsch 7-20, Esiae Kinsey 2-4, Corbyn Lund 1-(-)10, Boston Goode 1-(-)12). PASS – C16-30-209 (Liang Liedle 14-27-161, Jaymark Liedle 2-3-48), P3-17-11-1 (B.Goode).

REC – C16-209 (Murray 3-58), P3-11 (Dugan Davis 2-6, Ryker Wenderoth 1-5). KR – Wenderoth 3-49, Lund 1-33, Jaren Stidham 1-14, Ethan McCauley 2-0. PUNT – B.Goode 5-210. FMBL – Fritsch 2, B.Goode. FMBLRCV – John Marquardt, Victor Perez, Kordell Walker. FMBLCAUS – Kenton Sisler, Walker. PD – Wenderoth 3, Trevor Schultz 3, Parker Toth. HURS – Garrett Croft, Lund, Walker. TKL/ASST (29t73a) – Croft 5t9a, Wenderoth 4t7a, Fritsch 2t11a, Toth 3t7a, Wyatt Goode 3t7a, Marquardt 3t2a, Schultz 2t4a, Lund 7a, Abel Kimmel 3t, Davis 1t4a, Walker 2t, Sisler 3a, Hunter Pittsley 1t, Braunson Henricksen 2a, Landon Becker 2a, Aiwohi Murphy 2a, Kaleb Unger 1a, Perez 1a, Ryan Doss 1a, McCauley 1a, Aaron O’Roarke 1a, Ethan Cunningham 1a. (Th06Sep18)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) where modifications have been made to erroneous results that went to press. Corrections courtesy of Corvallis coaching staff.