Pirates fall to Bulldogs, get ready for Browning

It’s probably difficult to grasp that the Polson High School football team is headed into a critical game against Browning in only the third week of the season.

After the Pirates fell to Whitefish 28-15 to even their regular-season mark to 1-1 on the season, they will now face a pivotal game of the season against a Browning program that has become well-known for its physicality and much-improved personnel since they qualified for the Montana High School Class A football playoffs in 2017.

Pirates coach Kaden Glinsmann admitted to having mixed emotions about his team’s week two loss against the Bulldogs, a group that many have picked to be one of the top-tier teams out of the MHSA Western Class A state football teams this season.

The Bulldogs, who lost their first game of the season, came in with something to prove, according to Glinsmann.

“They came out with a chip on their shoulder, and honestly they put it to us,” Glinsmann said. “Whitefish saw how we lined up and took advantage of some situations.”

After the first 10 plays from scrimmage, the Pirates found themselves down to the Dogs 14-0.

“The score was 14-0 pretty fast,” Glinsman said. “It was mixed emotions (after the result of that game), but we did well in week one, and then the defense came out, and finished flat.”

The Pirates were able to shift the tide of momentum midway through the game, but after they were able to pin Whitefish after three downs, a roughing the punter penalty nullified the Pirates’ supreme effort.

Just when the direction of the momentum began to shift in favor of the Pirates, Whitefish gained it back, and never relinquished it after they received a fresh set of downs.

“That was a big play for us, and that shifted (the tide of momentum) going into halftime,” Glinsmann said. “When we didn’t get the ball back at the end of the first half with a chance to do something, that is how the first half was decided. “

During the game, the Pirates were dealt another devastating blow to their team when they lost Trevor Schultz to an injury.

Last week, Schultz was a key contributor to the team’s season home-opening victory over Columbia Falls, as they forced six Wildcat turnovers.

“With Trevor hurt we had to move around some of our personnel, and that ended up limiting some things that we were able to do on offense,” Glinsmann said. “We came out in the second half, and we were able to move the ball a little bit. (Whitefish) had a good game-plan for Bo, they had to use a spy on him and they did a good job of tackling him in space.”

Beyond the bottom line

In spite of falling to Whitefish, Glinsmann noticed a lot of positive changes in his team’s progression from week one to week two.

“The biggest thing that we (took away) from week one to week two is that we can’t talk about wins,” Glinsmann said. “Even though that first week was exciting for the community to get a win, I think winning was a detriment to our team.”

Moving forward

After the week number two loss that allowed the Pirates to refocus, they will now play two critical games against Browning, and their long-time Mission-Valley MHSA Class A rival Ronan moving into week four.

Glinsmann, who is still getting reacclimated to MHSA Class A football after being an assistant at Carroll College, an NAIA program in Helena, and Kansas, admits he isn’t familiar with Browning’s history as a football program but has seen some good things on film.

“I don’t know much about their history, but from what I’ve seen on film, Browning is a team that plays hard,” Glinsmann said. “I am excited about the challenge, and to be able to compete with some of those teams. Browning, from what I’ve seen on film, is the type of team that comes out and plays hard, regardless of the score.”

Glinsmann noted that Browning is the type of team that is big and physical on the offensive and defensive fronts.

“They have some good athletes on the perimeters, and that can be scary at times,” Glinsmann said. “They have a couple of players that are a home run threat, and they are fundamentally sound on the offensive and defensive line, at that first level. It’s going to be a definite test for us.”

Glinsmann is looking forward to seeing how his team responds from adversity after the team’s early-season success, and without Schultz, who the Pirates lost for the season to a broken leg.

The Pirates are in good shape moving forward.

“I want to see how our young men are going to respond without having Trevor,” Glinsmann said. “Losing him was big in the last game. We ended up moving some guys around, and it’s now time for our role players to step up. We can’t get rid of these guys, and it’s a big week of practice for us.”