Pirates overwhelm Wildcats

Jarrett Wilson threw for 250 yards and four touchdowns to lead Polson to another big win Friday night for a delighted Homecoming crowd.

The Pirates (6-0, 3-0) convincingly won a battle of unbeatens with a 37-0 Northwest A victory against Columbia Falls (3-1, 2-1).

Wilson completed 28 of 47 passes and threw two touchdowns in each half. He also rushed 14 times for 123 yards.

Xavier Fisher had a pair of touchdowns among his six catches for 35 yards, while Alex Muzquiz caught a 27-yard TD and Dawson Dumont hauled in another scoring pass covering 17 yards.

Colton Graham had nine catches for 110 yards.

The Wildcats managed 204 yards of offense, 171 through the air.

Quarterback Cody Schweikert was intercepted twice in the first half on two pivotal plays.

After scoring on their first drive, a 70-yard march that ended with Wilson hitting Fisher for a 4-yard score, the Pirates next two drives stalled and the third ende with a blocked punt that put the Wildcats in position to tie things up. They marched from Polson’s 25 to the 8, where Dumont picked off Schweikert in the end zone on a third-and-5 pass. Dumont took the ball all the way to Polson’s 30.

“We just had a little zone drop coverage there, where we dropped our defensive end into the flat, and he was able to come up with that pick,” Pirates head coach Kaden Glinsmann said after the game. “We’re really excited about where we are schematically. I think we’re finally putting stuff together. … We just want to put the best product out on the field, and that starts with a good, fundamentally sound defense. We’re right on the cusp of getting there.”

After the Dumont interception, the Pirates scored on their next two drives — a touchdown and a Kaden Nelson field goal — to go up 17-0.

Following an unsuccessful onside kick attempt by Polson, Columbia Falls started its final drive of the half from their own 45 with less than a minute to go. Schweikert launched a deep pass to Jace Duval on the final play, but a Polson defender pulled it from his arms just before the goal line. A struggle for the ball ensued, but time had run out.

The Pirates turned up the pressure on Schweikert in the second half as the Wildcats tried to claw their way back. Polson defenders were in the sophomore quarterback’s face all night. Senior lineman Braunson Henriksen had a pair of solo sacks on the night and shared a third with sophomore Ezra Fasthorse. Sophomore linebacker Keyen Nash had a pair of sacks as well.

Coming into the game, the Wildcats had outscored their opponents 125-12 in victories over Stevensville, Ronan and Libby.

“Coach (Jaxon) Schweikert does such a great job with his quarterbacks,” Glinsmann said. “For us to put a goose egg on the board and hold those guys out of the end zone, that’s a big deal for us.”

Like several Polson players, Henriksen plays both sides of the ball, but he agreed that the defense is making big strides.

“We stopped the run, which is something that we struggled with last year, so we’ve really built off of that. .. If we can keep building off of a game like that, I think our defense can do exceptional things just as much as our offense.”

The Pirates offense is averaging about 52 points a game, and Wilson has now thrown for 29 touchdowns with no interceptions on the season.

“There was a lot that went into this game, and we’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” Glinsmann said. “I can’t thank this coach staff enough. This is a big win for the program.”

The Pirates host Havre (2-3, 1-2) at 6 p.m. Friday in a nonconference game for Senior Night and a final regular-season home game. They'll wrap up the regular season at Browning (2-4, 1-1) and Whitefish (6-0, 1-0).

Polson 37, Columbia Falls 0

C-Falls 0 0 0 0 – 0

Polson 7 10 13 7 – 37

P – Xavier Fisher 4-yard pass from Jarrett Wilson (Kaden Nelson kick)

P – Fisher 6-yard pass from Wilson (Nelson kick)

P – Nelson 25-yard field goal

P – Dawson DuMont 17-yard pass from Wilson (Nelson kick)

P – Alex Muzquiz 27-yard pass from Wilson (conversion failed)

P – Keyen Nash 4-yard run (Nelson kick)

RUSH – CF25-36 (Isaiah Roth 10-23, Schweikert 13-10), P29-182 (Wilson 16-128, Nash 4-24, DuMont 5-24, Dwelle 3-4, Fisher 1-2). PASS – CF(Schweikert 16-28-189), P (Wilson 30-50-292). RECEIVE – CF16-189 (JHill 5-94, Duvall 2-31, Goodman 1-22), P30-292 (Graham 9-119, Muzquiz 7-80, Fisher 7-39, Perez 2-19, Dwelle 4-19, DuMont 1-1). INT – P(DuMont). PD – P5(Wilson 4, DuMont). FR – P(Becker). FF – P(Becker). SK – P5 (Henriksen 2.5, Nash 2, FastHorse 0.5). TFL – P9 (Nash 3.5, Henriksen 3, FastHorse, Trent Wilson 0.5, Brenden Griffin 0.5, O'Roake 0.5).