Arlee hosts Drummond-Philipsburg in playoffs
Warrior Jake Knoll fends off an Eagle during the Arlee's conference game against Valley Christian. Knoll scored four touchdowns and rushed for 292 yards for his team during the hard-fought matchup Oct. 13 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. (Jamie Reil photo)
After an undefeated regular season, the Arlee Warriors will host their first-round playoff game as a No. 1 seed for Western eight-man league on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 1 p.m. The Warriors face the Central eight-man’s No. 3 seed Drummond-Philipsburg.
“Drummond has had a lot of success this year and in recent years,” Arlee Head Coach Quinn Huisman said. “They’re a well-coached football team and have focused on the fundamentals. They’ll be a tough opponent. But if we play to our fullest potential, good things will happen.”
Good things have been happening for the Warriors, who are 8-0 with two shutouts.
“Our strengths have been the camaraderie between the boys, and our goal this season has been to be 1-0 each week,” Huisman said. “And not worry about the next.”
That focus has meant that the Warriors have scored 374 points against opponents while giving up just 107 points - or 13 points per game - which would make Arlee the envy of any NFL defense stat-wise.
“At the beginning of the year, our focus was to take care of the little things and to win each week,” Huisman said. “They’ve done that so far. We are focused on Flint Creek right now. And that’s all we are thinking about.”
Dummond-Philipsburg is 6-3, and they have a high-powered offense, having scored 346 points this year. Their defense has given up 249 points.
“On our bye week, we changed our practice a little bit and did a lot more individual time and special team time,” Huisman said. “We kept them focused by ourselves, the coaches, being focused. Some conditioning also tends to help with focus.”
If it's going to be a postseason journey, then next Saturday is when it will begin in Arlee. It will be can’t-miss football in the Mission Valley, and it's going to be a Warrior team to remember.
“It has been an absolute honor to coach these young men,” Huisman said.