Back on course
Pirates bounce back from homecoming loss with big win over Whitefish
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POLSON — The Pirates have righted the ship.
A week after suffering a disappointing last-minute homecoming loss to Columbia Falls, the Pirates bounced back with a crushing 47-12 defeat of the visiting Whitefish Bulldogs.
Led by 91 rushing yards from Jake Skelton and 63 yards receiving by Louis Mohr, the Pirates came out with full sails to build a 33-0 halftime advantage.
“Bouncing back from last week’s loss was one of the big things we were focusing on during practice this week,” Pirate head coach Scott Wilson said. “We had to prepare for what Whitefish was going to bring as a team but we really also had to work on the mental aspect of things.”
It was a mental mistake that nearly cost the Pirates dearly on the opening play of the game as, for the second week in a row, the opposing team ran for a huge gain to open the contest. Instead of giving up a touchdown this week, though, the Polson defense was able to run down the ball and make the tackle.
“It was just another mental mistake on our part,” Wilson said. “We were misaligned, and Murphy’s Law says that the other team will always run it right at where you are misaligned. That’s what happened, but we were able to run them down and save the touchdown.”
“As that play was happening, I was thinking that this is not exactly how I wanted to bounce back from a loss,” Wilson added.
The Pirates immediately bounced back after the play, though, holding the Bulldogs on four straight plays to force a turnover on downs.
From there, the Polson offense went to work.
The Pirates got on the board with their first possession of the contes, when quarterback Vince DiGiallonardo hooked up with Mohr for a 33-yard touchdown pass to give Polson an early lead. Kyle Bagnell added the PAT to put Polson up 7-0.
The combination of DiGiallonardo and Mohr struck again minutes later as a Will Davey interception led to another quick Polson score. This time, DiGiallonardo found Mohr on a 17-yard crossing pattern for the touchdown. Bagnell added another PAT for a 14-0 Pirate lead.
Polson was not yet done scoring in the opening quarter. Jake Skelton ended the Pirates’ third drive with a 1-yard scoring run and Bagnell added his third PAT to put Polson up 21-0 heading into the second quarter.
It was more Polson in the second frame as Chris Cote scored on a 15-yard run and Bagnell added a pair of field goals from 25 and 27 yards out to give Polson a 33-0 halftime advantage.
“After that first play, we pretty much kept them in check and started playing well,” Wilson said. “We just had no rhythm last week. I was really pleased with the rhythm we had going against Whitefish. It really does make a big difference. It helps on both sides of the ball.”
Whitefish was finally able to get on the board in the third quarter as Jeremy Nielson took the ball into the end zone from 4 yards out, but Polson answered with a 5-yard scoring run by DiGiallonardo.
Polson’s final score came in interesting fashion as Chris Cote broke into the Bulldog secondary for a big gain, but fumbled the ball after gaining 30 yards. Justin Evertz was in the right place at the right time for the Pirates, scooping up the ball on a bounce and carrying it the final 57 yards into the end zone for the touchdown.
Whitefish’s Christopher Forrest provided the final touchdown of the game with a 12-yard reception from Connor Donahue, but the Bulldog PAT was blocked for the second straight time.
Dating back to the second quarter against Columbia Falls, the blocked PAT was the fourth straight for the Polson defense.
“We don’t do anything special on kick blocks,” Wilson said. “It’s not something that we really work on either. I don’t really know what the deal is there, but it is a nice thing to see.”
Along with the team-leading performances by Skelton and Mohr, Cote added 64 rushing yards, DiGiallonardo had 28, Sheldon Fisher added 9 and Taylor Pitts had 5. Bagnell had 41 receiving yards and DiGiallonardo finished 7-10 passing for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
With the win, the Pirates improve to 1-1 in conference play and 5-1 overall while Whitefish falls to 0-3 in conference and 1-6 overall.
The Pirates will be hard at work this week as they prepare for the annual rivalry matchup against Ronan.
“You try to do the same prep as usual, but you also have to work on the emotional aspect of the game,” Wilson said. “Both sides are going to be at a high emotional level for the game and that is something you have to take into account. It doesn’t matter what either team has done coming into a rivalry game, anything can happen.”
Summary
Whitefish 12, Polson 47
Whitefish 0 0 6 6–12
Polson 21 12 7 7–47
P - Louis Mohr 33 pass from Vince DiGiallonardo (Kyle Bagnell kick)
P - Mohr 17 pass from DiGiallonardo (Bagnell kick)
P - Jake Skelton 1 run (Bagnell kick)
P - Chris Cote 15 run (kick missed)
P - 25 FG by Bagnell
P - 27 FG by Bagnell
W - Jeremy Nielson 4 run (kick blocked)
P - DiGiallonardo 5 run (Bagnell kick)
P - Justin Evertz 57 run (Bagnell kick)
W - Christopher Forrest 12 pass from Connor Donahue (kick blocked)
