Homecoming Heartache
Pirates fall to Wildcats in wild game
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POLSON — Not every homecoming game has a storybook ending.
The was the unfortunate truth that the third-ranked Polson Pirates had to learn Friday as a last-minute touchdown earned Columbia Falls a 25-20 victory.
The Pirates trailed by as many as 13 in the contest, but fought back in the second half to take a 1-point lead on a 5-yard run by quarterback Vince DiGiallonardo late in the game.
Columbia Falls had an answer, though, as the Wildcats took the ensuing kickoff and methodically drove down the field to score on an 11-yard run by Nate Thompson with 57 seconds to play in the game.
Polson had one final chance to pull out the win, but the ball was stripped from the hands of receiver Kyle Bagnell on a long pass play and Columbia Falls escaped with the win.
“You just have to give it to Columbia Falls. They deserve a lot of credit for moving the ball error-free when they had to,” Polson head coach Scott Wilson said. “We just never seemed to be able to get into rhythm with anything that we were doing. We had our opportunities, but we just couldn’t get our offense rolling. Everything we got just seemed to be big plays when we were making something out of nothing.”
Polson’s offense struggled to find its rhythm throughout the contest, finishing with just 304 yards of offense, 211 on the ground and 93 through the air.
The Pirate defense struggled early but was able to hold the Wildcats long enough for Polson’s second-half comeback. Polson struggled to shut down the running game of Thompson all evening long as the Wildcat running back finished with 280 yards on 43 carries.
“We knew going into the game that we were going to have to stop Thompson,” Wilson said. “He is a very good back and we needed to shut him down throughout the game but we just couldn’t shut him down on every play.”
Thompson wasted no time making his mark on the game, running 69 yards through the Pirate defense into the end zone on the Wildcats’ opening offensive play of the game. Austin Barth added the PAT and Columbia Falls had an early lead.
Polson could do nothing to jump start its offense in the opening quarter.
“We were just unable to establish anything offensively until the second quarter,” Wilson said. “One thing that makes it tough for your defense is when your offense can’t get anything going. It puts a lot of pressure on the defense when that happens. Once we got going, we did a good job but we just had some trouble converting in the red zone. Doing that will always come back to bite you, especially in a close game like that.”
Columbia Falls struck again later in the quarter, scoring on a 7-yard run by Cole Jones to take a 13-0 lead after the PAT was blocked.
The Pirate offense found its first bit of success in the second quarter when DiGiallonardo turned a routine quarterback draw play into a 51-yard scoring jaunt through the teeth of the Wildcat defense. Bagnell added the PAT kick and Polson trailed 13-7 at the half.
Columbia Falls pushed the lead to 19-7 in the third quarter with a 7-yard run by Dan Jones, but the PAT was once again blocked.
Polson had an answer later in the quarter. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the 12-yard line, DiGiallonardo scrambled and found Sheldon Fisher in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Bagnell added the PAT and Polson had cut the lead to 19-14.
DiGiallonardo’s late touchdown gave Polson its first lead but the Pirates could not hold on as Columbia Falls came away with the win.
“It was a tough loss, any loss is, but there are lots of positives we can take away from this game,” Wilson said. “The biggest thing is that we continued to fight and kept battling even when we were down. Even after that touchdown at the end, we never gave up. That is a great thing to see.”
DiGiallonardo led the Pirate offense with 88 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns while throwing for another 93 yards and a score.
Jake Skelton added 85 yards on 10 carries while Fisher, the homecoming king, added 38 yards.
Bagnell led the receiving corps with 56 yards on three catches while Skelton had 25 yards and Fisher had a 12-yard touchdown reception.
With the loss, the Pirates drop to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Polson will be back in action this week as the Pirates host Whitefish Friday.
Summary
Columbia Falls 25, Polson 20
Columbia Falls 13 0 6 6–25
Polson 0 7 7 6–20
CF - Nate Thompson 69 run (Austin Barth kick)
CF - Cole Jones 7 run (kick failed)
P - Vince DiGiallonardo 51 run (Kyle Bagnell kick)
CF - Dan Jones 7 run (kick failed)
P - Sheldon Fisher 12 pass from DiGiallonardo (Bagnell kick)
P - DiGiallonardo 5 run (pass failed)
CF - Thompson 11 run (run failed)
