The Polson Pirates football team’s chances to qualify for the Class A state football playoffs were dashed with a 30-19 loss to Browning Friday night at Polson High School.

The Pirates struggled to establish offensive continuity against the stout Indians’ defense that didn’t allow Polson many opportunities to establish a rhythm on offense.

The Pirates struggled against Browning’s standout defensive lineman Brandon Aimsback. According to Pirates’ coach Patrick Danley, Aimsback was disruptive to what Polson tried to establish on offense.

“For sure he was the best player on the field and I told him that when he was going through the line after the game,” Danley said. “I think about the fact that we ended up with negative 54 yards rushing and threw four interceptions in that game, but we still remained competitive.”

The Pirates tried to counteract Aimsback’s attack and just couldn’t find an adequate solution.

“We tried to run away from him and we tried to run at him, but neither one of them worked,” Danley said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and we got to the point where all we could do offensively was straight pass. We ended up with several interceptions, but at the start of the fourth quarter, we were only down 22-19 and we had a third and five at the 15-yard line. I hoped it was going to be a safe pass and that was the worst case scenario was that we get a field goal to tie. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Now out of playoff contention, the Pirates will look to end their season on a positive note headed into the season finale against one of the top-ranked teams in Class A Columbia Falls. Currently, the Wildcats’ only loss is a 16-14 game against Dillon.

This year, the C-Falls defense has allowed a total of only 55 points on the season.

“Columbia Falls is obviously a huge mountain to climb but over the last several years, for the most part, we’ve played Columbia Falls pretty tough,” Danley said. “Even the years that they had a better record than us, we’ve played them tough. For our seniors, this is the last chance to do anything as a Polson Pirate and hopefully those guys have good memories in the last game. Some of our younger guys will get a chance to play in this game. This will give us an idea of who might be able to play for us next year and even though we can’t make it to the playoffs, there is still something to play for and we will give it our best.”

The Columbia Falls team, who lost to Dillon in last year’s Class A state championship game, is one of the team’s top state contending teams headed into this year’s Class A playoffs.

“Their line is pretty good and their pass is a little bit less than they did in the last few years when they were a pass happy team,” Danley said. “This year, they are a little bit more balanced and spread us out. Defensively, they are pretty solid. They don’t blitz as much as other teams. They are well coached, pretty athletic and have a tradition of winning over the years. They were second place last year and they will compete for the title this year.”

One threat the Pirates will have to contend with is C-Falls RB Logan Kolodejchuk, according to Danley.

“Kolodejchuk is a really good running back and outside linebacker, and he’s a player that you have to be aware of where he is,” Danley said. “They also have a safety (Ben Windauer), who is a ball hawking type of safety. Their special teams are pretty good and they’ve had a couple of kick returns for touchdowns. That is something that we will have to be aware of as well and it will be a tall task. I hope our kids will have enough pride and give it their best effort, which I am assuming they will.”

One area Danley said he would like to improve headed into the offseason and into next season is focusing on how to get off to faster starts. In the first half, the Pirates’ offense has had trouble generating points. Danley and his coaching staff hope to change this as they prepare to head into next season.

“Honestly, we went into this season hoping to be able to stop teams with a three-man front and we’ve had to make some adjustments,” Danley said. “We ended up running more of a four-man front which is something that we originally got away from. This has to be a little bit frustrating. I don’t think we created enough turnovers this year and that is probably one of the big things that has helped us tremendously.”

Danley has sighted several improvements in various areas offensively and defensively.

“We just have to give it one more shot and we still have a lot to play for in terms of pride,” Danley said. “I hope we are going to have some fun and do the best that we can.”