When you don’t take care of the ball, you can’t take care of the game, which is not a good thing

So as the football was blocked and swatted all around the Victor field Saturday afternoon, it was likewise not likely the outcome would change.

It didn’t.

The result was a 44-12 win by the home standing Tigers over Plains.

There were the usual signs of progress and evidence of hard work by the Horsemen who have struggled this season with a very young roster, as was expected by most Western B, 8-players football speculators.

Not much had been said, however, of the ability to hold onto and protect the football as a vital cog in the difficult up the ladder of respectability moved on.

But evidence of how important keeping hold of the ball was provided quick and often in the opening stages of the Plains loss.

Less than three minutes into the game, Victor had their end of the scoreboard spinning when a blocked put attempt by the Horsemen allowed the home team Pirates to take possession with exceptionally good field position, as in Plains’ 19 yard line.

One 12-yard run later, the Pirates put six points on the scoreboard when they capped the very short drive with a nine-yard runing touchdown. Victor completed a successful two-point after touchdown try and with 9:08 to go in the opening quarter held an 8-0 lead over the Horsemen.

On Plains’s ensuing possession, the snap for a Plains offensive play sailed high over the high of quarterback Mason Elliot’s head before coming to rest in the Victor end zone. As the ball settled in, it was pounced upon by several Pirates, who hoisted their prize high overhead to celebrate the six points it represented by the recovering home team.

That action, which was capped a short time later by another successful two-point PAT try, boosted the Pirates lead to 16-0 and came with 8:31 left to play in quarter number one.

One ball mishandled and the other blocked turned out to be, as one might expect, the recipe for disaster for the young Horsemen.

And the fumble-itis didn’t end there.

On Plains’ next possession, a fumble snap by Victor, was picked up by the home team by their quarterback at the 12 yard line.

A few plays later that would result in a walk across the goal line by the Pirate’s quarterback, adding six more points to the Victor booty and giving the home team a 22-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The fumbling did not end with the first quarter.

Further damage was done when Victor, which took possession on its own 33 following Plains’ inability to move the ball, had an errant snap zoom over the head of the Pirates’s quarterback and come to rest on their own one yard line. This ball was covered by the home team at the one. Victor then hung onto a center snap and their running back strolled into the end zone for another “score off a snap” touchdown and a commanding 30-0 lead with 21 seconds left in the first half.

Victor would add two more touchdowns in the half to put their lead at 44-0 before Plains was able to stick a pair of TD’s on their side of the scoreboard as time ticked away in the final quarter.

In the end, the team who held onto the ball the most emerged as the winner of the game.

Things don’t get any easier for Plains this weekend when they travel to Charlo for a 7 pm game against the Vikings this Friday, October 14. The Horsemen close out their season the following weekend, October 19 with a Senior Night home game versus Darby in Plains.