Pirates prove victorious in pressure-cooker win over Lockwood

Two games in, Polson has played two different games. One was a 20-point victory over Corvallis in the first week of the Montana high school football schedule.

The second? A pressure cooker 20-13 nonconference victory over Lockwood (1-1) on Saturday, September 6, in Polson.

“There were big momentum swings in this game for both teams,” Polson Head Coach Carson Oakland said. “We didn’t have any turnovers and forced two in the game that helped us tremendously.”

In the past, pressure may have hindered the Pirates or caused the game to slip away. For all its physical play, football can be a mental game, after all. This year’s iteration of the Polson football team showed they could weather the storm.

“They have been a great group to coach and battle adversity every day in practice,” Oakland said. “This was promising to see us do it on the big stage and battle the adversity and stick with the plan.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Lockwood scored first on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Raider Kalfell to receiver Dylan Miller. Polson’s response was to break out their multi-talented athlete, Holden Emerson, who scored twice on the ground before halftime on runs of three and one yards.

 Pirate Holden Emerson accrues yardage against Lockwood during Saturday's game in Polson. (Bob Gunderson photo)

“They did a nice job causing our offensive fits in the run and pass game,” Oakland said. “They made our quarterback uncomfortable throwing the football at times. Being able to stick with the game plan and not get rattled helped us a ton offensively.” 

Lockwood stayed close behind the arm of Kalfell, who threw a 15-yard score to Miller in the third to tie the game up at 13-13. The Lions’ two-point attempt was stuffed short of the goal line.

Polson quarterback Case Cox, who went 15-of-24 passing for 176 yards, scored the key go-ahead touchdown in the fourth. Cox threw a 10-yard strike to Eli Evenson, and Roman Sawyer’s extra point gave the Pirates the 20-13 margin.

But it wasn’t easy. The game was still close. Anything could happen in Montana Class A football, right?

Polson’s defense, however, proved to be important in the contest. Max Ramesar forced a fumble and recovery that the Pirates later scored earlier in the game, and Cooper Kisler had a nice game-sealing interception with time draining off the clock.

“Defensively, we battled,” Oakland said. “Our kids never quit and were well prepared. We knew if they got the run game going early, we might be in for a fight.”

Penalties also helped wipe out two key Lions momentum-changing plays. A big reception that flipped the field was called back and replayed, while offsetting penalties negated a late fourth-and-15 conversion, and the redo led to Kisler’s interception.

Evenson finished with seven catches for 58 yards, while Daniel O’Roake hauled in a pair of passes for 48 yards to complement a balanced rushing attack.

Polson ran the ball 32 times for 109 yards, with Cox collecting 38 yards on nine rushes, while Daniel O’Roake collected 38 yards on 10 attempts. Emerson, doing a little of everything, rushed for 31 yards, passed for 14 and caught three passes for 47 yards.    Lockwood linebacker tightens his grip on Pirate Luke Horner during Saturday's game. (Bob Gunderson photo)

“We are a well-balanced team that has a lot of kids playing both sides of the ball,” Oakland said. “For them to go and play both sides of the ball and stay consistent from that has been huge for us. We’ve had kids step up and make plays when plays need to be made.”

Four different players had multi-carry games on the ground, while five different Pirates caught passes, with Evenson leading the way with seven catches for 58 yards. Nobody particularly stood out with big fantasy football numbers, but the 299 yards of offense were spread out over a wide variety of skill players, making the old cliche of “team effort” a truth in this case.

“Case and our receivers had a nice game, making plays with their feet,” Oakland said. “Our offensive line made plays when the moment demanded it.”

Kyrin Doty was a beast on offense, leading the Pirates with 12 total tackles, including one and a half for a loss, while Jarett Seifert added nine tackles.

Gritty could be the best way to explain the effort. Now at 2-0, Polson will have to continue to show that grit in the Montana football slate. The Pirates will travel to face Sidney on the very eastern stretches of the state on Saturday, September 13, at 1 p.m.

“Starting 2-0 is nice and feels good now, but we attack every day with the mindset ‘go, get better,’” Oakland said. “Overall, the record reflects hard work and consistency from our players and coaches. I am happy for them to see their hard work pay off, but we have to correct our mistakes and clean stuff up for the second half of the season when conference play starts.” 

    Polson Pirates celebrate Saturday's 20-13 victory over Lockwood with Coach Oakland. (Bob Gunderson photo)

At Polson

POLSON 20, LOCKWOOD 13

Lockwood - 0 - 7 - 6 - 0 - 13

Polson - 0 - 13 - 0 - 7 - 20

SCORING SUMMARY

L – Dylan Miller 14-yard pass from Raider Kalfell (Landon Merry kick)

P – Holden Emerson 3-yard run (Roman Sawyer kick)

P – Emerson 1-yard run (kick blocked)

L – Miller 15-yard pass from Kalfell (run tackled short)

P – Eli Evenson 10-yard pass from Case Cox (R.Sawyer kick)

GAME STATS

RUSH– P32-109 (C.Cox 9-38, Daniel O’Roake 10-31, Ho.Emerson 11-31, Luke Horner 2-9). PASS– P16-25-190(C.Cox 15-24-176, Ho.Emerson 1-1-14). RECEIVE– P16-190 (E.Evenson 7-58, D.O’Roake 2-48, Ho.Emerson 3-47, Merick Ramesar 2-20, Horner 2-17).