A comedy of errors led to the gridiron crime of the century, another tough football loss for the Plains Horsemen.

Although not quite as dramatic as all that, coach Mike Tatum and his Horsemen dropped a 44-24 decision to the Arlee Warriors in Arlee Sept. 24 in Western C 8-Man action.

Tatum took his cue from the action he witnessed in Arlee. 

“Well, this game was a comedy of errors with some moments of amazement sprinkled here and there,” he said. “If we play a clean game, commit fewer penalties and self-inflicted miscues, we certainly would have put ourselves in a better position to try and win.”

Tatum said the Horsemen may have been denied the win but still turned in some strong play, in particular his three senior team leaders.

Offensively, Matthew Thurston caught passes for 105 yards, including scoring touchdowns on pass plays of 20 and 50 yards, in addition to picking up another 53 yards rushing.

Greg Tatum, another senior, ended up with 124 yards on the ground, including touchdown runs of five and 46 yards, adding another run of 55 yards. His coach and father said Greg has made some great sacrifices for the Horsemen, playing all eight positions on offense at one point or another this season in order to help the team.

The third and final senior, Bryson Hoyle, finished the night with the first score of his career by running in an extra point, coach Tatum said, indicating that Hoyle normally plays center. “When the time is right we like to give the big guys up front a chance to get into the end zone,” he added. “He was given the chance and came away successful.”

Tatum said Eddie Siebert had a solid showing at quarterback throwing for 138 yards and the two touchdowns to Thurston.

On the defensive side of things for Plains, Thurston led the way with 10 tackles, two caused fumbles and three tackles for loss, and Greg Tatum added 10 tackles, a recovered fumble, interception, two tackles for a loss and four quarterback pressures.

Coach Tatum said safety Jeff Siebert had four pass interceptions in the game, and then summed up his team’s efforts in Arlee. “So it was a game with disappointment,” he said, “but our guys also had the time of their lives and became closer as a team despite the loss.”

Originally set to visit Victor Saturday, the Horsemen will instead travel to Clark Fork Friday for an 8-Man game with Wampus Cats on a 100-yard field. Victor forfeited its season due to a shortage of players this fall.