Pirates slither past Anaconda to remain perfect
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ANACONDA — There was no need for a last-minute comeback for the Pirates this week as Polson had no trouble blowing past the Copperheads in Anaconda Friday.
Junior quarterback Vince DiGiallonardo ran for a team-high 89 yards and threw for another 197 as the Pirates picked up a lopsided 41-0 victory.
“We started slow but then we started executing our offense, and things started rolling. Our defense played well once again, and it all worked out well,” Pirate head coach Scott Wilson said. “We had success both on the ground and through the air this week. We were able to establish the pass early in the game and that opened up the running game for us later.”
With usual top receiver Kyle Bagnell bottled up by the Copperhead defense, senior Louis Mohr picked up the slack. Mohr finished the game with a game-high 139 receiving yards and caught the Pirates’ only touchdown pass of the evening.
“Louis had a breakout game for us,” Wilson said. “The defense decided to man up against Kyle and put a safety over the top to help shut him down. That opened things up for the other guys, and Louis made some great catches. I was hoping that we could develop another option in our passing game, and Louis looks like he is going to do that for us.”
The Pirates also had a dominating performance on the defensive side of the ball, holding Anaconda to just 166 yards of total offense, including just 70 rushing yards and 96 through the air.
“I was really pleased with our effort on defense. We only gave up a few big plays and really held their offense down,” Wilson said. “Their quarterback showed some mobility leading into this game, but I was very pleased with the way our defense contained him.”
Polson took the lead in the opening quarter on a 15-yard run by Chris Cote, but the Pirates really opened things up with 21 points in the second quarter.
Mohr caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from DiGiallonardo early in the frame before DiGiallonardo scored twice on a pair of short runs later in the quarter to give Polson a 28-0 halftime advantage.
DiGiallonardo added a 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Will Davey added a 70-yard scoring run in the fourth as Polson cruised to victory.
DiGiallonardo’s 89 rushing yards led the Pirates while Davey added 70, and Cote had 63. Mohr’s 139 yards led all receivers while Cote added 33 and Bagnell had 25.
The Pirates head into their open week with the only 4-0 record in Class A football so far this season, much to the surprise of Wilson.
“It is going to be good for us to get healthy this week. I am really pleased with the way we have been playing. I really wasn’t expecting to be 4-0 at this point, though,” he said. “Now, we will try to take it to the next level. We just want to get better every week.”
The Pirates will be hard at work during their off week in preparation for conference play, which begins at home against Columbia Falls Oct. 1.
“We will be working on technique during the off week, on blocking assignments so we can establish our run game a little earlier in each game,” Wilson said. “We just want to be able to cut down on our mistakes.”
Summary
Polson 41, Anaconda 0
Polson 7 21 7 6–41
Anaconda 0 0 0 0–0
P - Chris Cote 15 run (Kyle Bagnell kick)
P - Louis Mohr 27 pass from Vince DiGiallonardo (Bagnell kick)
P - DiGiallonardo 3 run(Bagnell kick)
P - DiGiallonardo 5 run (Bagnell kick)
P - DiGiallonardo 6 run (Bagnell kick)
P - Will Davey 70 run (kick failed)
