Young Pirates win first game against Canadian team
Carrie Pichler
Polson Pirate Joe Gallatin dodges defenders in a game against the Raymond, Alberta Comets.
Carrie Pichler
Polson High School Principal Rex Weltz shivers under a river of ice cold water after accepting the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The challenge has gained popularity recently, as participants pour a bucket of ice water over their heads in an attempt to raise awarness for amyotrphic lateral sclerosis.
Carrie Pichler
Polson Pirate Tanner Wilson
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OLSON – After replacing 16 starters on the roster and with only six varsity players as seniors, “young team” is the mum on the street when it comes to Pirates football this season. That didn’t deter Head Coach Scott Wilson from getting things done on the field Friday, picking up his first win in the season opener played in front of the Pirates hometown crowd.
“It was a typical first game, in terms of a lot of penalties, a lot of good plays but a lot of little things that we need to work on also,” Wilson said about the team’s debut of Friday night lights action.
Playing the Comets from Raymond, Alberta, was a first — the Pirates had never faced the Canadian team before — but Polson played through the opening night jitters and pulled passed Raymond 29-26. A big first quarter propelled the Pirates and they held the lead throughout the game.
Sophomore QB Tanner Wilson completed 13 passes out of 19 attempts for a total of 155 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came in the arms of Mathew Rensvold, also a sophomore, who made five catches for 77 yards.
Though Wilson said the game was typical for a first game of the season, he also noted the experience the kids picked up throughout each play.
“It was as expected, there’s going to be a lot of nerves, there’s going to be a few errors, but overall I was really pleased,” he said. “Like I said, there were a lot of good plays; for a young group I was pleased with how the game went.”
As for the upcoming season, Wilson believes it is a little too early to say how Pirate football will play out, stating “we have a pretty solid conference” with other teams returning some experienced players, but he remains optimistic about the Pirates future.
“I learned a lot about our team that first game,” he said. “I think we’ll just continually get better. We can take care of some of the things like the penalties and the little mistakes and I think a lot will depend if we can improve each week. I think they have a chance to be successful.”
The next stop for the Pirates will be a bus ride to Dillon Sept. 5 to take on the Beavers.
On a side note, most fans can agree no Friday night game would be complete without some sort of entertainment during half time, and entertain Polson did. Polson High School Principal Rex Weltz took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, an awareness challenge for the progressive neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The challenge, where participants pour a bucket of ice water over their head, has been floating around social media for some time.
The crowd cheered as Weltz, with the help of a couple of cheerleaders, got completely drenched and wore it proudly.
Results
Polson 14 7 8 0 – 29
Raymond 6 7 6 7 - 26
