Polson, Libby ready for quarters

The Class A football playoffs roll on into the quarterfinals today with two Northwestern A schools still in the mix.

Second seed Libby (7-3), which soundly defeated Corvallis last week, has to travel all the way over to Sidney for its game. The Eagles (8-0) are the No. 1 seed out of the Eastern Conference and had a bye last week.

Likewise Polson (9-0), winners of the Northwestern Conference, had the first round off to prepare and get healthy. The Pirates play host to Billings Central (6-3), the No. 2 team from the East, at 1 p.m. The Rams eliminated Belgrade in the first round.

"They have a very strong running attack," Polson coach Scott Wilson said of the Rams. "And they throw the play action very well because of that."

Billings Central runs the wing-T offense, a scheme predicated on multiple fake handoffs that can flummox an aggressive defense.

"A lot of it has to do with making sure that your team is disciplined," Wilson said. "We're a read defense, so you have to read the guy in front of you rather than find the ball."

If the Rams are able to establish their running game, the play action pass comes into play.

"They don't throw a ton, maybe eight or nine throws a game," Wilson said. "It's effective enough that you definitely respect it.

"A lot depends on how much success they're having with the run. With all the different fakes, their guys get open because you're trying to stop the run."

The Pirates took advantage of the week off to heal up some injuries, and everyone should be available today. But while the time off helps the hurt, it can hurt the team by disrupting the momentum of the season.

"It's an interesting question," Wilson said. "We used it to get one of our two-way starters healthy. But you also worry about taking a week off at the end of the season.

"That's one of the thing you concentrate on as coaches, making sure they're solid right from the beginning."

Assuming there isn't much rust to shake off, the Pirates should match up well with Billings Central.

"It's one of those things where they do play physical on defense," Wilson said. "Size-wise they're about the same as us.

"The key is who is going to control the tempo of the game and whose running game will be successful."

A young Polson team made the playoffs a year ago as the third seed from the Northwestern Conference, losing in the first round. That experience could be the difference for the Pirates this year.

"I think that always helps," said Wilson of having playoff experience. "We were fairly young last year and a lot of these kids played last year.

"That will help prepare them to be ready for a good football game."

A win for the Pirates would mean another home game next week versus the winner of the Miles City-Frenchtown game.

Should the Loggers upset Sidney, they would be at the winner of Stevensville-Havre next week.