Polson pounds Bigfork

Bigfork lost a conference game with a score of 37-7.

BIGFORK - Too much size, too much power, too much depth.

Too much Polson.

The third-ranked Pirates put on a rushing clinic Friday night, picking up 315 yards on the ground - 216 of them by Kevin Owen - and cruised to a 37-7 Northwestern A conference win over Bigfork that was more dominant on paper than it felt in real time.

Owen also had three touchdowns among his 23 carries. Terry Lundeen added 62 yards on seven touches and Joe Locke threw for an efficient and effective 90 yards.

"We did a good job up front of sustaining drives and being able to open some stuff up for our backs," Pirates coach Scott Wilson said.

The game probably could have been even more of a blowout had Polson not committed 10 penalties.

"We can't have as many penalties, that definitely hurt us in the first half and throughout the game," Wilson said. "I told the kids that it was a great effort, but you have to cut down on those penalties.

"Two weeks in a row we've gotten a lot of penalties in the first half. At some point it could catch up to us."

Polson (6-0 overall, 2-0 Northwestern A) also had a tough time with the center-quarterback exchanges. Six times quarterback Joe Locke put the ball on the ground coming out from under center, one which resulted in a turnover.

"We had a rookie center in there and I don't know if that's it, but we just can't do that either," Wilson said. "We were very fortunate, and that's my job to take care of. I thought we had a good week of practice, we just have to do a better job."

For the Vikings (2-4, 0-2), there wasn't a lot to be pleased with, but there really wasn't a lot to be unhappy with, either.

"Polson is a very good football team, by far the best team we've faced all year," Bigfork coach Aaron Stiegler said. "As always, we played hard. I don't think we played as well as we're capable of playing, but we played hard."

The Vikings' lone touchdown came in the second quarter, a 49-yard pass from Mitchell Hill to Shaun Reed.

But by then, Polson had already built a 16-0 lead, with nine points coming in a span of six seconds.

First, Bigfork punter Erik Torgerson stepped on the back line of the end zone when fielding the snap for a safety. Then Andy Nelson returned the ensuing kickoff 74 yards for a touchdown.

Lundeen would score again for the Pirates before halftime and Owen added two more TDs in the third quarter to put it away.

"These kids have been through some tough losses and we have to learn to stick together and keep getting better each week," Stiegler said. "That's a great football team that we played.

"We need to keep working on getting better every week and teach these young men how to play the game and also teach them lessons about life," he said.

"In life you're going to have to persevere at some point, there's going to be some challenges. If anything, this teaches them how to meet those challenges head on in life."

Now the Pirates head back to Polson for home games with Columbia Falls next Friday and Whitefish on Oct. 14 before finishing up at Ronan.

While it is by no means a sure thing, Polson has a favorable path to a conference championship, if they can stay dialed in.

"The biggest thing is just to try and keep them focused each week," Wilson said. "We're at home for a couple of weeks now, and it's always nice to play at home.

"You just have to try to keep the focus on one game at a time."

Bigfork hosts Ronan next Friday.

PIRATES 37, VIKINGS 7

Polson 7 16 14 0 - 37

Bigfork 0 7 0 0 - 7

First Quarter

Pol-Kevin Owen 11 run (Joe Locke kick), 9:20.

Second Quarter

Pol-Team Safety, punter stepped out of end zone, 11:55.

Pol-Andy Nelson 74 kickoff return, 11:41.

BF-Shaun Reed 49 pass from Mitchell Hill (Erik Torgerson kick), 10:16.

Pol-Terry Lundeen 16 run (Locke kick), 6:08.

Third Quarter

Pol-Owen 25 run (Locke kick), 7:52.

Pol-Owen 1 run (Locke kick), 2:38.

Pol BF

First downs 22 10

Rushes-yards 47-315 28-31

Passing 90 184

Comp-Att-Int 7-15-1 11-22-1

Fumbles-Lost 6-1 2-1

Penalties-Yards 10-70 5-41

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING-Polson, Owen 23-216, Lundeen 7-62, Ted Morigeau 6-17, Nelson 4-9, No. 44 1-7, Pat Dellwo 2-6, Locke 1-0, Joe Turnage 1-(minus-1). Bigfork, Aaron Vogel 10-61, Hunter Boll 3-2, Hill 1-(minus-9), Team 3-(minus-21).

PASSING-Polson, Locke 7-15-1-90. Bigfork, Hill 10-19-1-142, Laine Averill 1-3-0-42.

RECEIVING-Polson Brandon Couture 1-33, Mac Gordon 2-26, Colton Woods 2-24, Nelson 1-6, Owen 1-1.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-Bigfork, Torgerson 38 (BL).